21st-Century Early Childhood Teacher Education: New Frames for a Shifting Landscape

• In Event: Early Childhood Teacher Education for a Diverse Democratic Society: Promising Practices and Research Gaps

Abstract

Early childhood education is now touted as an essential pathway to our nation’s future success. Yet the U.S. continues to lag behind other nations’ commitments to young children, their families and their teachers. The discussant examines with the panel the early childhood landscape as it reflects our history and informs contemporary early childhood teacher education. Using the concept of a cultural model, the author as discussant for the symposium and through this paper examines what drives us as a profession as the landscape continues to shift under the weight of changing socio-cultural and political dynamics. Finally, the paper and symposium will culminate with a new image of early childhood teacher education as one of agency through intentionality and commitment to diversity.

Author

• Rebecca S. New, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill