Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in
Rethinking Early Childhood and Elementary Education

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The faculty and graduate students in Rethinking Early Childhood and Elementary Education (RECEE) Ph.D. (or Area of Study) are interested in studying and researching the ways in which education for young children (pre-school - elementary years) can be reconceptualized to better meet the needs of a diverse population within a continually shifting cultural and political global context. As scholars committed to rethinking the education of children in early childhood and elementary settings, we question traditional assumptions about theory, research, and practice as we apply and develop alternative perspectives that include critical, poststructural, postmodern, and feminist approaches. In our research, teaching, publications, conference presentations, and collaborations with colleagues and graduate students, we embrace and explore emerging issues, contradictions, and possibilities in the field. The RECEE Ph.D program provides critical and cutting-edge preparation for educators with a strong theoretical, research-based, and practical understanding of teaching, learning, and educational environments who intend to assume positions as scholars, researchers, or educational policy-makers.

Doctoral students who join the Ph.D. Area of Rethinking Early Childhood and Elementary Education join a community of scholars with diverse interests related to the education of children. Possible pathways within this AOS include; pedagogies, mathematics, science, social studies, language and literacy, equity and diversity, and teacher education. Professors in the RECEE Ph.D. work locally, nationally, and internationally with particular attention to the political, cultural, and social contexts of children, communities, and education, conduct research in many different areas, and draw from diverse research traditions. Examples of faculty research within the RECEE Ph.D. include:

• Research on early childhood and early elementary mathematics teaching and learning: instructional processes such as classroom discourse and curriculum, children's problem-solving abilities and mathematical communication and representation
• The development of ethical and literacy identities as they are formed through play and dramatic inquiry
• Early writing and reading in classroom, family, and community settings, with specific attention to young children's acquisition of a repertoire of spoken and written narrative practices.
• Humanities-based, inclusive education scholarship that investigates issues of identity, culture, power, and community
• Culturally responsive pedagogies, curriculum, and the preparation of teachers for diverse classrooms
• Children's peer cultures and the social, emotional, and intellectual development of young children
• The development of scientific understandings, conceptual change theory and science education
• Children's perceptions of science and scientists across culture, class, and community

Research apprenticeships within the RECEE Ph.D. provide opportunities for students to work with faculty on their current research and scholarship and to engage in their own studies with the support of faculty. In addition, students are encouraged to present scholarly work at state and national conferences and to join faculty in professional writing.

Core Faculty

Mary B Bendixen-Noe, Mary Christenson, Dean Cristol, Scot Danforth, Brian Edmiston, Lucia Flevares, Lynn Johnson, Rebecca Kantor, Laurie Katz, Young Ah Lee, Kathy Trundle

Affiliate Faculty

Dave Bloome, Lea McGee, Adrian Rodgers, Emily Rodgers, Barbara Seidl, Cynthia Tyson