Leveraging the Role of Paraprofessionals as Co-Teachers in the Pre-K Classroom Through Drama-Based Professional Development

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: The Arts and Early Childhood Education

Abstract

We share the case of how the implementation of the Early Years at Play (EYEPlay) program, a drama-based dual language (DL) professional development (PD) program, leveraged the role of the paraprofessional as co-teacher in the DL classroom. DL pre-k teachers and their paraprofessionals received PD and one-on-one coaching to support them with implementing drama strategies during DL literacy instruction. Through our examination of focus group data, classroom video data and teaching artist reflections, we explored the case of how co-teaching relationships developed throughout program implementation. Using multimodal analysis combined with case study, we found that many teaching teams became more collaborative in their teaching with the drama PD and began to incorporate educational best practices with co-teaching.

Authors

• Kathleen Marie Farrand, Arizona State University

• Megan Troxel Deeg, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Arizona State University

• Katie Bernstein, Arizona State University

• Michael F. Kelley, Arizona State University - West