This book speaks to the heart of an urgent task facing teacher preparation programs on campuses at the beginning of the twenty-first century: How can college instructors work most effectively with a new generation of nontraditional students that includes growing numbers of immigrants, single parents, and returning homemakers struggling to find their way in large and unfamiliar institutions? Susan Bernheimer went straight to the source for answers, interviewing impoverished students aspiring to become teachers of young children. Revealing, poignant, and replete with practical insights about learning and inclusion, the students’ words reflect their desire to become teachers – a desire hidden beneath their fears and silence. Their stories, testaments to courage and faith, remind us of the pivotal role of the classroom teacher at all levels of education. In a book filled with student narratives, classroom vignettes, and instructional strategies, Bernheimer shows rather than tells, inspires rather than judges. She blends research and interviews with her own classroom experience and urges educators to integrate students’ lives and voices into the curriculum. New Possibilities for Early Childhood Education offers an inside perspective and a new vision for all classroom teachers.

The Author: Currently a member of the faculty in Human Development at Pacific Oaks College (Pasadena, California), Susan Bernheimer spent twelve years as a community college instructor, developing and teaching early childhood education courses in programs that assist impoverished students. She has served as a teacher, a director, and a consultant in early childhood education programs and has presented workshops at national and state conferences through the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Bernheimer received her Ph.D. in education from Claremont Graduate University, California.