UNC School of Education

Assistant Professor of Early Childhood, Families and Literacy

T 919.843.2048
F 919.962.1533
kcgallag@email.unc.edu

301J Peabody Hall
CB 3500

An assistant professor in the School of Education and an educational psychologist, Kathleen Cranley Gallagher has worked with young children and families for 15 years, teaching and administering programs in early intervention, preschool and kindergarten settings. The emotional and social well-being of children forms the keystone of her research, teaching and service, connecting knowledge of children’s development in the context of social relationships to improve circumstances for those who may struggle in school and social environments.

Grounded in an ecological systems approach, Gallagher’s work emphasizes the development of learners in the context of complex personal and societal relationships. Influenced by Piaget, Vygotsky and Bronfenbrenner, she believes that learners develop, or change over time, as a function of engagement in increasingly complex processes of interaction. In the context of social relationships, learners construct knowledge. Central to Gallagher’s teaching philosophy are the concepts of the teacher as researcher, advocate and leader. Her philosophy of teaching fuses notions of teacher and learner as complementary ─ and sometimes indistinguishable ─ roles.

• Ph.D. 2002 - University of Wisconsin - Madison, Educational Psychology
• M.A. 1995 - Marquette University, Educational Foundations
• B.A. 1983 - Cardinal Stritch College, Education and Special Education, certification in Nursery/Kindergarten and Early Exceptional Needs

• Child-Adult Relationships and Developmental Competence
• Teacher-Child Relationships and Emergent Literacy
• Parent-Child Relationships and Social Competence with Peers
• Infant-Mother Relationships
• Research Overview 

• Child Development and Family Studies
  
• Early Childhood Intervention and Family Studies
• Early Childhood, Families and Literacy

• 2001-02, Michael Vincent O’Shea Fellow in Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison

• 1999, Reviewer. Choosing Child Care: A Curriculum for Parents. American Red Cross Madison, Wisconsin.
• 1996-98, Board Member (mayoral appointment), Madison Child Care Advisory Board Madison, Wisconsin.

Gallagher, K.C. (2002). Does child temperament moderate the effect of parenting on adjustment? Developmental Review, 22, 623-643.

Clark, R., Tluczek, A., & Gallagher, K.C. (In press). Assessment of parent-child early relational disturbances. In R. DelCarmen & A.H. Carter (Eds.), Assessment of mental health disorders in infants and toddlers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vandell, D., Dadisman, K., & Gallagher, K. (1999). Another look at the elephant: Child care in the nineties, pp. 91-120. In R. Taylor (Ed.). Resilience across contexts: Family, work, culture and community. Hilldale NJ: Earlbaum.

• 2003, Invited Speaker, Best Practices in Early Education and Care, Networking Neurons: Making Connections Conference, Wisconsin Council for Children and Families, Madison, Wisconsin
• 2003, Invited Speaker, Transitions in Early Childhood, Bright Horizons Child Care Family Panel, Madison, Wisconsin
• 1999, Invited Speaker, Child Care in the New Millennium, Wisconsin Early Childhood Association and Meeting House Nursery School Madison, Wisconsin.