The Thomas Murphy Fellowship at the Center for Childhood Creativity (CCC) is a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of healthy development and creative thinking for school readiness in children and to translate that information into tools for parents and educators to spark the cognitive, social and emotional development needed for 21st century learning. It is the chance to dig into significant subjects, summarize what you have learned and convey that knowledge to the research team at the Center for Childhood Creativity and the staff at the Bay Area Discovery Museum.
What are the processes or skills that are developing in children that prepare them for a successful start to school and contribute to their creativity and motivation to learn? What environments, opportunities and types of adult and peer interaction foster the development of these skills? If you are curious about these issues, can tease the important out of abundant literature, and can write engagingly for parents and educators of young children, then this Fellowship will interest you. We seek a candidate that has a passion for and knowledge of research demonstrating how to address learning and opportunity gaps that emerge in children ages 0-5 so that all children enter kindergarten with the skills needed to thrive and meet high expectations.
The honorarium we are offering is generous, you will be working for a period of 9-12 months with the associated number of hours per week, and the hours are flexible. You will be working onsite at the Bay Area Discovery Museum occasionally and telecommuting for most of your hours. Our expectations are high and we hope that yours are too. The ideal candidate has diverse experience across a number of disciplines including, but not limited to developmental psychology, educational policy, and neuroscience. If this fellowship intrigues you, please send your resume, writing samples and anything else you think will help us decide if you are the right person for us. Applications will be accepted until Jan. 30, 2015.
Please email application materials to:
Helen Hadani, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Research, Center for Childhood Creativity www.centerforchildhoodcreativity.org hhadani@centerforchildhoodcreativity.org
The Thomas Murphy-Center for Childhood Creativity Fellowship Program
The Center for Childhood Creativity (CCC) is a research-focused educational institute within the Bay Area Discovery Museum. The CCC develops research-based tools and programs to train teachers and education leaders, help parents foster and advocate for their own children’s creativity, and provide thought leaders a forum for sharing and advancing early childhood research. The CCC’s work is informed by a robust advisory board, research partnerships with premier academic institutions, and a leadership team with expertise in informal learning, formal academic systems, and early childhood development.
Fellowship Description
The Thomas Murphy-Center for Childhood Creativity Fellowship Program seeks an outstanding and dedicated individual to serve as a research fellow to the CCC’s Research team. In this role, the Fellow would help drive the initiatives of the research group by:
- Working with the Associate Director of Research to review, summarize and translate academic research on a range of topics including kindergarten readiness, early literacy, science and math skills, and creative thinking in young children for original publications.
- Write research-based articles on school readiness and related topics for the CCC’s blog and social media outlets targeting parents and educators.
- With guidance from the Associate Director of Research, identify researchers across a variety of academic disciplines such as neuroscience, developmental psychology and education policy to facilitate research collaborations that examine healthy development, school readiness and creative thinking.
- Cultivating relationships with graduate departments at universities across the U.S. and abroad that focus on the relationship between early learning and creativity thinking.
Fellow Opportunities
The Thomas Murphy-Center for Childhood Creativity Fellow will have a variety of educational and networking opportunities within the CCC and the Bay Area Discovery Museum that will give a broadened perspective on the issues of healthy development and creative thinking in young children, the research process at a non-profit organization, and applying empirical research to creating tangible tools for parents and educators of young children. Other benefits to the Fellow include:
- Presentation of research reports at CCC and Museum team meetings.
- Distribution of research reports for both internal and external use by the CCC.
- Supervision and mentoring by professional staff at the CCC.
- Stipend of $25,000 ($25/hour for up to 1,000 hours) for a period of 9-12 months for part-time work with the associated number of hours per week.
Selection process
The Fellowship Program seeks Ph.D. students who will receive career benefits from their tenure with the Center for Childhood Creativity. Candidates must have:
- Excellent and engaging writing skills (writing sample required) ! Presentation development skills
- Experience in in-depth research projects
- An energetic, motivated and flexible attitude
- The ability to prepare quality work within tight deadlines ! The ability to work well as part of a team
Applicants will be interviewed by the CCC’s Research team. To be considered for the fellowship, the candidate must be a current Ph.D. student in good standing at a university in Northern California, with at least two years left in his/her course of study. Preferred degree concentrations include: Psychology, Education, Human Development and Neuroscience.
Candidates must submit the following:
- A resume
- Two writing samples (preferably one written for a non-academic audience)
- One page on why the candidate would make a positive impact on The Center for Childhood Creativity’s mission to ignite and advance creative thinking in all children and what the candidate hopes to gain from the experience
- One letter of reference
Application deadline: Jan. 30, 2015
Please email application materials to:
Helen Hadani, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Research, Center for Childhood Creativity www.centerforchildhoodcreativity.org hhadani@centerforchildhoodcreativity.org