Student Spotlight

Jameson Stell

Jameson Stell (left and depicted here with his students) is a Ph.D candidate in our Curriculum and Instruction program. His social justice scholarship interests center around the problematization and deconstruction of taken for granted educational concepts such as growth mindset through critical linguistic analysis informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics. A brief excerpt from one of Jameson’s papers illustrates the significance of his quest and the insight of his thinking.

“Growth mindset places the onus for disparities in academic achievement not on differences in intelligence, but on differences in individual effort. While this removes the stigma of cognitive deficiency from individuals belonging to historically-marginalized groups, the deficit thinking is simply imputed to another form of “internal deficienc[y]”, namely “motivational limitations” (p. xi). The explanation for low achievement that was previously construed as inherent unintelligence has simply been transmuted into lack of effort.”

Apart from his studies, Jameson is a full time teacher in the World Languages department at Forest Hill Community High school. He has taken on an important role of advisor in the Latinos in Action Program at his school. The program is designed to empower Latino youth to lead and strengthen their communities.

The video below shows Jameson teaching a leadership class for students enrolled in the program. The class emphasizes leadership skills while offering opportunities for community service, such as tutoring and mentoring young students in elementary schools.

Our Curriculum and Instruction Ph.D. program is not only strengthened by Jameson’s excellence in scholarship, service, and teaching. His colleagues, classmates, professors, and students give account of a kind, committed, and down-to-earth educator always eager to learn and open to inquiry and reflection. Jameson embodies our program’s vision to form leaders and bridge builders, a scholar equally committed to rigorous and principled data gathering and analysis with a clear focus on the "big picture" and practical implications and applications of research.

Simone Tuinhof de Moed

Simone Tuinhof de Moed presented with Dr. Evelyn Torrey at the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), in San Diego, CA. Kudos to both ladies for their work and dedication to English Learners.
Presentation Title: Help! I Don’t Speak their Language What Strategies can I use if I don’t speak the language(s) of my ELs? Although ESOL uses English as the language of instruction, how can teachers help ELs achieve success by incorporating their first languages when teaching? What works and doesn’t work? How to infuse technology to promote heritage language development? Pictured L-R: Simone Tuinhof de Moed, Dr. Antonia Darder from Loyola Marymount University, and Dr. Mario Castaneda from California State University-LA.

Allyson Hall

Allyson Hall has been chosen to be an Agora Ambassador. The Agora Project is a year-long inquiry into ways Florida Atlantic University might better promote a campus culture of awareness and understanding for the practice of civility and civil discourse in an environment of free speech, academic freedom and open dialogue. We are pleased to have our own CCEI doctoral student representing our college. Congratulations Allyson!

Martha Brown, Kerri Kerr, and Cynthia Maceda

Martha Brown, Kerri Kerr, and Cynthia Maceda presented in February at the FAU Symposium, “Eugenics: Race, Public Health and the Science of Nationalism”. We applaud this great collaboration between two of our doctoral students and Cynthia Maceda, an undergraduate student in the department of Teaching and Learnig. Presentation Title: Eugenics in Education: The Effects of Tracking and Zero Tolerance Policies on African American Students. Pictured L-R: Kerri Kerr, Cynthia Maceda, and Martha Brown.

Katie Wolfe

Katie Wolfe has been invited by the University of Cambridge, UK to speak at the "Teaching Our Own & Other Faiths in Schools: International Issues in Religious Education" conference on March 21st to 22nd. She along with a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School will be presenting "A Workshop on the Separation of Church and State and Its Effects on American Education" for both American and English teachers, students, and professors. Additionally, during her visit to Cambridge, she will be participating on March 24th in a symposium hosted by the Faculty of Education; there she will discuss her current research, "Is there a future for Religion/Religious Studies Programs? A Content Analysis of Selected Higher Educational Institutions."