“I Have HUGE Stereo-types:” Using Eco-maps to Understand Children and Families

Abstract

National educational organizations highlight the importance of preparing preservice teachers to work with diverse families. As teacher educators in an interdisciplinary early childhood teacher education program, we developed a project using eco-maps to help students learn about children and their families. We analyzed students' written reflections and observation notes from class discussion and three major themes emerged from the data: importance of knowing about families, understanding the whole child, and recognizing assumptions. This paper presents details about the project, its impact on student learning and implications for teacher education programs.