***LOGIN REQUIRED*** The Careers in Education Course is designed to prepare students for professional or learning support positions in education, pre-kindergarten through grade twelve. Students study human development, standards, regulations and codes, positive guidance and counseling techniques, age-appropriate and grade-appropriate learning strategies, learning theories, and standards-based curriculum and instructional design. Students can apply and practice their knowledge and skills at a variety of elementary and secondary sites. The course prepares students for entry into college or university teacher-training programs.

***LOGIN REQUIRED*** This concentration level course is a study of the physical, perceptual, cognitive, personality, and language developmental stages of children from conception through adolescence, including the principle theories of development and their application. The need for an understanding of how children develop and what influences their development is an important component of contributing to the demands of our complex society. Students will develop an understanding of children and the developmental process through readings, case studies, observations, individual research projects and group project work. Active class participation is enhanced by limited community classroom placement under the guidance of a mentor teacher. All students are required to observe and/or participate in settings and classrooms at the preschool/primary/elementary or middle/junior high levels at the end of the Spring semester.

This unit examines the area of the brain based learning with a particular focus on the development of the young child's brain and is of particular relevance to those who work with young children. We begin by looking at the structure and functions of the brain, and the impact that sensory deprivation can have on these. We consider the implications of current understandings of brain development for teaching and learning, particularly in an early years setting, and finish by exploring the value of play (particularly outdoor play) in children's learning and the development of their brains.