Demonstration Educator - Early Learning Center - UTK

The primary purpose of this position is to facilitate the mission of the Early Learning (ELC) - to foster scientific understanding of young children’s development. The ELC accomplishes this mission through (a) interdisciplinary research, (b) academic programs for undergraduate and graduate students, (c) early education programs for young children, and (d) outreach, advocacy, and public policy. The Demonstration Educator Apprentice and Demonstration Educator are both an integral part of the teaching and research mission of the ELC, providing direct training, mentoring, and supervision to undergraduate and graduate students in the program, as well as day-to-day supervision of and education programming for children in the laboratory school setting. More information about the ELC is available at elc.utk.edu. 

Demonstration Educator Apprentice

Duties 

Academic Programs / Mentoring and Curriculum Design

• Provides direct training, mentoring, and supervision of undergraduate and graduate students in their assigned ECE classroom.
• Meets weekly with assigned undergraduate pre-service teachers, providing resources to support their growth and learning.
• Evaluates performance in the classroom.
• Corresponds regularly with Course Instructors re: student performance, needs, concerns.
• Demonstrates specific teaching skills, strategies, and techniques.
• Demonstrates how to provide developmentally appropriate and safe environments and guidelines for children, observe and assess children's needs and behaviors, follow children's questions in forming project work with children, documentation, etc.
• Develops documentation and materials that visually represent demonstration practices and how they relate to course content.
• Serves as a guest speaker in courses.
• Engages with professional learning experiences toward consistent growth in mentoring skills and ECE content knowledge.

Early Childhood Education Classroom Leadership

• Responsible for the leadership, direction, training, and operational management of early childhood laboratory classrooms specializing in the following:
  • Tennessee DOE licensing regulations, modeling Developmentally Appropriate Practice, and operationalizing NAEYC professional competencies and standards.
• Provides day-to-day classroom management.
• Works with other classroom teachers to provide high-quality care, supervision, and education.
• Supervises all teaching staff in the classroom at any given time, including the assistant teacher, student teacher, etc.
• Plans and implements meaningful and effective lessons for the children engaged in the classroom.
• Provides ongoing assessments of the children, implements and maintains health and safety standards, and state licensing standards.
• Plans and implements culturally responsive curriculum and classroom practice.

Family Support and Outreach

• Coordinates community-building events for families.
• Provides parenting education content to families and educators.
• Supports outreach initiatives, including the Early Learning Institute and study tours.

In addition to duties in Demonstration Educator Apprentice position, Demonstration Educator duties also include 

Academic Programs / Mentoring and Curriculum Design

● Designs individualized skill and knowledge development support

plans for undergraduate students in the program.

● Develops curriculum for undergraduate student learning objectives.

● Designs, implements, evaluates, and maintains high-quality lab

environments and experiences.

Early Childhood Education Classroom Leadership

● Designs and implements innovative curriculum and instructional

methodology in laboratory contexts

● Implements and evaluates experimental pedagogy in laboratory contexts

● Interacts with current ECE research and innovative ECE pedagogy

● Implements and demonstrates instructional strategies and programming

design elements that support social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion

goals in laboratory setting

● Responsible for data reporting, representation, and dissemination

● Responsible for collaborative design, evaluation, and maintenance of

program operational systems; contributes to complex decision-making

processes impacting all educators and classrooms

● Translates programmatic systems, policies, procedures, and structures into

accessible and contextually appropriate modes and procedures for a wide variety of program staff and students; provides training, accountability structures, and oversight on these structures for staff and students