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Rebecca New

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Education, Emeritus

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I am a researcher and early childhood teacher educator whose work is informed by the field of psychological anthropology. I am especially interested in the concept of cultural models as it explains socio-cultural and political differences and the challenges of change. My research --much of it conducted in Italy -- focuses on cultural, personal and political interpretations of parenting, child development, and early education. I have just completed a longitudinal ethnographic study of Chinese and Latinx immigrant parenting and home-school relationships over the course of their children's transitions to U.S.preK, kindergarten, and first grade.

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University of California, Santa Barbara

University of British Columbia

Northwestern University

Kansas State University

Ricardo M O Campos

Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture

KU Leuven

Newcastle University

Lund University

Viacheslav Kuleshov

Stockholm University

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Papers by Rebecca New

21st Century Early Childhood Teacher Education

Early Child Care and Education, Italian Style: The Reggio Emilia Daycare and Preschool Program

The municipal early childhood program in Reggio Emilia, Italy, one of the most renowned examples ... more The municipal early childhood program in Reggio Emilia, Italy, one of the most renowned examples of community-supported child care systems in the Western world, is described. A brief historical overview is followed by discussion of such aspects of the Reggio Emilia project as the high level of exchange between families and schools, the predominance of aesthetic considerations throughout the schools, and the importance of the physical environment and use of classroom space in meeting curriculum goals. It is concluded that even though many features of the Reggio Emilia program reflect Italian cultural values and may be inappropriate for child care settings outside Italy, some aspects of the program are worth emulating. These include: (1) the emphasis on the positive value of multiple points of view and reciprocal participation in the family-school relationship; (2) the view that the dialogue between parents and teachers is and should be a complicated matter; (3) the emphases on the arts and aesthetic sensibilities; and (4) the significance of the environment as a provider of opportunities for social exchang.. (RH)

Italian Early Care and Education: The Social Construction of Policies, Programs, and Practices

Phi Delta Kappan, Nov 1, 2001

21st Century Early Childhood Teacher Education: New Frames for a Shifting Landscape

Sally Lubeck

Journal of Early Childhood Research, Oct 1, 2004

Learning about Early Childhood Education from and with Western European Nations

Phi Delta Kappan, Nov 1, 2005

Early Childhood Education as Risky Business: Going beyond What's "Safe" to Discovering What's Possible

Early childhood research and practice, 2005

Much has been learned about the possibilities of early childhood education from nations that have... more Much has been learned about the possibilities of early childhood education from nations that have long invested in highquality early care and educational programs. These new understandings are now being used by U.S. early childhood advocates to help parents, policy makers, and others better understand children's vast learning potentials, to acknowledge the deep intellectual work of teachers, and to recognize the rights of parents to help determine the essential features of a challenging and beneficial early childhood curriculum. What is less well acknowledged are crosscultural insights into the potentials of a "riskrich" curriculum, one in which both adults and children explore new topics and unfamiliar terrains, including those traditionally identified as developmentally inappropriate and beyond the reach of young children. In this article, the potentials of a "risk rich" curriculum are explored using examples from the crosscultural research literature as well as two classrooms of young children-one of 3 and 4yearolds, the others from a kindergarten class. Teachers' reflections on what they learned about themselves and the children they teach are presented as they reveal untapped potentials of early childhood settings as sites for new discoveries and new relationships.

Identity as catalyst, childhood as context

Reggio Emilia’s Approach to Early Care and Education: Creating Contexts for Discussione (Book Chapter)

Parental goals and Italian infant care

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1988

Reggio Emilia's Commitment to Children and Community: A Reconceptualization of Quality and DAP

Journal of Childhood Studies, 1997

Teaching and Learning When No One Is Expert: Children and Parents Explore Technology

