Fite chosen to serve as Gesell Institute visiting scholar

Posted by University News Service
July 1, 2009

Kathleen Fite, professor of education at Texas State University-San Marcos, has accepted an invitation to serve as a visiting scholar this fall at Gesell Institute of Human Development. Gesell Institute is a New Haven based, independent non-profit organization whose work focuses on the education and support of teachers and parents worldwide.

Among a number of academic pursuits and research projects,  Fite currently teaches doctoral classes in the Educational Administration and Psychological Services Department as well as both graduate and undergraduate courses in curriculum and instruction at Texas State.

Fite has been awarded a developmental leave from Texas State in order to study the contributions made by Arnold Gesell (1888-1961) to the understanding of how children develop, grow and learn in the context of today’s academic pressures on young children and other negative implications of No Child Left Behind. In addition to this academic pursuit, Fite will be instrumental in planning and implementing a national event in honor of the Gesell Institute’s 60th Anniversary to be held on the Yale Campus, Oct. 15, 2010.

Gesell Institute has been associated with how children grow and learn since 1950. The work of Arnold Gesell, PhD, MD, founding Director of the Yale Child Study Center and Gesell Institute’s namesake, had a profound influence on the field of child development. Gesell’s pioneering work documented infant and child growth and development through cinematography during the first half of the century. Gesell programs and publications help parents and educators understand the ages and stages of childhood. Professional development and parent workshops cover a broad range of topics regarding child behavior, healthy growth and development, and positive learning outcomes. Community programs help create collaborative partnerships between parents and teachers to support school success. For additional information and resources, visit www.gesellinstitute.org.