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As an extension of the Charlestown Nursery School mission to “honor Boston’s scholarly tradition by employing the most current research in child development and learning,” the mission of Center for Teacher Research in Early Education at Charlestown Nursery School is to create a community of teacher-researchers who can share best practice and lifelong study. We aim to align academic and action research by moving theory into practice with ongoingresearch and reflection for professional early childhood educators. 

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CENTER FOR TEACHER RESEARCH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

AT CHARLESTOWN NURSERY SCHOOL

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"A Place Where Educators Continue Learning."

Charlestown Nursery School is delighted to announce the soft launch of our NEW Center for Teacher Research in Early Childhood Education, a place where educators continue learning. 

 

With our network of experienced educators and our relationships with higher education, we are building a center where teachers can share research and study with other thought leaders from across the field. Our goal is to link academic study with the action research of expert practitioners. We hope to create this space for teachers from many schools to share research and engage in lifelong study with a community of other teacher researchers.

 

In this first year, we will host convenings, seminars, lectures, practicum days, and reflective conversations with teachers, professors, and other researchers. We look forward to an evolving community of research, study, and reflection. 

 

In the pilot year, CNS will co-sponsor each participant to cover the actual cost of each program. This aligns with the CNS mission “to honor Boston’s scholarly tradition by employing the most current research in child development and learning as a means to ensure the highest quality early childhood practice,” and it aligns with our commitment to supporting learning well beyond our classroom communities. 

 

If you would like to facilitate a convening or seminar, teach a course, host a practicum day, support a conversation, or share your research, email us at director@charlestownnurseryschool.org.  We celebrate and value teachers as researchers and value their lifelong learning as practitioners in the classroom. 

 

We look forward to building a community of teacher researchers. 

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Join Us For

FALL 2024 COVENINGS​​

Convenings are designed to provide the benefits of a workshop while providing more dialogue, discussion, and exchange of ideas around the research. Facilitators will share their research framework, the action research/ applications in their work and open a conversation around the next areas of study. We will host these on Thursdays. Email to register.

TBD $50/person

Research on Building and Leading a Culture of Teacher-Research

with Cady Audette and Kelly Pellagrini

In this gathering, directors and school leaders will share research and experience around creating a culture of reading, research, and reflection. We will explore how we share ways that we begin each school year with a focus on weaving in multiple best practices and holding ourselves accountable to our shared understandings.

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AUGUST 28th 3-5  $50/person

Research on Designing Intelligently Responsive Environments: Children, Spaces, and Relationships

with Hilary Odoy

In this gathering, educators will uncover the research processes around designing intelligently responsive environments where children’s voices are honored through co-constructive participation. We explore the soft qualities of our classrooms, such as light, color, materials, sounds, organization, placement, and microclimates, in an attempt to identify desirable characteristics of a space that is staged to support the young child in relationship with self and others.

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And More to Come On...

  • Research on Developing a Caring Classroom Community with Consistent Rituals and Routines 

  • Research on Integrating the Science of Reading and Language Development with Jodi Small 

  • Research on Documentation as a Tool for Make Learning Visible with Jessica Tripp

  • Research on Creating a Maker Space Inspired by Design Principles with Pearl Abiti

  • Research on Visual Thinking Strategies in Preschool

  • Research on Mindful School Practices in Early Childhood

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Join Us For

AUGUST & FALL SEMINARS​​

Seminars are designed as ongoing research groups to develop a community dialogue around some bigger ideas and studies. They will begin with some theoretical or research framework, then include some action research/application and explore continued areas of study. They will meet on the last Tuesday for three months (September 24th, October 29th, November/December TBD) from 2 to 5PM, with an optional dinner. Email to register.

Research Seminar on Authentic Toddler Curriculum with Lise White

"Children are always throwing out sparks of knowledge, curiosity, and inquiry and adults must be ready to catch those sparks. When the children are investigating and researching…. this is what it is like, little tiny sparks." -Annalisa Rabotti

This three-part seminar will share research on how designing an authentic curriculum for toddlers can be grounded in a firm foundation in toddler development, then extend to observing, documenting, and reflecting on children’s play, and generate learning experiences that provoke investigation, build skills and concepts, and scaffold relationships. Teacher-researchers will review important concepts of toddler development such as attachment theory and schemas; hone observation skills such as note-taking, photography, and videography; and practice reflective protocols such as see-think-wonder. We will also have time to share notes, photographs, and videos of their students for analysis and discussion with the goal of generating research questions that will inform curriculum planning. 

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Research Seminar Through the Lens of the Studio with Jessica Tripp

“Above all, the atelier brings the strength and joy of the unexpected and the uncommon to the process of learning. It supports a conceptual change that comes from looking through a poetic lens at everyday reality.”  -Vea Vecchi

This three-part seminar will share research on the link between the conceptual understanding of art, aesthetics, and creativity and the physical embodiment of this space for creative research within the classroom. We will explore the connection between our early art experiences and how we approach art in the classroom, looking at the importance of creativity and intention in planning experiences for young children. Our discussions will explore the concept of the studio– What is it? How does it serve as a place for creative research? How can it enrich project and material work in the early childhood classroom? This seminar offers ideas for material explorations and hands-on experiential learning and leaves time for discussion-based inquiry work as a cohort.

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Research Seminar on Contextual Curriculum with Hilary Odoy

“Children are the first great researchers. If we are capable of listening to them, children can give us back our pleasure in wonder, in marveling, in doubt. Children can convey the joy of search and research which belongs not only to children, but to women, to men, to humankind-it belongs to life.” Carlina Rinaldi

This three-part seminar will share research on how a child’s learning occurs in relationships, not only in relationships with peers, but with materials, environments, family, community, other adults, and their personal experiences. We will explore how the unique elements and points of connection come together to create a “context.” We will examine “context,” as defined as a myriad of experiences and invitations where learners engage, make connections, and deepen their understanding of the world around them. We will study observational strategies and techniques to develop and follow a unique contextual curriculum that aligns with the learner.

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Fall Courses with Local Professors, more to come; if you are interested in offering a course, let us know.

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Practicum/Action Research Days, introduction, observation, and conversation with teachers at CNS Q and A then reflective goal setting, $50/morning.

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Coffee and Conversations Inquiry Groups: On the last Thursday of the month, we will host rounds-style discussions for early childhood teachers from 2 to 4 p.m. during which teachers can share work and provide feedback.

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