Professor Gillian McNamee is director of teacher education at Erikson and codirector of the Assessment for Teaching and Learning Project. She specializes in language and literacy development, preschool and primary teacher education, and educating young children from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. She works closely with early childhood teacher candidates during their preparation for teaching. She also provides long-term consultation to teachers in schools, particularly those serving children and families in challenging social and economic situations.
McNamee is coauthor of two books: Early Literacy (Harvard University Press, 1990) and Bridging: Assessment for Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Classrooms (Corwin Press, 2007). McNamee has been a Spencer Fellow with the National Academy of Education. In 1998, she was one of the first recipients of the Sunny Days Award from Children’s Television Workshop/Sesame Street Magazine, which recognized her innovative work in arts infused teacher education.
Areas of Expertise
Language development, curriculum for preschool and primary classrooms, early childhood teacher professional development (pre-service and in-service), methods of teaching reading and writing to young children in diverse and inclusive settings, after school programs, family literacy, the role of the arts in early education, assessment of children’s learning across the curriculum, cultural influences on teaching and learning.