Rebecca R. Garte
Professor
Teacher Education
EMAIL: rgarte@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: S-616D
Office Hours: TBD
Phone: +1 (212) 220-8000;ext=7400
Professor Rebecca Garte leads courses on the psychological foundations of early childhood education and other subjects through the Teacher Education department at Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY. Her grant-funded research has focused on social development among children in Head Start, and the relationship between social development and academic achievement from pre-school through elementary school. She is also an expert on the role of intersubjectivity in children’s development from infancy through adolescence, as well as attachment theory and the impact of culture and cultural differences on all areas of development.
Currently, Professor Garte is working on a book project that will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2024. Entitled “Developing Together: Collaborative competence as a new way of understanding children in schools”, the book will provide an extensive summary of her developmental research and the literature that provides the scholarly context for it. She is also investigating the factors that impact BMCC student teachers completing the teacher pipeline using longitudinal mixed methods including video analysis of pedagogical interactions during fieldwork. In addition, she is working with other teacher education faculty colleagues on researching the CITE initiative and its impact on students and faculty. Finally, a separate research track investigates the cultural validity of wide spread self report measures of the adolescent psychological functioning. In addition, Professor Garte continues to collaborate and consult voluntarily with practitioners and policy makers regarding New York City public schools.
Expertise
Social and Cognitive developmental processes from infancy through childhood
Professional development for early childhood and elementary school teachers
Cultural critiques of Anglo-centric measures of psychological development and cultural psychology focusing on development
Intersubjectivity
Early childhood and elementary curriculum and authentic assessment
Degrees
- M.A. Teachers College, Columbia University, Curriculum and Instruction, Specialization in Early Childhood,
- Ph.D. The Graduate Center, CUNY, Psychology, Concentration in Developmental
Courses Taught
- 3 CRS.4 HRS.NULL LAB HRS.ECE 110 (Psychological Foundations of Early Development and Education)
- This course examines the psychological and psychosocial foundations of early childhood and relates these foundations to educational practice with your children, birth to eight years. It focuses on historical and contemporary theories of childhood development. Early learning is considered in relation to biological factors, child and family factors, program factors and social factors, particularly in diverse urban settings. Young children?s physical, cognitive, communicative, social and emotional development is explored as contributors to and as consequences of early learning experiences. This course requires 15 hours of fieldwork.
- This course focuses on children's physical, cognitive, linguistic and socio-emotional development, and the related implications for learning. Within the context of race, class and culture, the following topics are explored in depth: the nature of intelligence, gender identity, attachment and other psychosocial attributes (typical and atypical). Students participate in a minimum of 15 hours of course-related fieldwork.
Prerequisites: PSY 100
Course Syllabus - This is a fieldwork course focusing on the observation and assessment of young children. It requires supervised participation in an assigned early childhood education setting (preschool to second grade) and attendance at a weekly seminar. Students will learn the appropriate use of assessment and observation strategies to document the development, growth, play and learning of young children; and how authentic assessment methods can be used to tailor curriculum to promote children?s success. Recording strategies, rating systems, child studies/portfolios, and various assessment tools are explored. Students spend a minimum of 60 hours in the field. Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in ECE 210 and ECE 211
- This capstone fieldwork course is designed to (1) reflect a strength-based stance toward children and families and affirm the identities and cultural and linguistic diversity of all learners, (2) develop practical and evidence-based knowledge for supporting language and literacy development, and (3) enable students to demonstrate their competencies teaching young children. It requires supervised participation in an early childhood education setting (preschool to second grade) and participation in a weekly seminar. Students will explore principles, methods, and materials, informed by current research, for supporting young children’s language and literacy development. Students will utilize practical classroom experiences to make connections between theory and practice, develop professional behaviors around working with children and families, and build a comprehensive understanding of the role of language and literacy in an integrated curriculum. Students will design, implement, and evaluate learning experiences that integrate language and literacy learning for young children with diverse learning styles and needs, with strong emphasis on child centered, play-oriented approaches to teaching, learning and assessment, as well as knowledge of curriculum content areas. Students spend a minimum of 90 hours in the field.
Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in ECE 311 and ECE 312
Research and Projects
(Under Review for 2024) Does the socio-cultural context of early fieldwork predict completion of the teacher pipeline for community college education students? Spencer Small Research Grant, $50,000 Primary Investigator
2023-2024, I Do, We Do, You Do: Introducing Computational Thinking to Teacher Education Faculty and Students, Robinhood Foundation , $27000, Co-PI
2020-2021 Building the early part of the teacher pipeline: Factors that Impact Transfer and Retention Rates of Early Childhood Education Community College Students. Community College Collaborative Research Grant, $15,000, Primary Investigator
2019-2021 How are Community College Students’ Academic Self- Concepts Influenced by Attachment Security and Relationships with Professors? PSC-CUNY Grant, $5,999.00, Primary Investigator
2019-2020 Community college students’ perceptions of key psychological constructs: a within culture exploration. Faculty development Grant: $5000, Primary Investigator
2016-2019 Comprehensive Educator Empowerment Program, William K. Kellogg Foundation, $408,000, Primary Investigator and Project Director
Publications
Book Contract Signed 6/23, book currently in production, Developing Together: Collaborative competence as a new way of understanding children in schools, Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Publications
Garte, R., & Kronen, C. (2021). From the Margins of the Classroom to Mattering: How Community College Education Students Develop Future Teacher Identities. The Educational Forum, 85(2), 175-192.
Garte, R., & Kronen, C. (2020). You’ve Met Your Match: Using Culturally Relevant Pairing to Cultivate Mentoring Relationships during the Early Practicum Experience of Community College Preservice Teachers. The Teacher Educator, 55(4), 347-372.
Garte, R. (2019) Collaborative competence during preschooler’s peer interactions: considering multiple levels of context within classrooms. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Research,54,1 30-51
Garte, R. (2017) American progressive education and the schooling of poor children: A brief history of a philosophy in practice. International Journal of Progressive Education, 13, 2
Garte, R. & Allen, M. (2017) Becoming a community: How an arts-integrated curriculum supported the development of English language learners in one kindergarten classroom. In: Dell’Angelo, T., Ammentorp, L. & Madden, L. Using photography and other arts- based methods with English Language Learners: Guidance, Resources and Activities for K-12 Educators. Rowman & Littlefield
Garte, R. (2016) A socio-cultural, activity- based account of preschooler intersubjectivity. Culture and Psychology, 22, 2, 264-275
Garte, R. (2015) Inter-subjectivity as a measure of social competence among children attending Head Start: Assessing the measure’s validity and relation to context. International Journal of Early Childhood, 47,189-207
Garte, R. (2014) The Family in the Classroom: How a Culturally Valid Learning Community Transforms the identity of Latino/a College Students. in Medina, Y. and Macaya, A.D. (pp142-153) Latino(o)as on the East Coast: A Critical Reader
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
Reviewer for Faculty Development Grant, PSC-CUNY Grant, Social Development, Early Child Development and Care, The Teacher Educator, Teaching and Teacher Education,
Additional Information
Panelist:
https://www.citizensnyc.org/citizensnyc-blog/07j3bvafso2an32yes5giv31rkr337-bbjj8
https://www.citizensnyc.org/citizensnyc-blog/zhfg3syd2e6ihny96f8ae2pjj098s0
Blog:
https://blog.kdp.org/2021/05/03/growing-teachers-for-todays-schools/
News Media:
https://www.ccdaily.com/2019/10/inner-city-partnership-thats-changing-education-many-levels/
