On this episode, I talk with Dr. Janis Strasser about her path to early childhood advocacy and the mentors she met along the way. She takes us back to her 1st year trying to find a teaching job  and through some of the key moments that shaped her impact in the early childhood field. 

Dr. Strasser has been in the field of early childhood education for 50 years as a preschool, kindergarten and music teacher, Head Start Education Coordinator, and for 20 years was professor of early childhood education at William Paterson University.

She has been a consulting editor for Young Children and a member of the Advisory Board of Teaching Young Children. She was the recipient of the 2014 EXCEL Silver Award for Teacher Article in a Journal, the 2010 NAECTE Outstanding Early Childhood Teacher Educator Award, NJAECTE Teacher Educator and Researcher of the Year awards in 2005.

She has conducted research for the NJ Department of Education, published more than 60 journal articles, several book chapters, and is co-author of two books. Her most recent book, Big Questions for Young Minds: Extending Children’s Thinking (co-authored with Lisa Mufson Bresson) has been an international bestseller. She is a frequent presenter at NAEYC conferences and an educational consultant.

For the past five years she has lived on the island of Anguilla during the winter months, where she works with all of the preschool teachers in their classrooms, doing workshops, and mentoring early childhood educators.

Dr. Janis Strasser can be reached at strasserj@wpunj.edu

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