Judit Szente Joins Nancy Brown As ACEI Representative to the UN
By Anonymous
The Association for Childhood Education International is pleased to announce that Judit Szente will serve as an ACEI United Nations representative. Judit is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood, University of Central Florida, Orlando. Judit received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and English as a second Language in her native Hungary, and earned her graduate degree from the University at Buffalo in Early Childhood/Elementary Education. Judit taught preschool to children from several countries, and worked with high-risk, innercity students in Buffalo, New York. Judit has participated in several international exchange programs, including programs in Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Japan, and the United States, and has completed the United Nations Summer Study program. She also served as the Research/Technology Consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) grant, designed to explore the potential of technology to improve primary education in Ethiopia. Judit is a member of the ACEI Publications and Public Affairs Committees. She served as Student Representative (2000-2002), Chair of the Student Committee, and is a former member of the International/Intercultural Committee. She was Guest Editor for the 2006 Annual Theme issue of Childhood Education, titled “Educating the Urban Child: Special Challenges-Promising Programs,” and is Co-Editor of the Focus on Pre-K & K quarterly, and the 2009 International Theme issue of Childhood Education, titled “The Impact of War, Terrorism, and Disaster on Children’s Well-Being and Development.”
Judit will join Nancy Brown, current ACEI UN representative. Nancy is Associate Professor of Education, and Founding Director of the Toppel Family Early Childhood Institute at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Education. Previously, Nancy was a faculty member and Dean of the Graduate School at the College of New Rochelle in New York. Nancy earned an M.S. in Early Childhood Special Education from Bank Street College of Education, an M.Ed, degree in Anthropology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an Ed.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, also from Teachers College. She completed post-doctoral studies in Education Leadership at Bank Street College of Education.
Throughout her career of 35 years, Nancy has been employed in a range of educational roles; teaching in child care, in urban and suburban educational settings, and in hospital-based Child Life programs. She designed and directed two preschools, one for children with speech-language impairments, and another for children with pediatric AIDS and their families.
From 1997-2002, and again from 2005 to the present, Nancy has been a United Nations representative for ACEI. Working with UNICEF, Nancy has been a member of three working groups that focus on research, policy, and advocacy in education, children’s rights, and the education of the girl child. As co-chair of the Working Group on Education, she collaborated with UNICEF’s Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) section to promote an integrated approach to ECCD in the developing countries. She represented ACEI at the Special Session on Children at the UN; at the Education for All Conference in Dakar, Senegal; and at the Millennium Forum in New York.
Nancy is a member of the Committee on Teaching About the UN (CTAUN), participating in conferences to educate teachers about international issues. Committed to ensuring the rights of all children, Nancy represented ACEI at the recent Summit on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and is a member of the national Grassroots Committee to promote U.S. ratification of the CRC. She is a member of ACEI’s Public Affairs Committee, is a frequent presenter at ACEI conferences, and continues to co-author the column “Advocacy in Action: Perspectives From the UN” in Childhood Education.
Her scholarly interests include spirituality in education, children’s rights, and the art and creative writing of hospitalized children. She is currently working on a book on resilience and children, with colleagues from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Wales, and the United States.
We are honored to have Nancy and Judit represent ACEI at the United Nations and advocate for the welfare of all children.
Copyright Association for Childhood Education International Fall 2007
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