As a undergraduate at
GSU, worked as a full-time, financial aid/work-study student for the Assistant
Dean for Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Human Learning and
Development. Responded very positively to small class size and to
Competency-based Instructional Model used at GSU at that time. Became a
student leader who served on college committees and was awarded multiple Talent
Scholarships during years of attendance at GSU. Graduated from GSU with a
BA in Urban Teacher Education and certification in Early Childhood Special and
K-9 Education. Worked for more than thirty years as a classroom aide and
teacher at differing grade levels for two progressive school districts in Illinois,
and was able to maintain pedagogical knowledge at the "cutting
edge". Later, while teaching full-time, graduated from St. Xavier
University with a MA in Educational Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum
and Instruction. Also, as Lead Teacher, worked at the short-lived GSU
Charter School and taught the Grades 2-3-4 Multiage Class using
learner-centered, Reggio Emilia-Inspired, and Project-based instructional
approach. Always have been student-centered and focused on facilitating
students in "learning how to learn effectively" instead of focusing
only on teaching students "what to learn".
Mixed methods
dissertation completed in 2014. Topic was "DEVELOPING CULTURAL
COMPETENCE: PRESERVICE TEACHER AND FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE
TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY". Prior to the dissertation, developed and
presented teacher-friendly, hands-on workshops and professional development
sessions for school districts and educational institutions in the
Southland. Also presented sessions at the Illinois State Kindergarten
Conference for multiple years. As a "practitioner" my focus is
on continually improving the teaching practice of myself as a professional
educator so that I can contribute the same to my education students. My
courses embed research-based instructional practices and strategies so that
education students get to experience directly the effect that student
motivation, engagement, and choice have upon the learning process. In
effect. as Dewey suggested, the classroom is the laboratory of the teacher;
therefore, our classes give educators another perspective on the complexities
involved in successful student learning or self-efficacy.