Dr Kristen Nawrotzki

Qualifications: BA, BA Ed, MPhil (Oxon), PhD

US NATIONAL ACADEMY of EDUCATION SPENCER
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW 2007-2009

E-mail:
k.nawrotzki(at)roehampton.ac.uk

Research Interests and Expertise

National and transnational historical analysis of early childhood
advocacy, policy and provision (esp. USA, UK, Germany); child
care and early education as entities, experiences and
institutions.

Publications

(2009) with KJ Brehony. From Weak Social Democracy to
Hybridized Neoliberalism: Child Care and Early Years
Education in Britain since 1945. In Time Policies. Child
Care and Primary Education in Post-War Europe, eds.
Karen Hagemann, Konrad Jarausch & Cristina Allemann-
Ghionda (New York: Berghahn, Forthcoming).

(2009) Preschool and Kindergarten. In The Chicago
Companion to the Child, ed. Richard A. Shweder
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, In Press).

(2009) 'Greatly Changed for the Better': Free Kindergartens
as transatlantic 'Reformance'. History of Education
Quarterly 49, 2 (May). Special issue on early childhood
education, edited by Kristen D. Nawrotzki: 182-195.

(2009) Preface. New Perspectives on Preschooling: The
Nation and the Transnational in Early Childhood Education.
History of Education Quarterly 49, 2 (May). Special
issue on early childhood education, edited by Kristen D.
Nawrotzki.

(2008) 'A strategic position in American education':
Diskursive und politische Strategien für die Erweiterung der
öffentlichen Kindergärten (1850-1950). In Familie und
öffentliche Erziehung: Theoretische Konzeptionen,
historische und aktuelle Analysen, eds. Jutta Ecarius,
Carola Groppe & Hans Malmede (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag). Pp.
119-138.

(2008) 'Nursery School' and 'Kindergarten', In The
Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education, eds.
Gary McCulloch & David Crook. London: Routledge. Pp.
410-412; 338-339.

(2007) 'Like sending coals to Newcastle': Impressions from
and of the Anglo-American Kindergarten Movement(s),
Paedagogica Historica 43, no 3, 223–233.

(2006) Froebel is Dead; Long Live Froebel: The National
Froebel Foundation and English Education, History of
Education, 35, 209-224. Special Issue edited by Kevin J.
Brehony.

(2006) 'Shall the youngest suffer most?': US Kindergartens
and the Depression. In Education and the Great
Depression: Lessons from a Global History, eds. David
Hicks and Tom Ewing (New York: Peter Lang), 276-310.

(2003) with Anna Mills Smith and Maris A. Vinovskis. Social
Science Research and Early Childhood Education Policies: An
Historical Analysis of Developments in Head Start,
Kindergartens, and Day Care. In The Social Sciences Go to
Washington: The Politics of Knowledge in the Postmodern
Age, ed. Hamilton Cravens (New Brunswick, New Jersey:
Rutgers University Press), 155-180.

(2002) [as Kristen Dombkowski]. Kindergarten and teacher
training in England and the United States 1850-1918,
History of Education, 31, 475-489.

(2001)[as Kristen Dombkowski]. Will the Real Kindergarten
Please Stand Up?: Defining and Redefining the Twentieth-
century US Kindergarten, History of Education, 30, 527-
545.

Refereed and Invited Presentations

Petite Elite: New Yorks Elite-Vorschulen 1980-2007.
Presented at the German Educational Research Association
Annual Meeting, March 2008.

Fruehe-Kindheits-Forschung in internationaler Perspektive.
Invited presentation upon the opening of the Early
Childhood Excellence Center of Lower Saxony
(http://www.fruehe-kindheit-niedersachsen.de), University
of Hildesheim, Germany, February 2008.

The Baby Ivies: preschools and privilege in the USA. Invited
presentation to the History of Education Seminar, Institute
for Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University
of London, England. June 2007.

with Kevin J. Brehony. Neither Social Democratic nor
Neoliberal: childcare and early years' education policies in
England since 1945. Presented at a conference entitled "The
German Half-Day Model: A European Sonderweg? The 'Time
Politics' of Child Care, Pre School and Elementary School
Education in Post-War Europe", Cologne, Germany. March
2007.

"A strategic position in American education": Diskursive und
legislative Strategien für die Erweiterung der öffentlichen
Kindergärten (1850-1950). Presented at the Arbeitskreis für
Historische Familienforschung, Sektion Historische
Bildungsforschung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für
Erziehungswissenschaft, Gießen, Germany. January 2007.