Early childhood research and practice, 2004

Within the field of early childhood education, there is a strong tradition of integrated, emergen... more Within the field of early childhood education, there is a strong tradition of integrated, emergent, and artsoriented curriculum that must now respond to a growing and competing emphasis on literacybased experiences. Considerably less priority (or teacher expertise) has been or currently is demonstrated in the areas of science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET), with math a distant second place to the role of literacy in the curriculum. Supporting teacher resistance to including science, engineering, or technology is the growing body of research on children's learning that makes clear that children learn best when academic domains are integrated within the context of personally meaningful experiences that build upon their own prior knowledge and current interests. For these reasons, it is essential that teachers become better prepared to apply and integrate new technology, not only in the service of teaching math and science but also the bigger goals of helping children learn and develop socially, emotionally, and intellectually. This article highlights experiences and understandings gained from a pilot workshop within Project InterActionsa workshop series during which parents and children learned together about new robotics technologies; played with Legos, computers, and art materials; and built projects that reflected their own cultural practices and family heritage. The discussion considers the potentials of technology to support children's exploration of family values, cultural practices, and religious heritage; explores the complementary nature of two contemporary theories of cognition constructionism and social constructivism; and revisits prevailing assumptions about developmentally appropriate practices as they inform early childhood education.

Cross-Cultural Research on Children’s Development: Deep Roots and New Branches

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Jul 1, 2010

John and Beatrice Whiting took on the ethnocentric assumptions of the fields of child development... more John and Beatrice Whiting took on the ethnocentric assumptions of the fields of child development and child psychiatry and crafted a research agenda that laid the groundwork for half a decade of scholarship. They made culture visible through their study of behavior and relationships, as illustrated in decades of systematic and ethnographic observations of individual children in context. Their research initiatives served to critique and enhance social science discourse, and they routinely engaged others in debating the processes and meanings of their research. Although a bulk of their work has since been incorporated into scholarship on the cultural nature of child development, their theoretical and methodological orientation to the social and environmental bases of children's learning and development has influenced research in other fields as well. This article examines contributions of the Whitings to theory, research, and, increasingly, policy and practices in the applied fields of early care and early childhood education, including the utilization of ethnography to improve minority and multicultural education. Examples of contemporary theory and culturally grounded research are presented as new branches of scholarship that extend far beyond what they might have foreseen, yet with deep roots tracing back to the work of John and Bea Whiting.

Rethinking curriculum as imagined childhoods

Erken çocukluk çalışmaları dergisi, May 1, 2018

This paper proposes a reconceptualization of an early childhood curriculum as an imagined childho... more This paper proposes a reconceptualization of an early childhood curriculum as an imagined childhood such that children's early childhood education is linked to, rather than separated from, families and communities. Drawing on research by psychological anthropologists in cultures as diverse as Italy, Norway, China and Japan, the concept of cultural models is used to explain cultural differences in parenting and early childhood education. Globalization consequences, including changing national goals, dramatic population shifts, and research on immigrant parenting are used to highlight the possibilities of cultural change. The sort of change envisioned here requires ongoing intentional and inclusive deliberations involving teachers, families and community members who imagine and negotiate better ways to care for and educate their young children. Examples from the municipal services of Reggio Emilia and other Italian communities are used to highlight the array of possibilities available when adult relationships are prioritized along with those among children. Examples of recent research by Turkish scholars is used to highlight the possibilities of change and collaboration in Turkey.

Here, We Call It "Drop Off and Pick Up": Transition to Child Care, American-Style

Young Children, 1999

ECE Policies (and Policy Debates) as Sociocultural Mirror

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2009

... Maidenhead: Open University Press. Friedman, TL (2000) The Lexus and the Olive Tree. New York... more

What Should Children Learn? Making Choices and Taking Chances

Early childhood research and practice, 1999

The basic premise of this paper is that decisions about children and their early educational expe... more The basic premise of this paper is that decisions about children and their early educational experiences are culturally situated and, by definition, will reflect varying interpretations of appropriate educational aims and strategies. Drawing upon three decades of experience in the Italian culture as well as preliminary findings from a collaborative research project with several Italian communities (including Milan, Trento, Reggio Emilia, Parma, and San Miniato), the paper emphasizes the necessity and validity of diverse interpretations of early childhood programs, the relationship between goals for children and societal expectations for adults, and the importance of adult relationships (among parents, teachers, and community members) to the negotiation of educational goals for children growing up in a pluralistic democratic society. (Author) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Reggio Emilia: New Ways To Think About Schooling

