Steffen Saifer, Ed.D.

I am an international consultant and writer based in Spain. The work I have done includes leading the development of a national kindergarten curriculum in the Republic of Georgia for UNICEF and helping to develop and implement a master’s degree program in early childhood leadership in Russia for the Open Society Foundations. I have also worked in Belarus, Hungary, Bangladesh, The Gambia, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, among other countries.

Earlier in my career I was an early childhood teacher, Head Start director, college instructor, education specialist for Head Start programs in four Pacific Northwest states, and director of the Child & Family Program at Education Northwest in Portland, OR. My areas of interest and expertise—in addition to promoting cognitive development—include the role of play in development and education, the training of early childhood professionals, and culturally responsive early childhood curriculum. I have written Practical Solutions to Practically Every Problem: The Survival Guide for Early Childhood Professionals 3rd Edition (2017 Redleaf Press) and was the lead author of Culturally Responsive Standards-based Teaching: Classroom to Community and Back (2011 Corwin Press), among other books and articles.

I have three fantastic grown children, however, none of them has yet fulfilled their obligation to give me grandchildren!