The diversity of modern classrooms is not limited to language or disabilities. Another recent change has been the broadening simply of the age range of individuals who count as “students”. In many nations of the world, half or most of all three- and four-year-olds attend some form of educational program, either part-time preschool or full-time child care (National Institute for Early Education Research, 2006). In North America some public school divisions have moved toward including nursery or preschool programs as a newer “grade level” preceding kindergarten. Others have expanded the hours of kindergarten (itself considered a new” program early in the 20th century) to span a full-day program.
The obvious differences in maturity between preschoolers and older children lead most teachers of the very young to use -- flexible, open-ended plans and teaching strategies, and to develop more personal or familylike relationships with their young “students” than typical with older students (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997).
Just as important, though, are the educational and philosophical issues that early childhood education has brought to public attention. Some educational critics ask whether preschool and day care programs risk becoming inappropriate substitutes for families. Other educators suggest, in contrast, that teachers of older students can learn from the flexibility and open-ended approach common in early childhood education. For teachers of any grade level, it is a debate that cannot be avoided completely or permanently. In this book, it reappears in the Student Development, where I discuss students' development -- their major long-term, changes in skills, knowledge, and attitudes.
The other end of the age spectrum has also expanded. Many individuals take courses well into adulthood even if they do not attend formal university or college. Adult education, as it is sometimes called, often takes place in workplaces, but it often also happens in public high schools or at local community colleges or universities. Some adult students may be completing high school credentials that they missed earlier in their lives, but often the students have other purposes that are even more focused, such as learning a trade-related skill. The teachers of adult students have to adjust their instructional strategies and relationships with students so as to challenge and respect their special strengths and constraints as adults (Bash, 2005). The students' maturity often means that they have had life experiences that enhance and motivate their learning. But it may also mean that they have significant personal responsibilities -- such as parenting or a full-time job -- which compete for study time, and that make them impatient with teaching that is irrelevant to their personal goals or needs. These advantages and constraints also occur to a lesser extent among regular-- high school students. Even secondary school teachers must ask, how they can make sure that instruction does not waste students' time, and how they can make it truly efficient, effective, and valuable. Elsewhere in this book (especially in Forms of thinking associated with classroom learning, Selecting general learning goals, and Basic concepts, about assessment and instruction), we discuss these questions from a number of perspectives.
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