Learning Modules for Educators

Mind in the Making Learning Modules for Educators is an 11-part, facilitated learning process designed to bridge the gap between research and teaching practice. These Modules were launched in 2006 and revised in 2011. 

The Learning Modules are intended to add first-hand experience, using the best research on “minds in the making”—that is, on how young children learn best—to other early childhood education, training and professional development experiences.

The Learning Modules are designed to complement existing teaching curricula, with a focus on helping teachers (defined as an adult who teaches and cares for children from birth through the early elementary school years) in schools, centers and home-based settings become more reflective and intentional in their work with children and families.

The Modules are now being used by many states to help teachers come to appreciate the value of research to them as teachers and learners—not just by reading about research or accepting it at face value, but through “evidence-based practice:” connecting the research with evidence from their own experiences, and with their own values and the values of their families and communities.

The Learning Modules incorporate several core principles and features, including: 

• giving teachers experiences with their own learning that parallels the research on children; 

• viewing videos of leading researchers conducting experiments to show how children learn best; 

• helping teachers think about and synthesize the lessons from these experiences; 

• trying out what they have learned with children; 

• getting feedback and continuing to apply what they have learned; and

• working on an Individual Development Plan throughout the Modules.

The Modules include the following topics:

• Beginning a Learning Journey

• Essential Connections

• Focus, Self-Regulation and Learning

• SEI Together—Social, Emotional and Intellectual Learning

• SEI Together—Understanding and Responding to Children’s Individual Differences

• SEI Together—Building Confidence and Competence

• SEI Together—How We Learn to Understand Others’ Thoughts and Feelings

• SEI Together—Beyond the ABCs—Communicating, Creating and Making Sense of the World

• SEI Together—Connections Count—Encouraging Curiosity, Scientific Problem-Solving and Math

• SEI Together—Stress and Learning

• Summing It Up—Memory and Engaged Learning

• Individual Development Plan (IDP) Workbook

• Mind in the Making Roadmap
  A Mind in the Making Roadmap can be utilized as it appears at the end of the Modules for easy reference or as a poster (sized at 24” x 36”). It includes the title of each of the Mind in the Making Modules, shows how the Modules are inter-connected, and provides a “roadmap” to show participants where they have been and where they are headed on this learning adventure.

• Learning Goals and Outcomes

• Principles of Facilitated Learning

• Researchers and Educators Filmed to Date

The facilitated learning professional development model that is at the center of the Mind in the Making (MITM) Learning Modules for Educators has been evaluated by both researchers and practitioners.  Those evaluations have focused on educators’ responses to the training experience as well as changes in their early childhood education knowledge, beliefs, and practices.  The findings from those studies have shown several positive attributes of MITM professional development.  Specifically that it:

• Is a Positive Experience for Educators
• Increases Educator’s Knowledge
• Improves Classroom Practice

Read more about evaluations of the Learning Modules for Educators.

The following states have or are currently offering the Learning Modules for Educators:

• Arizona 

• Florida 

• Massachusetts 

• New Jersey 

• New Mexico

• Ohio 

• Oklahoma

• Nebraska 

• Pennsylvania 

• Rhode Island

• West Virginia