"True narratives" and "artistic fictions": Slum kindergartens
in the USA and the UK. Presented at the joint meeting of the
Canadian History of Education Society and the History of
Education Society (USA), Ottawa, Ontario. October 2006.

In Praise of Dauntless Women?: Early years historiography in
critical perspective. Presented at the Second Biennial
Conference of the International Froebel Society, Dublin, Eire.
June 2006.

Give War a Chance: JROTC and American Schools. Invited
presentation, Peace Education Lecture Series of the Institute
for Foreign Languages, Pädagogische Hochschule
Heidelberg, Germany. December 2005.

“Kindling the virtue of little hoodlums”: Themes and images
in the literature of the free kindergarten in the USA and the
UK. History of Education Society (UK), Birmingham, England.
December 2005.

“Shall the Youngest Suffer Most?”: U.S. Early Education and
the Great Depression. Invited presentation at the
Heidelberg Center for American Studies Colloquium on
American History and Contemporary History, University of
Heidelberg, Germany. November 2005.

Like sending coals to Newcastle: Impressions from and of
the Ango-American Kindergarten Movement(s).
International Standing Working Group on Cross-Cultural
Influences in History of Education, International Standing
Conference for the History of Education, Geneva,
Switzerland. July 2004.

Froebel is Dead; Long Live Froebel: The National Froebel
Foundation and English Education. European Social Science
History Association Annual Meeting, Berlin, Germany. March
2004; Also presented at the International Froebel Society,
London, England. July 2004.

with Kevin J. Brehony. "Saving Money or Saving Children?" A
cross-national comparative historical study of early years
education in the Great Depression. European Educational
Research Conference, Hamburg, Germany. September 2003.

Will the Real Kindergarten Please Stand Up?: Defining and
Redefining the Twentieth-Century American Kindergarten.
History of Education Society (UK), Birmingham, England.
November 2000.

"Froebel Has Shown Us the Right Road": Kindergarten
Movements in England and America, 1850-1900. History of
Education Society (USA), Decatur, Georgia. October 1999.

with Anna Mills Smith, and Maris A. Vinovskis. Social Science
Research and Early Childhood Education Policies: An
Historical Analysis of Developments in Head Start,
Kindergartens, and Day Care," Tenth Anniversary Conference
of the Journal of Policy History, St. Louis, Missouri. May
1999.

Early Childhood in Transition: The Home-to-School
Experience in Historical Context. History of Education
Society (USA), Chicago, Illinois. October 1998.

Professional Service

Advisory Board Chair 2006-present
Reviews and List Editor 2001-2005
H-Education History of Education Network of H-Net
Humanities & Social Sciences Online
H-Education
Home Page

International Editorial Board Member
Paedagogica Historica International Journal of the
History of Education
href="http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00309230.asp
">Paedagogica Historica Home Page

Manuscript Reviewer
History of Education Quarterly,
History of Education

Member, Froebel Research Committee, Froebel Educational
Institute, London
Froebel
Research Committee Web Page

Advisory Board Member
Centre for Early Childhood Pedagogy, University of
Hildesheim, Germany

Book Reviewer
History of Education Quarterly
History of Education
Teachers College Record

Research Interests & Expertise

National and transnational historical analysis of early years advocacy, policy and provision (esp. USA, UK, Germany); discourses and experiences of care and education.

Research Projects Undertaken

PhD Thesis: "The Anglo-American Kindergarten Movements and Early Education in England and the USA, 1850-1965".

Projects in Progress
Book version of PhD thesis: Kindergartens in Common, including a new transnational (Anglo-American) analysis of early childhood educational advocacy and provision 1965-1975.
Funded by a 2007/08 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Baby Ivies: preschools and privilege in the USA
Pilot project funded by a School of Education Small Grant

Using Froebelian teacher narratives in early years teacher training: History, Identity, and Reflective Practice
Pilot project funded with a grant from the Froebel Educational Institute, London

Projects in Development
US/UK policy & provision of early childhood care and education, 1965-2000

Qualification Details

PhD in History, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Spencer Dissertation Fellow).

MPhil in Economic and Social History, Oxford University.

BA History (High Honors & High Distinction), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

BA Elementary Education (High Distinction and State of Michigan Teaching Certificate), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Teaching Expertise

Foundations of Education/History of Education

US History (all periods)

American Cultural Studies

Women's Studies

Applied Linguistics

Postgraduate courses taught at Roehampton:

Social Science Research Methods [MA]
Early Childhood Studies [MA/PGDip]