Claire O’Connor is a 2022-2023 Teach Plus Illinois Early Childhood Educator Policy Fellow who teaches pre-kindergarten at O’Keeffe School of Excellence in Chicago. She focuses on play-based learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and child-led learning experiences. Claire previously served as a Pilot Light Fellow and taught English as a second language in Hanoi, Vietnam. Claire is a co-lead of her school’s Garden Team. Claire is a 2019 Teach for America alumna and is now entering her fourth year at her placement school. She earned her BA in History, with a concentration in South Asian Studies from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, and an MEd in Early Childhood Education from National Louis University.
