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Kathryn’s lifelong commitment to children and families started with motherhood. Upon the birth of her first son, she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom but needed to remain employed to make ends meet. For this reason and with the support of the Air Force, she started a family child care business serving military families.
Immediately, and somewhat unexpectedly, she was fascinated by the development of her newborn son and his playmates. Oh, and she was maybe a bit overwhelmed by the regulatory aspects of caring for children too, but soon she would find herself blessed with an opportunity to deeply learn about the field of education during a pivotal time in history.
Before long, Kathryn and her family accepted an overseas assignment to Okinawa, Japan. After navigating through the initial culture shock, she started working with Marine Corps Community Services in the child development services department. This department was of particular importance to the military community due to the profound impact 9/11 had military families.
This was her first experience learning about the many program models and theories that guided educational programs beyond a family child care setting. Eventually, Kathryn worked specifically with single and dual military families of special needs children managing military child care programs. She was responsible for ensuring each program met the needs of each child and family during a time in our nation’s history that was unprecedented.
Child services experienced a quick and rapid rise in demand as active duty members deployed. Nonetheless, and with the continued support of military spouse programs, Kathryn began to formally study child development and welcomed two more children to her family.
Six years in Okinawa afforded her the opportunity to work with children and families in a wide range of educational settings and with families from many different backgrounds. After moving back stateside and again experiencing culture shock that may have been far more difficult than the culture shock she experienced six years earlier, she continued her formal education while she deliberately and methodically engaged in teaching experiences that spanned the entire developmental spectrum.
Consequently, she has taught at each level, starting from educating prenatal families all the way through to teaching young adults in higher education. Undoubtedly, teaching in the field remains her most valuable resource as she works with pre-service teachers. Her deep understanding of learning at each developmental stage and learning within different cultures ensures pre-service teachers in our program will produce instruction that is not only developmentally appropriate but also culturally sensitive.
Additionally, as a researcher, she continually adopts the use of innovative research methods to better understand childhood learning that gives a voice to children and their families. Her research emphasizes how curriculum is able to best leverage informal learning in childhood; includes a strong commitment to teacher and multicultural education; and exemplifies her dedication to students, the department, and the profession.
In short, Kathryn is a master of streamlining chaos and consistently demonstrates to her students nothing is out of reach — even as the educational landscape rapidly changes.
I view human learning through a learning sciences lens and believe the learning sciences move beyond cognitive psychology, depart from a behaviorist perspective, and create space for alternative theoretical approaches to learning.
While embracing a mix of methodology that draws upon fields like anthropology, psychology, linguistics, and education, the learning sciences encompass multiple perspectives of learning and consider each learning context as its own ecology. Consequently, a solid education program focuses on process as well as content, values different ways of being, and motivates students by incorporating meaningful interactions that allow for autonomy and creativity by building from informal learning experiences.
I believe my students have as much to offer me as I may have to offer them in the learning experience. Our experiences together create knowledge as a result of our shared experiences each semester. It is my hope my students will one day adopt this philosophy as a teacher.