Occasional Paper Series #42

Introduction to the Guttman Articles

by Virginia Casper

The Guttman Center for Early Care and Education came about through a 2016 grant from the Guttman Foundation to provide a quality professional development and support system to child care providers and practitioners in East New York, Brooklyn. The program paired coaching with Saturday workshops delivered in the community to address local community needs. Following participants’ graduation, the program initiated a learning network to promote continued peer learning (see the articles in this issue by Robin Hancock and Marjorie Brickley). Although the project has ended, the learning network—and thousands of interactions from the many relationships that were formed—remain and continue to evolve. Children, practitioners, parents, and Guttman program staff have changed for the better as a result of the work in which we all were deeply engaged.

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About the Author

Virginia Casper is a developmental psychologist and teacher educator. She served in instructional, administrative, and clinical roles in the Bank Street Graduate School of Education for over 30 years. As an early childhood educator, she has specialized in infant, toddler, and family development and published widely in ZERO TO THREE and other related publications. Virginia also spent 10 years working internationally in education doing capacity-building work in China, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Liberia, and South Africa, specializing in community-based research and learning. She is also a co-author of Gay-Parents/Straight Schools: Building Communication and Trust (with Steven Schultz), and a textbook on early childhood education (with Rachel Theilheimer) entitled Early Childhood Education: Learning Together.