Mila Costa is a course instructor and supervised fieldwork advisor at Bank Street, where she focuses on Early Childhood General Education in the Teaching and Learning Department. She earned her PhD in 2022 from Indiana University–Bloomington in Curriculum and Instruction for Early Childhood Education, with research examining how preschoolers from a Native American community made meaning of lived experiences with stress and trauma through drawing and storytelling. Her work is rooted in strengths-based, culturally responsive, and emotionally responsive approaches, with expertise in arts-based methodology and trauma-informed practices for young children. She has facilitated Community of Practice Reflection Sessions with DOE-DECE Social Workers and Professional Development sessions with the Emotionally Responsive Practice (ERP) team and through our Office of Continuing Professional Studies.
Educational Background
Qualifications
PhD, Curriculum and Instruction for Early Childhood Education, Indiana University–Bloomington; MAS, Infant-Family Practice, Arizona State University
Selected Publications & Presentations
Costa, M., Maron-Puntarelli, C., & McMullen, M. B. (2025). Drawing and Storytelling as Strengths-Based Pedagogical Approaches to Affirm the Lived Experiences of Native American Children in Pre-K. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 39(2), 192–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2024.2448135
