Reflecting in Communities of Practice: A Workbook for Early Childhood Educators

Deb Curtis: Deb Curtis has been in the field of early childhood education for more than thirty years in a variety of settings as a teacher of children and adults. As a co-founder of Harvest Resources, a partnership to inspire early care providers and educators to engage fully in their own learning, she consults with programs to help grow reflective practices among teachers. She has co-authored seven books with Margie Carter.Debbie Lebo: Debbie Lebo has over thirty years of experience working with children in a variety of settings: as an infant/toddler and early childhood educator, a hospital child life specialist, and a child care director. She also helped launch a child development program serving at-risk single parent families and was a preschool teacher and curriculum coordinator for five years there. Debbie is a senior associate at Harvest Resources. She holds a master's degree in human development and is working on her doctoral degree studying reflective teaching and learning in early childhood education.Wendy C.M. Cividanes: Wendy Cividanes, a former preschool and school-age teacher and administrator, has over thirty years of experience working with young children and families. Wendy currently works as a training specialist and consultant for a variety of preschool and school age programs throughout the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, and is a senior associate with Harvest Resources. Wendy holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College.Margie Carter: Margie Carter has more than thirty years of experience in early education and has been a preschool and kindergarten teacher, a child care director, and college faculty, and is the producer of a number of early childhood training videos. She has co-authored seven books with Deb Curtis and writes a training column in Child Care Exchange. Margie co-founded Harvest Resources in 1994 as a partnership to inspire early care providers and educators to engage fully in their own learning. Margie holds a master's degree in human development.

Reflective teaching is a continuous cycle of observing, documenting, reflecting, and planning. Early childhood educators can use this professional development workbook for individual or group practice on a variety of topics related to reflective teaching. Ten study sessions with guided activities and a thorough explanation of this model are provided to help educators cultivate creative, critical, and thoughtful teaching skills.