Letter From Dr. Ellen Hall, Executive Director

At Boulder Journey School we began the school year - 2006-07 - with 20 new interns who are earning a Colorado teaching license in Early Childhood Education - Birth – Grade 3 - and a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology or Early Childhood Education through their work and studies at the school. Intern teachers co-teach in classrooms with mentor teachers for a minimum of 20 hours a week. Additionally, intern teachers participate in a 4-hour weekly seminar and a 1-hour weekly recitation, which satisfies both their licensing requirement and the first 15 credits towards their Master’s degree. Since its inception in 1999, the Teacher Education Program at Boulder Journey School has provided opportunities to extend the professional development of mentor and intern teachers and thus has deepened the learning of the entire school community, composed of children, families and educators.

In mid-September, we closed Boulder Journey School for the first of two teacher workshops. Intern teachers worked with Dr. George Forman, focusing on the use of video to observe, document, and interpret daily moments of children and adults thinking together in order to co-construct understandings of their physical and social world. Mentor teachers focused their attention on goals generated at our annual August retreat surrounding the theory of the hundred languages of children. Following a discussion that addressed a multitude of questions including, “How can we support children’s representations?” and “How can classroom teachers extend the work of the studio teacher and the children?” teachers worked in small research groups to explore the question, “How can we improve the quality and quantity of materials in the mini-studios?” Materials explored by the research groups were wire, paint, clay, natural materials, and paper. Mentor teachers also spent time in classrooms making the experiences of the first month of school visible for children, families and colleagues.

In mid-October, co-director, Alison Maher, theater teacher, Diane Spahn, and executive director, Ellen Hall traveled to Nebraska to participate in the Working Forum on Nature Education for Young Children. The mission statement composed for the forum reads,

“Children in today's world are being adversely affected by their growing disconnection from the natural world. To address this concern, the Working Forum on Nature Education for Young Children was held October 16 – 19, 2006 at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska, USA. The Forum brought together, for the first time, people from three diverse groups - landscape architects and community planners, environmentalists, and early childhood educators -- to share information and plan for future collaborative efforts. Participants from 25 nations as diverse as Swaziland, Denmark, and Belize came together to learn from and with each other. One of the major outcomes of the Forum was the creation of the Nature Action Collaborative for Children…The mission of the Nature Action Collaborative for Children is to re-connect children with the natural world by making developmentally appropriate nature education a sustaining and enriching part of the daily lives of the world's children, with a primary focus on ages 0-8.”

Alison, Diane, and Ellen shared the Working Forum experience with colleagues during an Intern seminar and faculty meeting. Several ideas generated during the forum are already beginning to take shape at the school.

In November technology manager, Sam Hall, co-director, Alison Maher, and executive director, Ellen Hall joined colleagues from across the United States in Florence, Massachusetts for the third gathering of Hawkins Centers of Learning, inspired by the work and lives of world-renowned educators, Frances and David Hawkins. The work of Hawkins Centers of Learning is to provide time and space for people interested in learning and teaching to engage in democratic dialogue, sharing experiences and provoking thinking in order to initiate conversations that have the possibility to effect change in their own contexts.

Immediately following the Hawkins Centers of Learning gathering, Alison and Ellen flew to Atlanta, Georgia where they participated in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference along with co-director, Andrea Sisbarro, and teachers, Lauren Foster and Olivia Coyne. During the 5 conference days, educators from Boulder Journey School had an opportunity to tour several Reggio inspired schools in Atlanta and attended many interesting presentations. Alison, Andrea and Ellen presented the work of the school surrounding the role of teacher as leader. Additionally, Lauren was a discussant for a panel presentation entitled, “Infant/toddler pedagogy: A dialogue with educators on significant issues influencing practice in the United States”. Ellen and Olivia, with colleagues George Forman and Anita Sullivan, shared experiences surrounding the use of video in our Teacher Education Program during a presentation and two technology spotlights.

In order to provide opportunities for teachers to read and discuss classic and contemporary literature focused on critical aspects of our work in early childhood education, beginning this fall groups of teachers began organizing and participating in monthly evening book talks. This semester’s reading includes: The Informed Vision: Essays on learning and human nature by David Hawkins, Finding our way: Leadership for an uncertain time by Margaret Wheatley, The essential conversation: What parents and teachers can learn from each other by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, and The shame of the nation: The restoration of apartheid schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol.

Our Study Tour and Extended Study Tour Program also enhance professional development at Boulder Journey School. Thus far this semester, we have hosted visitors from Tasmania, Australia, Scottsdale, Arizona and Denver, Colorado. Additionally, co-directors Andrea Sisbarro and Alison Maher have traveled to work with educators in schools in Beaufort and Hilton Head, South Carolina and at the World Bank Children’s Center in Washington, DC.

We have been privileged to work with many dedicated educators from Reggio Emilia - including Amelia Gambetti who will be at the school for a week in early March- and from contexts inspired by the schools for young children in Reggio Emilia. Thus, we feel a great responsibility to continue to share the work of the Boulder Journey School community with visitors from around the world and we continue to gain a deeper understanding of our work through this experience of sharing.