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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 and streetcars 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 differing kinds of people.
It was from my work in early childhood education and my experience of motherhood that I realized the importance of working with young children and their teachers. My intellectual capabilities and sensitivity to issues of freedom and inclusion come directly out of this work. 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. It was during my years as a college instructor for women in poverty entering early childhood education that I began to explore and develop new ways of teaching that recognize the strengths and gifts of our nontraditional students.
EDUCATION
• Ph.D. Education: Claremont Graduate University
2000 Recipient of Ross Barrett Honorary Fellowship for Doctoral Students
Thesis: Living Stories: Women in Poverty Entering Early Childhood Education
• M.A. Educational Psychology with honors: emphasis in Early Childhood Education
1983 California State University, Northridge
• B. A. Social Anthropology
1966 University of California,
Los Angeles
EXPERIENCE
Associate Professor, Human Development, Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena, California
2001-Present
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.
Course instruction includes:
• Working with Children in a Diverse World
• Play, Language, and Literacy Development
• Writing Our Stories: Reflections on Literacy Development
• Communication for Empowerment
• Thesis Development
• Thesis Project Committee Chair
• Assessment By Life Experience
Instructor: Child Development
1987 - 2001
Created and taught early childhood teacher preparation courses for low-income, minority and immigrant welfare-to-work students. In addition, taught a wide variety of courses: Administration of Early Childhood Programs, History and Philosophy of Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Child Health, Safety and Nutrition, Family, School, and Community, Infant/Toddler Development and Care.
• Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Los Angeles, California
• Los Angeles Mission College, Los Angeles, California
• Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California
• Los Angeles Community College, Los Angeles, California
• UCLA Extension, Los Angeles, California
• California State University, Long Beach, California
Consultant
1985 - 1995
Evaluated early childhood and school-age programs in the Los Angeles area. Assisted with the development and implementation of effective programs. Consultation services included policy and procedure development, staff handbook and parent manual development, problem assessment, in-service training, workshop facilitation, and administrative practices.
• MCA Universal Child Care Center, Los Angeles, California
• City of Los Angeles City Hall South Child Care Center, Los Angeles, California
• Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Nursery School, Pacific Palisades, California
• Child Care Consulting Services, Culver City, California
• Y.W.C.A. Child Care Programs, Los Angeles, California
Director of Child Care Centers
1983 – 1994
Designed early childhood development programs, staff development, family support systems, and directed teaching/administrative operations.
• Los Angeles Family School, Los Angeles, California
• Y.W.C.A., Early Years Learning Center, Santa Monica, California
PRESENTATIONS
• Foundation for California Community Colleges
5th Annual Youth and Adult Services Conference March, 2009
Keynote Speaker: “Teaching Nontraditional Students”
• Reconceptualizing Early Childhood International Conference 2008
Presentation: Victoria, British Columbia. “From Practitioner to Researcher: Enlarging the
Circle”
• 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”
• Armenian Sisters’ Academy of Los Angeles 2007
Speaker - Professional Development “Building New Skills: Self-Esteem and Communication for Empowerment”
• Reconceptualizing Early Childhood International Conference, New Zealand 2006
Paper and Presentation “Learning Institutions and the Nontraditional Student”
• 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.
• California School-Age Consortium Annual Conference 2004
Keynote Speaker “Gifts and Challenges of School-Age Care Today”
Workshop “Professional Development for Child Care Programs”
• Four-College Consortium Human Development Conference, Boston 2004
Paper and Workshop: “Power of Stories: A Key to Professional Development”
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Professional Development Conference 2003
Workshop: “Nontraditional College Students in ECE: Building On Unrecognized Strengths”
• National Head Start Faculty Institute 2002
Speaker- Professional Development “Effective Pedagogy with Nontraditional Adult Students”
• NAEYC and California AEYC Conferences 1988 – 2009
Workshops
“Nontraditional College Students in ECE: Building On Unrecognized Strengths”
“Telling Our Stories: Professional Development for Early Childhood Educators”
“Practitioner to Researcher: Enlarging the Circle”
“21st Century Administrator: New Possibilities for Early Childhood Programs”
PUBLICATIONS
• Grappling with Modern Times: Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. (expected publication date December 2009)
• New Possibilities for Early Childhood Education: Stories from Our Nontraditional Students, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc, 2003 (2006, third printing)
• Telling Our Stories: A Key to Effective Teaching, Child Care Information Exchange Sept./Oct. 2004
• Teaching from Experience, Connections, 2003.
• Article to be published in Child Care Information Exchange, Mar/Apr 2005:
• Living Stories: Women in Poverty Entering Early Childhood Education
Dissertation, Claremont Graduate University, 2000
• The Community of the Future, in Center Management,
February 1990
• What Are Toys Teaching Kids?, in Evening Outlook,
April 27, 1987
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
• National Association for the Education of Young Children
• California Association for the Education of Young Children
• OMEP World organization for early childhood educators
• President’s Advisory Council: Play and Learn L.A. Organization designed to bring early childhood educational resources to low-income regions of South and East Los Angeles.