Educational Leadership, 2003

Shared parenting in dual-income families

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1992

Introduction: The ethic of inclusion

Journal of Early Intervention, 1994

21st Century Early Childhood Teacher Education

Early Child Care and Education, Italian Style: The Reggio Emilia Daycare and Preschool Program

The municipal early childhood program in Reggio Emilia, Italy, one of the most renowned examples ... more The municipal early childhood program in Reggio Emilia, Italy, one of the most renowned examples of community-supported child care systems in the Western world, is described. A brief historical overview is followed by discussion of such aspects of the Reggio Emilia project as the high level of exchange between families and schools, the predominance of aesthetic considerations throughout the schools, and the importance of the physical environment and use of classroom space in meeting curriculum goals. It is concluded that even though many features of the Reggio Emilia program reflect Italian cultural values and may be inappropriate for child care settings outside Italy, some aspects of the program are worth emulating. These include: (1) the emphasis on the positive value of multiple points of view and reciprocal participation in the family-school relationship; (2) the view that the dialogue between parents and teachers is and should be a complicated matter; (3) the emphases on the arts and aesthetic sensibilities; and (4) the significance of the environment as a provider of opportunities for social exchang.. (RH)

Italian Early Care and Education: The Social Construction of Policies, Programs, and Practices

Phi Delta Kappan, Nov 1, 2001

21st Century Early Childhood Teacher Education: New Frames for a Shifting Landscape

Sally Lubeck

Journal of Early Childhood Research, Oct 1, 2004

Learning about Early Childhood Education from and with Western European Nations

Phi Delta Kappan, Nov 1, 2005

Early Childhood Education as Risky Business: Going beyond What's "Safe" to Discovering What's Possible

Early childhood research and practice, 2005

Much has been learned about the possibilities of early childhood education from nations that have... more Much has been learned about the possibilities of early childhood education from nations that have long invested in highquality early care and educational programs. These new understandings are now being used by U.S. early childhood advocates to help parents, policy makers, and others better understand children's vast learning potentials, to acknowledge the deep intellectual work of teachers, and to recognize the rights of parents to help determine the essential features of a challenging and beneficial early childhood curriculum. What is less well acknowledged are crosscultural insights into the potentials of a "riskrich" curriculum, one in which both adults and children explore new topics and unfamiliar terrains, including those traditionally identified as developmentally inappropriate and beyond the reach of young children. In this article, the potentials of a "risk rich" curriculum are explored using examples from the crosscultural research literature as well as two classrooms of young children-one of 3 and 4yearolds, the others from a kindergarten class. Teachers' reflections on what they learned about themselves and the children they teach are presented as they reveal untapped potentials of early childhood settings as sites for new discoveries and new relationships.

Identity as catalyst, childhood as context

Reggio Emilia’s Approach to Early Care and Education: Creating Contexts for Discussione (Book Chapter)

Parental goals and Italian infant care

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1988

Reggio Emilia's Commitment to Children and Community: A Reconceptualization of Quality and DAP

Journal of Childhood Studies, 1997

Teaching and Learning When No One Is Expert: Children and Parents Explore Technology

Early childhood research and practice, 2004

Within the field of early childhood education, there is a strong tradition of integrated, emergen... more Within the field of early childhood education, there is a strong tradition of integrated, emergent, and artsoriented curriculum that must now respond to a growing and competing emphasis on literacybased experiences. Considerably less priority (or teacher expertise) has been or currently is demonstrated in the areas of science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET), with math a distant second place to the role of literacy in the curriculum. Supporting teacher resistance to including science, engineering, or technology is the growing body of research on children's learning that makes clear that children learn best when academic domains are integrated within the context of personally meaningful experiences that build upon their own prior knowledge and current interests. For these reasons, it is essential that teachers become better prepared to apply and integrate new technology, not only in the service of teaching math and science but also the bigger goals of helping children learn and develop socially, emotionally, and intellectually. This article highlights experiences and understandings gained from a pilot workshop within Project InterActionsa workshop series during which parents and children learned together about new robotics technologies; played with Legos, computers, and art materials; and built projects that reflected their own cultural practices and family heritage. The discussion considers the potentials of technology to support children's exploration of family values, cultural practices, and religious heritage; explores the complementary nature of two contemporary theories of cognition constructionism and social constructivism; and revisits prevailing assumptions about developmentally appropriate practices as they inform early childhood education.

