I was born in Los Angeles, a second generation Californian. I grew up in relative prosperity, yet lived in two different worlds as a child. My mother, who was raised in poverty, took my sister, brother and myself to many places beyond our suburban neighborhood. We took buses on a regular basis into downtown Los Angeles, giving me an opportunity to be part of a large, highly diverse urban community. My father was a CPA, which provided a good cover for his true inner passions as a philosopher and social activist. Out of this strange combination of parents, I began traveling a road that taught me to appreciate the value and contributions of diverse people.
It was from my work in early childhood education and my experience of motherhood that I realized the importance of this field. Early childhood has always been a field based on the vision of new possibilities for a more humane and peaceful world. From studying the works of Froebel and Montessori to Piaget and Freire while working with children and families of every income level, I have learned to go beyond the traditional boundaries of the field.
As a college instructor for women in poverty entering early childhood education I began to explore and develop new ways of teaching that recognize the strengths and gifts of our nontraditional students. Over the coming years, this evolved into developing a relational practice for early childhood teacher preparation, designed to prepare educators for the highly complex issues of working with children and families today.
EDUCATION
• Ph.D. Education: Claremont Graduate University
Thesis: Living Stories: Women in Poverty Entering Early Childhood Education
• M.A. Educational Psychology with honors: emphasis in Early Childhood Education
California State University, Northridge
• B. A. Social Anthropology
University of California, Los Angeles
EXPERIENCE
Currently engaged as an educator, researcher, and trainer on contemporary issues in early childhood education
Early Childhood Educators in a Time of Collective Trauma
UCLA Extension (Spring 2024, 1 1/2 hour webinar)
Course description
We are living in a time of collective trauma, including the Covid-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty, political and social unrest, wars, and climate disasters. Early childhood educators work with our most vulnerable population, young children who have been deeply affected by this upheaval. Yet, they are facing their own challenges both personally and professionally. This webinar is designed as a forum in which early childhood educators can engage with issues impacting their lives and work, gain insights for self-care, and skills for supporting young children’s health and well-being.
Preparing Early Childhood Educators for a Time of Collective Trauma
2022 UCLA Extension xOpen Community Course (series of 3 Zoom meetings)
Course description
The pandemic of 2020, quickly and radically changed life for everyone in our society. As institutions shut down and deaths spiraled, we began living through a time of collective trauma. Teachers working with young children began confronting conditions beyond the scope of their training. Yet, our success as educators depends upon meeting the needs of the whole child. Ignoring the pain of a collective trauma will not make it go away. Instead, it will fester and erupt in a multitude of ways, including an inability to learn. This course focuses on the awareness and skills necessary to address the particular challenges facing early childhood educators at this time.
Professional Development Workshops, UCLA Extension (2017, 2018, 2019)
Workshop description
These are half-day professional development workshops for early childhood education faculty in implementing a relational pedagogy. The workshops are experiential and interactive, enabling faculty to understand the dynamics of a relational pedagogy and the benefits of incorporating students' voice as part of a learning curriculum.
Faculty, Human Development: Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena, California
2001 - 2015: Specializing in work with nontraditional students, research development, early childhood education, cohort development, professional communication skills, working with children in a diverse society, literacy development with young children, thesis mentoring, life-story educational practices.
Instructor: Early Childhood Education
1994 - 2001: Taught early childhood teacher preparation courses for low-income, minority and immigrant students in Los Angeles community colleges.
PRESENTATIONS
Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education 2017 International Conference, Toronto, Canada
"Creating Alternative Communities in a Time of Crisis"
Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education 2016 International Conference, Taupo, New Zealand
"Preparing Early Childhood Educators for a Changing World"
Early Childhood Delegation to Republic of Cuba 2014
"Early childhood delegation to Republic of Cuba through People to People Citizen Ambassador Program"
Delegate to People’s Republic of China, 2011
"Early childhood delegation to People’s Republic of China through People to People Citizen Ambassador Program"
Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education 2010 International Conference
Presentation and Paper, “Inclusion Of Nontraditional Student: In Institutions Of Higher Education: A Theoretical Frame” (Co-presenter: Sara Exposito)
Foundation for California Community Colleges 5th Annual Youth and Adult Services Conference 2009
Keynote Speaker, Teaching Nontraditional Students
Higher Education Forum, Wisconsin Early Childhood Association 2007
Keynote Speaker/Professional Development, Storytelling Practices: A Key to Cross-Cultural Education and Professional Development
Erikson Institute: Professional Development for City Colleges of Chicago Instructors 2007
Speaker/Professional Development, College Instruction that Builds Upon Strengths of Nontraditional Students
Oxford Round Table 2004 International Forum on Poverty, Education, and At-Risk Children. Oxford University, UK
Paper and Presentation, Teacher Preparation in Impoverished Communities: Challenges and Opportunities. Download PDF.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
• Living Stories: Nontraditional College Students in Early Childhood Education, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. (Fall 2019).
• Voices of Early Childhood Educators, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. (2016).
• New Possibilities for Early Childhood Education: Stories from Our Nontraditional Students, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc, (2003)
Articles
• The Gifts of the Stranger: Learning from Others' Differences (co-author, Elizabeth Jones), Equity and Diversity: Spotlight on Young Children, 2019.
• Non-Traditional Students and Institutions of Higher Education: A Conceptual Framework (co-author, Sara Exposito), Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 33:178,189, 2012.
• Telling Our Stories: A Key to Effective Teaching, Child Care Information Exchange Sept./Oct. 2004
• Teaching from Experience, Connections, 2003.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
• Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education
• National Association for the Education of Young Children
• OMEP World organization for early childhood educators
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