Spring 2015 ETAP faculty and graduate student news
Beth Dickson served as visiting scholar from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, during the 2014 fall semester. Having several years' experience in a variety of senior leadership roles, Dickson worked with ETAP faculty in their professional development schools while in Athens. Dickson hopes to implement similar professional opportunities for faculty in her School of Education at the University of Glasgow. We have enjoyed having Dicskon with us, and we hope to continue our collaboration with her and her colleagues.
Elizabeth St. Pierre **recently gave ** three invited keynote presentations. She presented a paper, Post Qualitative Inquiry, at the annual meeting of the Finnish Educational Research Association in Oulu, Finland, as well as during the annual meeting of the Australian/New Zealand Association of Educational Research in Brisbane, Australia. In October, she presented the paper Post Qualitative Research at the 34th annual Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice in Dayton, Ohio.
Stephanie Jones has given two recent keynote presentations. One was in Villarica, Chile, at the International Conference on Poverty and Education. Her address, A New Focus on Social Class: Teacher Education in Grossly Inequitable Societies, examined the challenges facing educators and teacher preparation in societies where neoliberal social and economic policies have been enacted. Her second invited presentation, Cultivating Literacies of Class, was given with former ETAP colleague Mark Vagle (University of Minnesota) at the Literacy Research Association in Marco Island, Florida.
Jones is also published through the National Writing Project book Writing and Teaching to Change the World: Connecting with our Most Vulnerable Students. The book highlights critical pedagogy and its use in the K-12 classroom, teachers' experiences, and the importance of writing as a powerful tool for thinking deeply about teachers' responses to their students. Along with contributing faculty, Jones recorded an episode of the National Writing Project Radio Show related to their book, Writing and Teaching to Change the World: Connecting with our Most Vulnerable Students. Jones served as co-editor of a publication in Reading and Writing Quarterly entitled "Coaching for Change: Generating Dialogue about Power, Literacy, and Education." Jones also recently published Teachers, Colleges of Education on Firing Line for Student Test Scores. Wrong Target. Wrong Aim in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Jones, along with Dr. Kyunghwa Lee, also in Educational Theory and Practice, Dr. Denise Davila from the Department of Language and Literacy Education, and Dr. Jim Woglom from the Lamar Dodd School of Art, as well as a number of doctoral students and community partners, were highlighted in a Columns story entitled "Education Professor's Awesome Clubhouse Opens for Second Year.
Dr. Joseph Tobin, who serves as our department's Elizabeth Garrard Hall Professor of Early Childhood Education, recently presented an invited keynote talk on "An Anthropologist's Perspective on Quality in Early Childhood Education" at a European Commission conference on Early Childhood Education and Care hosted by the Lorris Maluguzzi Center in Geggio Emilia, Italy.
Dr. Bettina Love has been awarded a fellowship by the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute at Harvard University, the leading institute of African American studies in the country, which is directed by Henry Louis Gates. Love will spend the 2016 spring semester appointment creating a multimedia civics curriculum for older students using stories from contemporary activists and their views on how hip-hop music influenced their own education in social change. Previous fellows include Cornel West and Nell Irvin Painter.
Dr. Cheryl Fields-Smith, who specializes in home-schooling research, was recently quoted in a story published by The Atlantic on the rise of homeschooling among African American families. The story may be accessed here: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/02/the-rise-of-homeschooling-among-black-families/385543/
Dr. Brian Dotts and Dr. Deanna Cozart received Affordable Learning Georgia grants from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in order to create a full set of open-source books and materials for the EDUC 2110 and EDUC 2120 social foundations courses. These are required courses for most undergraduate teacher majors at UGA and other public universities throughout the state. The materials created by the grant will eliminate the need for expensive textbooks in these courses and provide substantial savings to students.
Dr. Bob Capuozzo began as Professor-in-Residence at J. J. Harris Elementary Charter School where he works with an instructional coach to align the supervision of student teachers with coaching efforts, and he participates in instructional leadership team meetings.
Dr. Sonia Janis began the year working on site as Professor-in-Residence at Cedar Shoals High School. Dr. Janis co-teaches a ninth-grade government class, which also serves as a laboratory classroom for her teacher candidates. She, along with Drs. Mardi Schmeichel and Jim Garrett, teach a social studies methods course at Cedar Shoals.
**Dr. Jennifer James **continues to teach her elementary social studies methods course on-site at Alps Road Elementary School.
Dr. Beth Tolley, is now in her fourth year at Fowler Drive Elementary School. The school was recently honored by the Georgia Department of Education as a "Reward School."
Dr. Janna Dresden has continued her work as the Director of the Office of School Engagement serving in a variety of roles in various schools in the Athens-Clarke County School District.
ETAP Graduate Students:
Two of our graduate students, James Gurney and Tanya Walker, were recipients of this year's Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards offered by the university's Graduate School. Both teaching assistants have spent the last three years teaching sections of our undergraduate EDUC courses with very high student evaluations. They have both worked diligently in maintaining academic integrity and student interest in social foundations courses. Both Gurney and Walker are graduating in May with Ph.D.s