Deborah L. Schein, PhD has been an early childhood educator since
1972. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's
degree in education with a focus on curriculum and instruction. She
spent many years teaching in early childhood classrooms in urban
and suburban settings, and at numerous colleges. More recently,
she completed a Ph.D in early childhood education, researching a
definition of spiritual development for young children. This quest
began when a young child came to her excitedly holding a worm in
his hand. At this moment Deb realized that a language of spiritual
development did not exist in this inner city school and possibly from
most early childhood programs.
