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Problem-Solution Projects with Young Children

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Service Learning as Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education

Part of the book series: Educating the Young Child ((EDYC,volume 11))

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Abstract

Problem-Solution Projects (PSPs), designed to promote empowerment of teachers and their students, combines service-learning and critical pedagogy. PSPs involve teachers and students in service, not as charity but as a vehicle for social change. During the PSP process, quite often educators asked the question, “Aren’t they too young?” especially for prekindergarten and kindergarten students; however, concerns about whether children were too young to understand problems and how to solve them crossed all elementary grade levels. Our response to “aren’t they too young,” is a resounding “no.” In this chapter, we provide an explanation of the critical pedagogy and service-learning roots of the PSP. We share personal vignettes that reflect the PSP process and, in doing so, we present three distinct, yet interrelated ways the PSP supports the development of early childhood educators and the children they teach: (a) engagement; (b) social emotional learning; and (c) empowerment. As we will show, teachers engaging in the PSPs with young children supported their development as active, empowered learners and problem-solvers as they participated in meaningful curriculum. We conclude with implications for practice.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our colleague and Problem-Solution Project co-creator, Dr. Olga S. Jarrett, for providing feedback on early versions of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mary Lin Elementary School, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Francheska D. Starks M.Ed. & Lindsay Wyczalkowski M.Ed.

  2. Cascade Elementary School, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Stacie Walker M.Ed., Ed.S.

  3. Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Vera L. Stenhouse Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Francheska D. Starks M.Ed.
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  2. Lindsay Wyczalkowski M.Ed.
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  3. Stacie Walker M.Ed., Ed.S.
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  4. Vera L. Stenhouse Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vera L. Stenhouse Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA

    Kelly L. Heider

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Starks, F.D., Wyczalkowski, L., Walker, S., Stenhouse, V.L. (2017). Problem-Solution Projects with Young Children. In: Heider, K. (eds) Service Learning as Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education. Educating the Young Child, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42430-9_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42430-9_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42428-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42430-9

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