The West Virginia University College of Education and Human Services’ 13th annual Inquiry Celebration is April 19 at Lakeview Golf Resort and Spa. The event unites pre-service and in-service teachers and teacher educators in discussions about the future of education and how classroom research can be used as a tool to address many of the dilemmas teachers face.
The conference begins with an opening address at 8:15 a.m. Four concurrent sessions, which include presentations by prospective, as well as practicing teachers, will take place over the course of the day. In addition to the students in WVU’s five-year teacher education program, research presenters include faculty from the Benedum Collaborative Professional Development Network which includes schools in Monongalia, Marion, Harrison, Preston and Taylor counties.
Dr. Jason Jude Smith, clinical faculty in Curriculum and Instruction will give the keynote address. Dr. Smith received his Ph.D. from WVU in 2012 and has made significant contributions to developing, implementing and continually questioning how WVU can best work with prospective and practicing teachers who wish to gain the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to ensure inquiry is a part of their practice.
His dissertation Preservice Teacher Development of Perspectives Towards Inquiry Through Classroom Research, explored how pre-service teachers developed the perspectives and practices necessary to employ classroom research to address the dilemmas of teacher practice and the needs of their students. He will also share the many circumstances that served as barriers or facilitators to the development of pre-service teachers’ perspectives towards inquiry. He found that some prospective teachers were able to overcome the barriers they faced, while others were not, and he will discuss the implications of these findings for teacher education and teacher professional development.
This conference is open to anyone who has an interest in teacher research and wishes to hear about the innovative practices being implemented in classrooms. For more information, contact Lisa Barnette at 304-293-6762 or lisa.barnette@mail.wvu.edu. Also, more details will be available at http://benedumcollaborative.wvu.edu/.
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cz/02/04/13
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CONTACT: Christie Zachary, Education and Human Services
304.293.5703, christie.zachary@mail.wvu.edu