Thinking Through Early Childhood

Working against the grain of history and contemporary assumptions about the nature of the field, the author makes a counterintuitive argument that decenters the child and brings forward the adult in early childhood education (ECE)

Preface: Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification

A growing research literature on non-traditional pathways suggests the complexity of the task ahead. Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification is our report from the front lines. We wanted to offer new teachers the opportunity to tell their own stories in their own words

Introduction: Welcoming the Stranger

Jonathan G. Silin introduces the 17th issue of Occasional Papers with the concept of strangers - people of all ages who perceive themselves or have been perceived by others as outsiders. The ability to welcome the stranger - or groups of strangers - into the classroom is essential to building a productive, caring community of learners. This philosophy sets the tone for the following essays that illustrate the importance of creating a healthy learning environment for immigrants

Introduction: High Needs Schools - Preparing Teachers for Today\u27s World

The subject of this Occasional Paper is the preparation of teachers for schools that—lacking sufficient resources, effective leadership, or vocal advocates—are failing to educate their students by any reasonable measures

Introduction: Rethinking Resistance in Schools

This issue of Occasional Papers began as a Graduate School seminar honoring Steven Schultz, a much beloved and respected faculty member whose untimely death greatly impacted the Bank Street community. In 1989, Steve’s work was on the cutting edge of attempts to see acts of individual and collective resistance in preschool classrooms as potential precursors of political resistance among adults. The essays in Rethinking Resistance reflect a broad range of experiences and perspectives that prompt us to rethink the meaning and importance of resistance

Introduction: Talking Tough Topics in the Classroom

An introduction to this Occasional Paper, in which four educators describe their approaches to tough topics in the classroom—gender, sexual identity, death, and diversity. Despite differing subject matter, the essays have much in common from which we can learn. An important commonality is the involvement of at least three kinds of learning— cognitive, emotional, and social

Introduction: It Should Not Be Left to Chance

Silin introduces an essay from the annual Barbara Biber lecture, speaking to the importance of progressive education, and the flaws regarding the standardization of learning

Now Is the Time

In an era when intense pressure has been brought to bear on educators at all levels to “fix” education, Progressive Practices in Public Schools is designed to shine a light on the programs and pedagogy that are too often hidden from public view. The goal is to highlight what is hopeful by identifying educators who model rich, complex, and compelling alternatives to what is on offer from many contemporary “reformers.

Introduction: Living a Philosophy of Early Childhood Education - A Festschrift for Harriet Cuffaro

This issue of the Occasional Paper Series is a Festschrift in honor of Harriet K. Cuffaro, a Bank Street College faculty member from 1968-1998. A Festschrift—a volume reflecting the values, theories, and passions of a senior scholar in a field—seeks to offer scholarship that builds on these contributions. Harriet Cuffaro has touched and shaped more lives of teachers, scholars, and colleagues than we can possibly count. A teacher in her soul, and an esteemed scholar of John Dewey, Harriet has “unfolded and connected” essential Deweyan ideas and made them accessible and meaningful in the lives of teachers. It is our hope that this volume honors the lessons we have all learned from Harriet