Eyes on Education: Highlighting Norco College’s New Innovative Center for Child Development and Teacher Preparation 

When visiting the new Center for Child Development and Teacher Preparation on Stokoe Elementary School’s campus, at first glance, it may seem like a typical preschool classroom. There are neatly organized learning supplies, books displayed on shelves, and bulletin boards filled with student artwork.

What makes the classroom different? The specialized room is built for observation — helping future child development professionals learn and observe children’s behaviors without disrupting the delicate balance of a classroom.

The center’s learning spaces are equipped with built-in viewing windows and video monitoring that streams into nearby adult learning classrooms for Norco College Early Childhood Education students. These educational areas are a touchpoint for the 15 Norco College students who attend courses in the center to observe and openly discuss teaching methods, child development observations, and additional lessons.

“That is the intentionality of being here,” begins Dr. Sarah Burnett, Professor of Early Childhood Education at Norco College. “To have live access to real-life teaching verses videos that are contrived or edited.

“It is how our students can get experience without disrupting a classroom, or being in a space with children so that we can talk openly and honestly about what they’re seeing.”

Kylor Punsalang, a second-year student in Norco College’s Early Childhood Education program, agrees. “In some of the classes, you have to do observations, and when you go into the classroom, the first thing that kids do is stare at you for 10 minutes,” the second-year student explains.

“Having an opportunity to observe children without them knowing they’re being observed, it really makes that observation more genuine than trying to act a certain way in front of a new guest in the classroom.”

The innovative center is a collaboration between Riverside Community College District’s Norco College and the Alvord Unified School District. The project came to fruition thanks to a $5 million apportionment from the state’s budget, championed by Assembly Member Sabrina Cervantes in 2018.

“It was very, very challenging,” Dr. Burnett reflects on getting the center on Stokoe Elementary’s campus up and running. Dr. Burnett has been a spearhead in the center’s development: From various roadblocks to the effects of the global pandemic, plans for the center were delayed for more than six years. Now, the education professor says they’re finally beginning to reap the invaluable rewards.

“We started having our class there, and everything, so far, is going really well,” Dr. Burnett states proudly. The center welcomed its first class of 15 Norco College Childhood Development students in February.

“It’s a small class, so it’s manageable to get started, and we’re viewing it kind of as a pilot to work out any kinks, but so far, it’s been going really well.”

“Having the opportunity to be at Stokoe Elementary is a great way to see what we’re learning and see it in children,” Punsalang adds about working in the center.

As a father himself, Punsalang understands the nuances of child behavior. However, he notes that the child development observations at the center are especially helpful in providing more insight when applying these lessons in a working classroom.

“There is a lot more that goes into it than just making a curriculum and putting it down,” Punsalang explains.

“There are emotions, and there are a lot of different aspects to children’s lives that each class has been pretty helpful in highlighting.”

The students who currently attend the program in the Early Child Development and Teacher Preparation Center are part of the upper division classes in Norco College’s program, which focuses on diversity and early childhood.

“The choice of that class is purposeful,” notes Dr. Burnett. “These students are more in tune with the professional identity of a teacher.”

In addition to the center’s success, plans are already in motion for additional potential partnerships and education opportunities for the Early Childhood Education program at Norco College. Some of the future opportunities include partnering with Headstart programs and state preschools, debuting a new Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health certificate, and building an articulated teaching pathway at UC Riverside.

“So, there are all kinds of new things coming,” beams Dr. Burnett.

Through the Early Childhood Education program, Punsalang is gearing up to continue his studies and earn his bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. With a foundation built at Norco College and experience at the new Child Development and Teacher Preparation Center, the determined student is confident in his skillset.

“When it comes to the curriculum and the stuff you’re learning at school, you don’t get to really apply any of that knowledge.

“It’s just writing papers, reading books, and then chitchatting with groups, and the groups are obviously adults. … There’s not really any way to put into practice the theories that you’re learning,” conveys the motivated student.

“That’s why I feel like Stokoe is so important.”  

Learn more about the New Child Development and Teacher Preparation Center by visiting Norco College’s webpage.