Engaging Children's Minds By Lillian Katz

Abstract:
Lillian Katz has provided research and documentation about Early Childhood Education for teachers, administrators, and parents. Dr. Katz has written multiple articles and books and has taught about Early Childhood Education around the world. Some books that she has authored and co-authored are The Case for Mixed-Age Grouping in Early Education, Engaging Children's Minds: The Project Approach, Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years, and Fostering Children’s Social Competence. Through these works Dr. Katz discusses her thoughts on education and the importance of early childhood education for children.

Lillian Katz is a leader in the field of Early Childhood Education. Dr. Katz has worked and advocated
She was raised in England and became a citizen of the United States in 1953. She was introduced to the field through her three children. When her children started nursery school, the school was part of a parent cooperative nursery school program. To attend the nursery program, it was required for mothers to be an assistant to the nursery school teacher. Through that program she was required to attend classes on child development. After this experience, she became interested in continuing her education in Early Childhood Education. Dr. Katz took a class at the local community college in child development. Her instructor for the course, Dr. Mary Lane, encouraged her to finish her bachelor degree. Dr. Katz only needed one more class and finished her bachelor degree at San Francisco State University in 1964. Dr. Lane introduced her to Dr. Pauline Sears. Dr. Sears invited Dr. Katz to the Ph.D. program in Developmental Studies and Education. Since there was not a masters program for early childhood, Dr. Katz got her Ph.D. in Phycology. In 1964 Dr. Katz began her graduate work at Stanford. Dr. Katz began working in a new program, called Head Start, assisting a teacher in San Francisco. Dr. Katz continued and finished her degree in Psychology in 1968. Upon finishing her dissertation she was offered a faculty position at the University of Illinois. Dr. Katz’ husband returned to school and they raised their three children in this Midwest
Katz directed the ERIC Clearinghouse for over thirty years. During this time she wrote articles about early childhood education, teaching in preschools, staffing preschools, teacher-student relationships, support for teachers in early childhood education and student relations. In a forward of the Early Childhood Education, An ERIC Bibliography, Dr. Katz (1973) details that we can use parameters for future guidelines and research in early childhood education. Characteristics of clients, characteristics of teachers and other assisting adults, program organization, philosophical orientation and historical factors, parent power, administrative factors and sponsorship, length of program, and physical plant and climate are parameters for additional research in developing good early childhood programs. Dr. Katz (1973) says that “early childhood education is a complex domain, which deserves extensive analysis, which takes the complexities into full account” (Katz, 1973)”. In the Foreword of Learning from Young Children in the Classroom, Dr. Katz (2007) emphasizes the importance of research and discusses teachers researching practices in the educational field. She says that teacher’s need to research assignments and processes of teaching to make claims of evidence based research and practices. Through research and teaching with evidence based research and practices learning will be improved for