Training on the Infant CLASS measure has officially begun! Our first trainings, hosted by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), were recently held in Washington, DC. Together we explored the development and growth of young children and discussed the importance of children’s first relationships in classrooms or care settings. Using the framework of the CLASS measure, we connected children’s developmental needs with teacher practices that build relationships, provide security, encourage exploration, and support learning.
The opportunity to share the Infant measure with a variety of program administrators, center directors, teachers, trainers, coaches, and family care providers has been invigorating. All present were unified in passion, dedication, and desire for providing enriching experiences for young children, which made for a highly engaging and very rich training experience. And the focus extended beyond teacher-child interactions to include all relationships (even between adults) in caregiving settings. The same caregiving practices that are essential to young children’s growth are also important for adults to model with one another.
A Teachstone colleague who participated in an Infant CLASS Observation Training shared her thoughts related to this: “I was struck at the specific inclusion of adult-adult interactions in the Infant [CLASS] manual where it was stated that ‘if exchanges between teachers or other adults occur, they are informative or positive.’ It’s so critical to have parallel process in our interactions with colleagues that reflect and are consistent with the ways we strive to interact with children, and we talk about this often in our professional development models at Teachstone. This recognition of it in the infant tool was exciting to see."
Participants in our initial Infant CLASS trainings shared wonderful feedback, including:
- “In the Infant CLASS [tool], each dimension and indicator relates directly to infant development. I was really pleased that the training included a focus on infant development at different ages, which provided a great foundation for learning the scale itself."
- “It was very exciting to learn the Infant CLASS [tool]! The tool really captures the most important aspects of infant programming: responsive caregiving. The tool is very comprehensive.”
- “Amazing how the Infant CLASS observation tool so accurately and thoroughly focuses in on the most critical interactions for children's development.”
Would you like to experience training on the Infant CLASS tool? We have trainings coming up in July, October, and November at Teachstone's regional training events. Spots are limited, so be sure to register early to secure your seat. Hope to see you there!
