Happenings in the School of Education

The Mayan Calendars: Myths and Meaning
Dr. Peggy Cain presented The Mayan Calendars: Myths and Meaning at the Clark Planetarium Night School.

International Transformative Learning Conference
Dr. Peggy Cain and Dr. Jennifer Kushner (University of Wisconsin-Extension) presented a paper at the 10th International Transformative Learning Conference entitled Community leadership: Transforming our models and ourselves. The paper focused on leaderless organizing and collective impact as transformative learning processes.

Exploring Women's Learning
Susan Seymour, adjunct instructor, recently published Exploring women's learning about gender diversity in a religiously conservative state in America in the Advancing Women in Leadership Journal with co-author Jan Hansen.

Westminster Community Awards
At the Appreciation Awards Gala on January 29, 2010, two of the four awards were given to School of Education faculty.   Professor Peggy Cain received the Westminster Leadership Award in recognition of her work in creating the new Master of Arts in Community Leadership program and her direction of the Master of Education program for the past several years.   Professor Tim Carr was given the Community Outreach Award for his volunteer work with numerous community organizations. This past year Prof. Carr received a Citation Award for his service to high school athletics by the National Federation of High Schools—one of six individuals recognized in the state of Utah.

“Making Waves”
"Making Waves," co-authored by Professor Heidi Van Ert and her former student Amanda Waterhouse, was included in the Utah Shakespearean Festival’s New American Playwrights Project, August and September, 2010, in Cedar City.
The play is a series of stories told by teachers. One is an 80-year-old teacher who is still in the classroom; others come from first-year teachers and inner-city educators. The monologues range from accounts of teaching a student English to incidents of abuse in students’ homes, or the time a student asked a teacher out.
The play was one three selected for the Project from more than 150 submissions.

Inciting Change: Professor Marilee Coles-Ritchie
"Inciting Change in Secondary English Language Programs: The Case of Cherry High School (Secondary Education in a Changing World)," by Marilee Coles-Ritchie, Ph.D., was published September 2009.  Described on one site as: "The way many secondary schools are structured limits the ability of immigrant English Learners to achieve academically and develop social networks, often resulting in hyper-segregated learning experiences. This book explores the journey of a group of teachers in a secondary school as they work to change the ESL program for immigrants in their school. As this group of teachers worked to create a program that supported their students’ home languages and funds of knowledge, structures within the school, and Discourses from other teachers, administrators, and the nation/community both constrained/enabled the teachers to create an equitable learning environment."

Master of Arts in Community Leadership (MACL)
At the 2011 Commencement exercises, the first graduates of the Masters of Arts in Community Leadership program received their degrees. An MACL degree gives students the ability to lead and manage non-profit organizations, develop successful social service and community outreach programs, and organize grassroots efforts and dialogue. One unique feature of this program is that it prepares people to work in a wide variety of settings, ranging from corporate philanthropy and non-profit organizations, to governmental positions and grassroots groups. Program coursework teaches management, leadership, communications, advocacy and educational skills. The degree program is based on collaborative efforts from Westminster’s Schools of Business, Nursing and Health Sciences, Education and Arts and Sciences.

Distinguished Program in Teacher Education
Westminster College School of Education was awarded, "Distinguished Program in Teacher Education," at the 2008 Annual Utah Association of Teacher Education (UATE).  The award was received for the School's innovative, "Funds of Knowledge" MAT program.