Cross-Cultural Research on Children’s Development: Deep Roots and New Branches

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Jul 1, 2010

John and Beatrice Whiting took on the ethnocentric assumptions of the fields of child development... more John and Beatrice Whiting took on the ethnocentric assumptions of the fields of child development and child psychiatry and crafted a research agenda that laid the groundwork for half a decade of scholarship. They made culture visible through their study of behavior and relationships, as illustrated in decades of systematic and ethnographic observations of individual children in context. Their research initiatives served to critique and enhance social science discourse, and they routinely engaged others in debating the processes and meanings of their research. Although a bulk of their work has since been incorporated into scholarship on the cultural nature of child development, their theoretical and methodological orientation to the social and environmental bases of children's learning and development has influenced research in other fields as well. This article examines contributions of the Whitings to theory, research, and, increasingly, policy and practices in the applied fields of early care and early childhood education, including the utilization of ethnography to improve minority and multicultural education. Examples of contemporary theory and culturally grounded research are presented as new branches of scholarship that extend far beyond what they might have foreseen, yet with deep roots tracing back to the work of John and Bea Whiting.

Rethinking curriculum as imagined childhoods

Erken çocukluk çalışmaları dergisi, May 1, 2018

This paper proposes a reconceptualization of an early childhood curriculum as an imagined childho... more This paper proposes a reconceptualization of an early childhood curriculum as an imagined childhood such that children's early childhood education is linked to, rather than separated from, families and communities. Drawing on research by psychological anthropologists in cultures as diverse as Italy, Norway, China and Japan, the concept of cultural models is used to explain cultural differences in parenting and early childhood education. Globalization consequences, including changing national goals, dramatic population shifts, and research on immigrant parenting are used to highlight the possibilities of cultural change. The sort of change envisioned here requires ongoing intentional and inclusive deliberations involving teachers, families and community members who imagine and negotiate better ways to care for and educate their young children. Examples from the municipal services of Reggio Emilia and other Italian communities are used to highlight the array of possibilities available when adult relationships are prioritized along with those among children. Examples of recent research by Turkish scholars is used to highlight the possibilities of change and collaboration in Turkey.

Here, We Call It "Drop Off and Pick Up": Transition to Child Care, American-Style

Young Children, 1999

ECE Policies (and Policy Debates) as Sociocultural Mirror

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2009

... Maidenhead: Open University Press. Friedman, TL (2000) The Lexus and the Olive Tree. New York... more

What Should Children Learn? Making Choices and Taking Chances

Early childhood research and practice, 1999

The basic premise of this paper is that decisions about children and their early educational expe... more The basic premise of this paper is that decisions about children and their early educational experiences are culturally situated and, by definition, will reflect varying interpretations of appropriate educational aims and strategies. Drawing upon three decades of experience in the Italian culture as well as preliminary findings from a collaborative research project with several Italian communities (including Milan, Trento, Reggio Emilia, Parma, and San Miniato), the paper emphasizes the necessity and validity of diverse interpretations of early childhood programs, the relationship between goals for children and societal expectations for adults, and the importance of adult relationships (among parents, teachers, and community members) to the negotiation of educational goals for children growing up in a pluralistic democratic society. (Author) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Reggio Emilia: New Ways To Think About Schooling

Educational Leadership, 2003

Shared parenting in dual-income families

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1992

Introduction: The ethic of inclusion

Journal of Early Intervention, 1994