Lilian Gonshaw Katz (born 1932) is a professor emerita of

early childhood education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equivale ...

at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

, where she is also principal investigator for the Illinois Early Learning Project, and a contributor to the Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative. She founded two journals: ''Early Childhood Research Quarterly'' for which she served as editor-in-chief during its first six years, and ''Early Childhood Research & Practice'' the first on-line peer-reviewed early-childhood journal for which she remains editor-in-chief. Her scholarly work focused on the developmental stages of a teacher, child social development, and she has been a proponent of the

project-based learning Project-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy that involves a dynamic classroom approach in which it is believed that students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. Students le ...

approach to childhood education, believing children learn best in informal and interactive situations. She was born and raised in England, moving to the United States in 1947. She graduated from Wilson High School in Los Angeles in 1950 (voted "Most Likely to Succeed"), briefly attended

Whittier College Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...

until 1952, married and gave birth to three children, returned to college in 1962 at

San Francisco State College San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

, received her BA in 1964, and then earned a PhD in child development from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1968. That same year, she took on the position of assistant professor of early childhood education at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where she remained throughout her academic career. She was the recipient of two Fulbright awards (India and New Zealand) and in 1997 she served as Nehru Professor at the

University of Baroda The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

in India. Katz was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D.) degree from

in 1993. Katz is a past president of the

National Association for the Education of Young Children The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a large nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, para-educators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families o ...

and former director of the

ERIC The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

Clearinghouse on Elementary & Early Childhood Education. She has published ''Talks with Teachers of Young Children'' (1995), a collection of her essays. In 2001 the second edition of her ''Engaging Children's Minds: The Project Approach'' (with S. C. Chard) was published. She is currently chair of the editorial board of the ''International Journal of the Early Years'' published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting (CEEP) organized a symposium in her honor in 2000.Proceedings of the Lilian Katz Symposium (November 5-7, 2000), Introduction, pp. v-xv

References

Bibliography

* Helm, J. H., & Katz, L. G. (2001). Young investigators: The project approach in the early years. New York: Teachers College Press. (ERIC Document No. ED448856) * Katz, L. G. (1977). Ethical issues in working with young children. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document No. ED144681) * Katz, L. G. (1995). Talks with teachers of young children: A collection. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. (ERIC Document No. ED380232) * Katz, L. G., & Chard, S. C. (1989). Engaging children's minds: The project approach. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. (ERIC Document No. ED407074) * Katz, L. G., & Chard, S. C. (2000). Engaging children's minds: The project approach (2nd ed.). Stamford, CT: JAI Press. (ED456892)

References

Bibliography

See also