Education
PhD, Child Development, Erikson Institute/Loyola University Chicago, 2018
MS Child Development, Erikson Institute, 2011
BA, Sociology (Minors: Education Studies, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and History), Brandeis University, 2008
Bio
Dr. Ilana Dvorin Friedman is the Director of Early Childhood Advocacy and Strategy at the Jewish United Fund (JUF) in Chicago. Her professional and research interests include early childhood Jewish education, child care advocacy, and social justice and critical pedagogies. For more than thirteen years, Ilana has been an adjunct instructor and child development consultant teaching courses at a variety of academic institutions and providing professional development for early childhood professionals. Ilana holds a PhD in Child Development, having completed her dissertation on gender beliefs of teachers in Orthodox Jewish early childhood programs. She lives in Skokie, Illinois with her husband and five children.
Publications
Friedman, I. D., & Phillippo, K. (2024). “You Can Be Whatever You Want to Be” Except for on Shabbat: Challenging the Traditional Shabbat Party. Journal of Jewish Education, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2024.2341428 Friedman, I. D., & Muller, M. (2023). From the Melting Pot, to the Salad Bowl, to the Seder Plate: Moving beyond Multiculturalism in Early Childhood Jewish Education. Early Childhood Jewish Education: Multicultural, Gender, and Constructivist Perspectives, 69. Hartman, A. & Friedman, I.D. (2020, Fall). Supportive supervision. HaYidion: The Prizmah Journal, Remodeling Issue, 22-24. Lipsky, E., Friedman, I.D., & Harkema, R. (2017). Am I Wearing the Right Hat? Navigating Professional Relationships between Parent-Teachers and Their Colleagues. School Community Journal, 27, 257-282. Moreno, A. J., Shwayder, I., & Friedman, I. D. (2017). The function of executive function: Everyday manifestations of regulated thinking in preschool settings. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(2), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0777-y