Child Study Center Curriculum Specialist and Lead Teacher

Position Classification:

Regular, full-time, salaried, exempt and benefit-eligible staff position. For more benefit information visit Why Work at UCO?

General Schedule:

This position typically works 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday at UCO's main campus in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Position Overview

The Child Study Center Curriculum Specialist and Lead Teacher will serve as a lead educator, pedagogical guide, and mentor within UCO’s laboratory early learning environment for children ages 3–5. This position blends the art of teaching young children with the scholarship of supporting university students as they learn to observe, engage, and reflect on human development in authentic settings.Rooted in Reggio Emilia and Project Approach principles, this role supports an emergent, inquiry-based curriculum where children’s questions, relationships, and discoveries shape the learning journey. The Specialist collaborates closely with the Child Study Center Director and Human Development and Family Sciences faculty to create rich environments indoors and in the Nature Explore outdoor classroom that honor children as competent, curious learners.This position also serves a critical function in the academic mission of the Human Development and Family Science program by mentoring, coaching, and evaluating undergraduate and graduate students completing observations, field study, practicum, and internship experiences.

Department Specific Essential Job Functions:

I. Teaching & Curriculum Leadership (60–70%)

• Plan and implement developmentally appropriate, inquiry-driven curriculum guided by children’s interests, questions, and relationships.
• Design thoughtful provocations, invitations, and learning environments that encourage exploration, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration.
• Use the environment both indoors and outdoors as a “third teacher,” creating aesthetic, organized, and meaningful spaces for learning.

Instructional Practice & Guidance

• Model responsive caregiving, co-regulation, and positive child guidance using the Pyramid Model, Conscious Discipline, trauma-informed approaches, and other evidence-based SEL frameworks.
• Facilitate emergent literacy and early math experiences through play, conversation, storytelling, and hands-on investigation.

Documentation & Assessment

• Make children’s learning visible through photographs, transcripts, observational notes, learning panels, journals, and narrative documentation.
• Create Learning Stories to reflect children’s strengths, dispositions, and developmental progress through a relational lens.
• Implement formal assessments such as the DRDP and synthesize data into meaningful, individualized plans for instruction and support.
• Maintain individual child portfolios that combine narrative and standardized assessment information.

Family Partnership

• Build warm, trusting, culturally responsive relationships with families.
• Conduct one collaborative, informational meeting with each family at the beginning of every semester and one formal family–teacher conference each semester, while maintaining ongoing communication about children’s learning throughout the school year.

II. Mentorship & University Student Development (20–25%)

• Supervise, mentor, and evaluate students completing Field Study, Practicum, Internship, or research experiences in the CSC.
• Offer reflective supervision, modeling, and coaching to help students understand child development, guidance strategies, curriculum design, and professional dispositions.
• Connect student learning to HDFS coursework, program outcomes, NAEYC standards, and best practice frameworks.
• Facilitate student orientations, ongoing debriefs, and structured opportunities to observe, participate, plan, implement, and reflect.
• Collaborate with Human Development and Family Sciences faculty to design meaningful university–lab school partnership experiences.

III. Program Collaboration, Leadership & Professional Contribution (10–15%)

• Work closely with the CSC Director in curriculum planning, program development, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to accreditation (NAEYC), DHS licensing, documentation systems, and safety protocols.
• Participate in departmental initiatives, faculty collaborations, committee work, training, and community engagement.
• Support research efforts, special projects, and cross-campus partnerships that elevate the CSC’s mission.
• Assist with center leadership in the Director’s absence.

IV. Nature-Based Learning (10%)

• Facilitate nature-based play and outdoor learning in the Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom, fostering curiosity, resilience, sensory engagement, and joyful connection with the natural world.
• Design outdoor provocations, loose-parts invitations, habitat explorations, gardening experiences, and seasonal investigations aligned with emergent curriculum.
• Model safe, developmentally appropriate risk-taking and stewardship of the natural environment.
• Mentor university students in planning, implementing, and documenting outdoor learning experiences.
• Collaborate with CSC leadership, HDFS faculty, and campus partners to maintain and continually enrich nature-based environments. Duties involve indoor and outdoor engagement, active supervision, documentation preparation, regularly lifting materials up to 25 pounds, and supporting a busy, joyful early childhood environment.

Qualifications/Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, or a related field, plus 3+ years of equivalent work experience in early childhood education or a related discipline.

Qualifications/Experience Preferred

• Experience or demonstrated interest in mentoring university students
• Master’s degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, or related fields.
• Experience in a university lab school or NAEYC-accredited setting.
• Training in DRDP, Learning Stories, or narrative documentation practices.
• Training or certification in Pyramid Model or Conscious Discipline.
• Membership in professional organizations (NAEYC, Zero to Three, SECA, etc.).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of Reggio Emilia, Project Approach, emergent curriculum, and responsive caregiving
• Deep understanding of early childhood development, pedagogical approaches, and environment design.
• Skilled in child-led curriculum planning, observation, and documentation.
• Ability to mentor adult learners with patience, professionalism, and reflective practice.
• Strong communication skills with children, families, colleagues, and university partners.Ability to meet the physical and environmental demands of an early learning environment, including floor-level interaction, outdoor play, lifting children or materials, and active supervision.Strong organizational skills, professional reliability, ethical conduct, and adherence to confidentiality standards.

Physical Demands

Reasonable accommodations (in accordance with ADA requirements) may be made, upon request, to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.