 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Academic Areas & Divisions
Curriculum & Instruction
Student Profiles: Teaching and Curriculum
Educational Technology | Language & Literacy | Mathematics Education | Multicultural Education | Science Education | Social Studies Education | Teaching and Curriculum
Marisa Bier
I am a doctoral student in Curriculum & Instruction focusing on both adolescent literacy and teacher learning within school-university partnerships. That is, how do schools and universities engage in work together that supports simultaneous renewal of our programs? Prior to coming to the UW, I was a special education teacher for 9 years in New Jersey and served as a school liaison to Montclair State University, a member of the National Network for Educational Renewal. It was in this role that I learned the value and importance of partnership work in preparing new teachers, and supporting the work that we do both as teachers and teacher educators.
Kelly Fisher
I’m a Master’s in Education student in the Curriculum & Instruction program. I work at a local hospital in a consulting department – we teach and help implement "lean manufacturing" principles in a health care setting. I’m not quite ready to leave my current profession to go into teaching, but the C&I program (and particularly EDLPS classes) have been a great resource and learning experience. My research interests include the idea of power and knowledge - specifically, how "teaching up" (i.e., teaching one’s supervisor, mentor, or teacher, thereby inverting traditional roles) can complicate the power dynamic between two people.
Alison Swain
I came to University of Washington’s College of Education after 3 years experience teaching 8th grade Humanities at Woodward Academy, an independent school in Atlanta, GA. I completed my first year at IslandWood’s residential campus, focusing my studies on place-based and environment education. My culminating project involved writing and teaching curriculum based on urban environments and the environmental justice movement to urban elementary students participating in IslandWood’s four-day School Overnight Program. I hope to return to teaching or working in administration in an independent school upon graduation.
Lisa Kuh
After working with young children and teachers in early childhood settings for 18 years, I entered the doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Teacher Education. Bill McDiarmid is my advisor. My work has given me the chance to explore issues around teacher education and professional development as a researcher and as a practitioner. As a C&I student, my content interests are child development, socio-historical foundations of education, and teacher learning in the context of school reform. My dissertation research will focus on the collaborative experiences of early childhood educators and the impact of those experiences on teachers’ reflective and enacted practice. I am also interested in the experiences of children whose teachers are engaged in collaborative work. I currently live and work in the Boston area.
Dave McMillan
I am a first year PhD student working in Curriculum and Instruction. My interests include pre-service teacher education, arts and project based math integration, specifically within the intermediate classroom (3-6th grades). I have ten years of teaching experience at the intermediate elementary level with personal investment in multi-age instruction, the use of self-monitoring behavior management and individualized instruction, environmental education, and creating original student operas. My outside interests include being and early-adopter technophile and gardening in my backyard on Beacon Hill after the pseudo swamp dries up for the season.
Paul Nichols
Before entering the doctoral program in Curriculum & Instruction, the bulk of my teaching and administrative work occurred in the Boston Public Schools. I taught English (Middle School and High School--all grades). I began moving toward administration when I took a high school Guidance Counselor’s job at Boston Latin Academy. There I gave counsel to 7th and 8th graders struggling to remain in that prestigious institution when I realized that my 'best use' was with students struggling to stay alive. I became a Cluster Coordinator, and an Assistant Headmaster in Boston. I then applied for a Principalship of a struggling high school in Providence, RI, where I served for three years.
I’m interested in innovation and a different approach to the age old problem of keeping kids interested in school. I am working on the crisis of why upwards of 50% of our Hispanic and African American students are dropping out of school--and how can we intervene? My advisor is Bill McDiarmid.
P. Tucker Szymkowicz
Before entering the C & I Master’s program at UW, I taught mostly in the field of outdoor/environmental education and being a ski bum each winter. My primary focus during my master’s program was designing field-based study abroad programs for humanities students. My final project consisted of designing a field based study abroad program for Freshmen and Sophomores in college to go to Guatemala for a three-week intensive course. I am currently still working on the Guatemala course while spending my summer working for Outward Bound in Montana. My advisor was Mark Windschitl.
Pete Zeller
Currently, I enjoy teaching language arts in Marysville; however, I began my teaching career in NYC two years earlier. As a Masters student, my emphasis is in literacy instruction; particularly, I am interested in how informal assessment may be applied to a well-rounded, research-based independent reading program. My studies have helped me focus on the individual needs of students by combining literacy strategy advocacy with the most current research available.
Glenda Hanson
For the past ten years I have been teaching legal terminology and procedures, computer applications, English grammar and writing, law office skills and other courses in the 11-month Legal Secretary/Legal Assistant program at Renton Technical College. I am applying what I am learning in the Master’s Program in Curriculum and Instruction to my practice and have effected some very positive changes in the program’s curriculum and my approach to teaching. I am especially interested in distance learning and setting up hybrid classes so that our program can evolve in ways that are engaging, effective, and flexible. Bill McDiarmid is my advisor.
Curriculum & Instruction
