Dan Gartrell has studied and written about the topics of child guidance and liberation teaching for the past thirty years. He received his master's degree from Bemidji State University and his EdD from the University of North Dakota. For many years he was the director of the child development training program and a professor of early childhood and foundations education at Bemidji State University, where he is now professor emeritus. Gartrell is the author of four books, including The Power of Guidance and A Guidance Approach for the Encouraging Classroom, and was the principle author of the "Guidance Matters" column in Young Children for many years.