For the last thirty years, Jane Katch has taught young children, first at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and currently at the Touchstone Community School in Grafton, Massachusetts. She received a BA from Oberlin College and a Master of Science in Teaching from the University of Chicago. She was a counselor at the University of Chicago Orthogenic School, a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children directed by Bruno Bettelheim.
While working with Bettelheim, she counseled emotionally disturbed adolescent girls. It was an experience that taught her, she says, that it can be less frightening to face one's fears than to run from them. While at the Laboratory Schools, Katch student-taught with Vivian Paley and tFor the last thirty years, Jane Katch has taught young children, first at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and currently at the Touchstone Community School in Grafton, Massachusetts. She received a BA from Oberlin College and a Master of Science in Teaching from the University of Chicago. She was a counselor at the University of Chicago Orthogenic School, a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children directed by Bruno Bettelheim.
While working with Bettelheim, she counseled emotionally disturbed adolescent girls. It was an experience that taught her, she says, that it can be less frightening to face one's fears than to run from them. While at the Laboratory Schools, Katch student-taught with Vivian Paley and then taught kindergarten and nursery school for thirteen years, taking a two year leave of absence to have her first child and to be a part-time director of a small nursery school next door to her home.
Katch is the author of Under Deadman's Skin: Discovering the Meaning of Children's Violent Play (Beacon, 2000) and They Don't Like Me: Lessons on Bullying and Teasing from a Preschool Classroom (Beacon, 2003). She has presented lectures and workshops at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Tufts University, Wheelock College, and Lesley College.