Cara Elizabeth Furman

Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education

cara.furman@hunter.cuny.edu
W921
by appointment
Background

Cara E. Furman, PhD, is an associate professor of early childhood education at Hunter College and former urban public elementary school teacher. She is the author of Teaching from an Ethical Center: Practical Wisdom for Daily Instruction and co-author, with Cecelia Traugh, of Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice: Cultivating Practical Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools. She writes about Descriptive Inquiry, inquiry, asset-based inclusive teaching, and progressive literacy practices. She can be reached at cara.furman@hunter.cuny.edu

Education
  • Phd in Philosophy and Education, Teachers College Columbia
  • MA in Elementary Education, Teachers College Columbia
  • BA in History, Haverford College
Teaching

She teaches a range of courses including research methods, educational foundations, and literacy methods for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Research

She integrates writes about teacher development with a focus on Descriptive Inquiry, inquiry, asset-based inclusive teaching, and progressive literacy practices. She integrates qualitative and philosophical research methodologies to focus on teacher decision making and ethics.

Publications

Selected and Recent

  • Furman, C. (2024). Teaching from an Ethical Center: Practical Wisdom for Daily Instruction. Harvard, MA: Harvard Educational Press.
  • Furman, C. & Rocha, T., eds. (Forthcoming). Teachers and Philosophy: Essays From a Contact Zone. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
  • Furman, C. & Traugh, C. (2021). Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice: Cultivating Practical Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
  • Furman, C. & Karno, D. (2023) Teacher Talk in an Early Educator Blog: Building Culture Circles for Exploring Ethics. Ethics and Education.
  • Furman, C. (2023). “Eavesdropping Books as Testimony: Witnessing Secondhand Crimes Against Humanity with Young Children.” Educational Theory.
  • Furman, C. (2022). “How I Became a Better Teacher:” Expanding Assessment Practices Rooted in Ethical Ideals. The New Educator.
  • Furman, C. & Traugh, C. (2022). “To Ask Questions of the Universe: Confronting Habitus for Racial Equity with Descriptive Inquiry.” Studies in Philosophy of Education.
  • Furman, C. & Larsen, S. (2021). “Interruptions as Collaborative Grappling with Time.” Curriculum and Pedagogy.
Grants
  • Trustee Professorship, University of Maine at Farmington