Each year, the team at the Early Learning Institute has aimed to choose keynote and featured speakers whose work is influencing current practices and ideas we are exploring as a group. This year, we will have two featured speakers: Dr. Bob Coulter, director of the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and Dr. Mary Jane Moran, Child and Family Studies Department Head at the University of Tennessee. In this post, we will introduce you to Dr. Moran and you can read about Dr. Coulter by going back to our blog page.
Dr. Mary Jane Moran is the newly appointed Department Head for the Child and Family studies program at the University of Tennessee. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Tennessee and earned her Ph.D from the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Moran held many positions at UNH, including the director of the Child Study and Development Center, before heading back to UT in 2007 where has been a professor since 2007. Her research interests are quite varied (and extensive!), but she has a particular interest in the professional development of educators, teacher inquiry, and documentation practices. We are lucky to have her as part of our ELC community and are looking forward to the insight she will share with all of us this summer.
“Dr. Moran, as a former lab school director herself, understands the unique professional development needs of early childhood communities. She not only has expertise in documentation practices and Reggio-inspired programs, but she also plays a central role in shaping the overall vision and direction of the ELC’s programs and outreach. Dr. Moran is always at the ready to jump into dialogue with us about documentation, pedagogical design, or administrative topics, and we are so honored to share her expertise with our network of ELI participants.” -Dr. Robyn Brookshire, ELC Director