Student teacher Asiah Washington and associate teacher Kanila Webb sit with children from the blue and classrooms at the University of Missouri Child Development Lab. The lab uses a pool of full- and part-time staff and students who are working in the lab for their practicum (Russ Bray/Columbia Missourian).
A few months ago, children in the Child Development Lab on the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus were taking orders, measuring ingredients, cooking and reading menus with a server.
A cow was scheduled to visit the lab at the end of the year for a lesson about farming.
Learning involves real-life scenarios under the “project construct” curriculum that the director of the Child Development Lab, Miranda Clines, has developed.
Clines began her position as the director of the lab in 2022, and she has a hand in everything around the lab.
“My role is, well, what isn’t my role? It depends on the day and the time of day,” Clines said. “Anything from unclogging a toilet and rocking a crying baby, up to chaos manager.”
The lab is stationed in the basement of Stanley Hall. Inside, 68 children are divided into four classrooms: blue door (infant/toddler), green door (2-year-olds), yellow door (preschool), red door (preschool).
The development lab isn’t just a place of learning for children. Undergraduate students have the opportunity to learn from full-time instructors.
“The CDL is a place where people can come, they can learn, they can develop, and we can try to further the field of education and human development,” Clines said.
Each student is assigned a focus child to follow for the entire semester while shadowing the lead teachers. They gain experience in the type of environment they plan to work in later, as well as give each child individualized attention and care.
Curriculum model
The project construct curriculum is the model the lab uses to accomplish its goals.
The curriculum starts with topics that children are naturally interested in and teaches academic and social skills through that lens.
Instructors at the lab figure out what children are interested in based on the questions they ask. Currently, farming is a hot topic; hence the cow visit.
So when the children were interested in restaurants a few months ago, Clines invited a server to the lab to talk about her job. The children jotted down orders to practice literacy skills, and they engaged in a cooking activity to practice measuring skills.
Being on campus and having partnerships with local affiliates is instrumental for the lab. Clines loves the accessibility to various Columbia landmarks.
“We can go to Peace Park, we can go to the columns, we have the museums and the labs,” she said. “We naturally have built-in support, so our opportunities for field trips are greater.”
Research environment
Clines is dedicated to making the lab a place of research with IRB-approved projects that present opportunities to observe or interact with the children.
A recent study, for example, focused on cry perception. It was conducted by Erin Andres, a postdoctoral fellow at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment.
Andres came to the lab to talk to parents about how they perceive different cries from children, specifically looking for fathers to diversify the population of her study.
“It was really easy to work with them,” Andres said. “All the parents are super- bought-in to research.”
Parents listened to 16 different cries and rated seven subjective terms, such as level of distress, on a scale from 1 to 7. They also rated six caregiving responses, such as the likelihood of changing a diaper, on a scale from 1 to 7.
Andres found that men were “more likely to choose an action response — change their diaper or feed them — versus cuddle them.”
Every class has a one-way viewing booth to observe the classroom without a researcher altering the learning dynamic. Researchers also can pull children aside for interviews in separate rooms.
Parents can choose to include their children in the studies, and the children always can choose to participate or not. If a child suddenly does not feel comfortable during any part of a research project, it is never mandatory.
The future of the lab
Clines has big goals for herself and the future of the Child Development Lab.
“My goal as a professional is nothing short of changing the world,” she said. “I want to build a better future for the children of our community and within the lives of students who go on to be educators and clinicians.”
She would like to expand the lab to boost the learning possibilities.
“If we can wave a magic wand, I would like to double in size so that we can offer more child care slots and more learning opportunities,” she said.
Access to child care is limited, and the waiting list at the lab is lengthy. Clines recommends parents jump on it as soon as they know they are expecting a baby.
The ultimate ongoing goal for Clines is to continue to shape young minds.
“The beautiful thing about humanity is that we begin learning before we’re even here,” she said. “We begin learning in utero and we learn until the day we die. That’s the great thing about early education. We get to be a part of that educational journey.”
The journey begins with getting the children ready for kindergarten.
“It’s not reading and writing and arithmetic,” Clines said.
Instead, it is: Can I regulate myself? Can I use my words to solve problems? Do I have critical thinking skills? Do I have self help skills?
“That’s what we start teaching Day one and reinforce from 6 weeks all the way up until we say goodbye to these kids at graduation.”
This article originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.