Education
- B.A., Grove City College
- M.S. Butler University
- Ph.D., Ed.D. Indiana University.
Research & Academic Interests
- Service Learning for Multicultural Values
Specific Courses or Specialties
- Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
- English education classes
- Supervision of student teachers
I had the honor of creating the now required class Culturally Relevant Pedagogy upon returning to GCC as a faculty member. As an alumna, I thought this was a class that was missing from the education department curricula. I taught in the inner city and knew it is a difficult, but important setting for our teachers. Students must be prepared for the cultural diversity they will face in their classrooms. I am proud that we now are graduating students who have a passion for serving in tough areas and are out there impacting thousands of students who need them most.
Selected Publications
- Multicultural Education for Christian Educators.
- “Asian, Latino, and African-American Families’ Perspectives and Involvement in American Schools.” Proceedings from the Center for Vision and Values Annual Conference. Spring 2015.
- “Called to Something Higher: The Impact that Shakespeare and Community Have on Students’ Critical Thinking and Sense of Responsibility.” Journal of Social Sciences Research. Spring 2014.
Advice for Students
I have two pieces of advice I want my students to leave my classroom with. First, they need to put God in the center of their teaching. They need to ask the Holy Spirit to help them find the students who are struggling mentally, spiritually, or physically. They need to pray every day that they go to school that God will use them as His instrument. They need to pray for their students as well. I also tell my students that the best teachers in our field keep learning after they leave our campus. I try to instill in my students a passion for learning from other educators by taking them to national conferences where they learn the most recent trends in our field. I also have them do journal reviews where they critique journal articles from the field so that they get in the habit of reading from other great educators.