UNC School of Education

Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education

T 919.962.7844
rnew@email.unc.edu

301C Peabody Hall
CB 3500

Rebecca New is a curious and passionate teacher. As a child, her favorite play activity was 'school' and her favorite source of entertainment was books. Her experiences growing up in the segregated South formed the backdrop to her commitment to social justice.

A yearlong study in Italy while she was an undergraduate cemented her curiosity about cultural differences in human behavior and development. As a classroom teacher in Florida elementary schools, New expanded her interests to include parent and family influences on children's early learning.

Graduate studies in curriculum theory, psychological foundations and comparative child development now inform her scholarship and teaching. Her scholarship continues to focus on sociocultural influences on adult beliefs and patterns of early care and education. In her consultative work, she advocates for the potential of collaborative inquiry in creating effective and ethical schools that promote adult as well as child learning. These features converge in her current work on the FirstSchool Initiative.

• Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute

• Ed.D. 1984 - Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, Comparative Child Development
• M.Ed. 1972 - University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Early Childhood Education
• B.S. 1968 - Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, Elementary Education

• Cultural Values and Early Care & Education
• Immigration and Child Development
• Parent-Teacher Relationships
• Research Overview

• Culture, Child Development and Education Curriculum
• Environments in Early Education
• Qualitative Inquiry

• Class of 1941 Professorship, University of New Hampshire, 1998 - 2000
• Faculty Scholars Award, University of New Hampshire, Fall 1994
• Spencer Post-Doctoral Fellowship, National Academy of Education, 1988-89
• Sinclair Kennedy Traveling Fellowship, Harvard University, 1980-81

• Italian Conceptions of Community, Participation, and Social Responsibility: Child Care as Metaphor. Spencer Foundation Major Grant (Project Director; co-PI with S. Mantovani), 9/98-6/2000 ($183,000).
• The Sociocultural Construction of Home-School Relations: The Case of Reggio Emilia and Contemporary Italy. Spencer Foundation Major Grant (Project Director; co-PI with B. Mallory), 8/96 - 8/98 ($296,150).

• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA)
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
• International Society for Cultural Research and Activity Theory (ISCRAT)
• National Association for Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE)
• Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)

• Co-chair, Revisioning Task Force, B-K Consortium

Editorial Board:

• Early Education and Development
• Early Childhood Research and Practice (ECRP)
• International Journal of Early Years Education
• Journal of Early Childhood Research - Co-Inquiry

LeVine, R., & New, R. (Eds.) (2008). Anthropology and Child Development: Selected Readings. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

New, R., & Cochran, M. (Eds.) (2007). International Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education, Volumes I-IV. Greenwood.

Mallory, B., & New, R. (Eds.) (1994). Diversity and developmentally appropriate practices: Challenges for early childhood education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Anthropology and Child Development. Department of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. May 28, 2007.

Transforming Vision into Practice: Promoting excellence in Early Childhood Education. Keynote and plenary speaker. Early Childhood Conference. Regional Training and Resource Centre in Early Childhood Care and Education in Asia (RTRC Asia), Singapore; May 26, 2007

Negotiating contested values: Peaceful processes and products. Invited presentation at international conference on What is “Quality Care”? Cultural Assumptions in Institutions of Early Childhood Education. The Harry S Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem; May 17, 2007.