About the Book
The journey to professional and personal growth takes time, and the road isn't always smooth, but it is a learning-filled adventure Holly Elissa Bruno, Janet Gonzalez-Mena, Luis Antonio Hernandez, and Debra Ren-Etta Sullivan are accomplished professionals and respected leaders in the early childhood field. After a decade of speaking together at national professional development conferences, they now give you twelve of their most important presentation topics as essays. Each chapter presents a dialogue among the authors about a particular topic and the lessons gleaned from facing and overcoming uncertainty and obstacles.
Merging each author's distinct voice, expertise, and life experiences, this collection unveils the authors' personal and meaningful histories, insecurities, and insights. You will be encouraged and challenged to think more deeply and openly about your own practices and philosophies. You will gain a renewed sense of purpose as you help children reach their full potentials. And you will discover--as the authors did--that every bump in the road is an invitation to grow and opportunity to learn.
Holly Elissa Bruno, MA, JD; Janet Gonzalez-Mena, MA; Luis Antonio Hernandez, MA; and Debra Ren-Etta Sullivan, EdD, are acclaimed keynote speakers, authors, and experts on a variety of topics in early childhood.
About the Author :
Holly Elissa Bruno: Holly Elissa Bruno, MA, JD, is an author, attorney, professor, acclaimed keynote speaker, and host of an online radio program. She is an alumna of Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management, teaches leadership courses for The McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership and Wheelock College, and is a frequent contributor to Child Care Information Exchange and the National Association for the Education of Young Children's Young Children publication. Previously, Holly Elissa served as Assistant Attorney General for the state of Maine and Assistant Dean at the University of Maine School of Law. Holly Elissa's books include What You Need to Lead an Early Childhood Program: Emotional Intelligence in Practice and Managing Legal Risks in Early Childhood Programs. Janet Gonzalez-Mena: Janet Gonzalez-Mena, MA, is a highly respected early childhood consultant, trainer, infant specialist, diversity specialist, and writer. She taught in the California community college system for more than thirty years and is currently part of the faculty for WestEd's Program for Infant Toddler Care (PITC) and Beginning Together, a training program for adults working with children with special needs. She is the author of Diversity in Early Care and Education: Honoring Differences; 50 Strategies for Working with and Communicating with Diverse Families; Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers, Ninth Edition; and Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice: An Introduction for Teachers of Infants and Toddlers. Janet has a master in arts degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College.
Luis A. Hernandez: Luis A. Hernandez, MA, T/TAS Early Childhood Education Specialist, is an active member of many professional organizations that support children and family interests. He is active in the accreditation process with the National Association for the Education of Young Children, where he is also creating professional and leadership development opportunities. He serves on the Board of the Parent Services Project in California, the Advisory Board of the McCormick Tribune Center for Early Childhood Leadership, and the United Way's Center for Excellence in Early Childhood. Luis writes for Child Care Information Exchange and is a frequent keynote speaker at national, state, and local conferences. He holds a master of arts degree in bilingual/multicultural education.
Debra Ren-Etta Sullivan: Debra R. Sullivan, EdD, is the cofounder and president of Praxis Institute for Early Childhood Education. She has more than twenty-five years of experience in higher education as a teacher, researcher, and administrator. Debra holds a doctorate in educational leadership, and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction. She is the author of Learning to Lead: Effective Leadership Skills for Teachers of Young Children, Second Edition.
Review :
"Reading this book is like a great dinner party with good friends. While the main course may nourish the body, it's the lively exchange of ideas, personal stories, and heartfelt reflections that nourish the mind and soul. And just as conversations around the dinner table cover the landscape of hot topics, the chapters in this book cover the terrain of important leadership issues--equity and social justice, power and privilege, diversity and pluralism, technology and change, and adversity and self-doubt, to name a few. Savor the wisdom from these early childhood leaders as they share their deeply held beliefs and lessons learned from bumps in the road."
--Paula Jorde Bloom, PhD, Michael W. Louis Endowed Chair, McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University "Learning from the Bumps in the Road is a unique and great read: at once stimulating and great fun. Having four authors discuss their often quite different perspectives on central topics in today's early childhood education discourse encourages readers to also find their own voices on these same topics. It is a very thought-provoking experience to come across ideas with which you agree, with which you disagree, and which provoke you. I especially and highly recommend Learning from the Bumps in the Road to leaders in early childhood education who like to push the boundaries of their thinking on pressing, important issues in our field."
--Louise Derman-Sparks, international speaker, coauthor of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves and What If All the Kids Are White? Anti-Bias Multicultural Education with Young Children and Families, and former member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) governing board
"Often we speak only of our triumphs, put our best selves forward, and focus on our strengths. Inside, most of us have the tendency to be very hard on ourselves; we dwell on our mistakes, weaknesses, and perceived deficiencies. Strength and growth come from flipping these behaviors. We need to think well enough of ourselves and make self-talk positive. And with each other, we need to fearlessly share the challenges and struggles as well as celebrate the successes. We talk about being authentic with children, and we know how to do this. These authors become our mentors as their stories and strategies help us become more authentic with one another and within ourselves. This ability to be real will change our behavior and our practice. We could have no better mentors than Holly Elissa, Janet, Luis, and Debra."
--Bonnie Neugebauer, founder and executive editor of Exchange magazine and founder and director of program development at the World Forum Foundation
"Learning from the Bumps in the Road is a well-conceived and personally engaged depiction of some of the most salient and critical issues pertinent to the field of early childhood education. The book's introduction states that 'learning is a lifelong adventure' and that 'learning should be joyful.' The authors invite us along with them on their learning journey, and in their unique, personal, and playful style, they share with us the details of their joyful adventure. This book is itself a joy and an adventure--I invite you to enjoy it as much as I have. You will learn much during your journey and be better prepared for and informed about helping young children and families meet the challenges of early childhood and beyond."
--Mark Ginsberg, PhD, dean and professor of the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University
"This book is an invitation to be on a journey of self-discovery with four of the field's visionary leaders. Along the way, you'll get to know yourself as an educator, leader, mentor, advocate, and world citizen. It's all here. The authors skillfully weave a rich tapestry of theory, practice, research, and wisdom with life experience, practical tools, and perspectives grounded in the lives of the children, families, and communities that call our programs home. They have saved each of us a place at the table--join them!"
--Claire Chang, associate vice president of grants and program at Minnesota Philanthropy Partners
