​Connie Lent is researcher, instructor, and consultant specializing in early childhood care and education. She has a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an M.A. in Human Development, Leadership in Adult Education with Early Childhood emphasis, from Pacific Oaks College-Pasadena, California. Her interests include research of children’s deep learning processes and obtaining knowledge directly from early care and education teachers of how best to support children’s experiences in child care homes and centers. Her research questions rigid regulation of childcare workers that hinders their ability to provide deep relationship-based education experiences that honor children’s natural play and learning processes. With an aim to influence educational programs and policy, she brings experiential knowledge to her work from positions as as a preschool teacher, family childcare provider, and a leader in adult instruction of human development and early childhood education associate and graduate courses.