The following interview was compiled by Terri Lindenberg.
What do you hope students take away from your class?
I hope students take away a sense of wonderment about learning, about humans, and about how we gain and distribute knowledge itself. By studying social and cultural psychology, they can understand and build upon our common humanity to promote positive changes in their current and future communities.
Individually, I hope they develop a stronger sense of self-identity and that the course develops their self-efficacy to not only do hard things, but to seek them out. Aspirationally, I desire that the class allows them to become more open-minded, reflective, and curious about the world and people around them.
What is your favorite class or lesson to teach?
I love teaching research methods. While it isn’t a specific topic, to me, it is by far the most rewarding element of the course. Helping students understand the epistemological underpinnings of our discipline is so much fun. In choosing a specific topic, I enjoy exploring social identity theory with students. This topic can assist young adults to understand intersectionality and its impacts on their schemas, cognition, and behavior. This, in turn, aids in creating a classroom community where individuals’ whole selves are seen, recognized, and valued.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
I appreciate working in a career where we bring people together to focus on the development of young people and to learn about the world. I like the cyclical nature of the school year that allows for fresh starts, new beginnings, and the opportunity to continue to adapt and grow.
Is there a teacher or colleague who especially inspired you?
The colleagues who inspire me daily include:
- Cheri Steckel, my principal and mentor, who challenges me to believe in myself as a community builder and charges me to do hard things and to do them with integrity.
- Becky Kraft, with whom I share a leadership role as coordinators of the IB Diploma Programme. Beyond teaching world religions, she inspires me to seek out opportunities to help students develop their voice and agency in the classroom and through extracurricular experiences. Her guidance helps me maintain a mindset of assessing, supporting, and advocating for each student as individual humans.
- Scott Milam, a chemistry teaching colleague who voraciously reads and talks about all sorts of nonfiction books. His insistence on centering student thinking and learning in every conversation about teaching shapes my classroom approach.
- Amanda Williams, a biology and theory of knowledge teacher, who models the importance of looking at the world through many lenses and disciplines, being curious, and being unapologetically excited about all the cool things in the world; both human and nonhuman.
These four educators are my squad, the group of individuals whose opinions I can rely on to keep me operating within my professional and personal values. They tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear, and they insist on perpetual reflection. Their willingness to be vulnerable with their peers and students is fundamental to their personal—and our collective—successes in serving students and our profession.
What advice would you give to newer and/or veteran teachers of psychology?
- Step 1: Seek out and build your squad. They can come from inside or outside of your department or school. If you need help doing this, read Brené Brown’s Daring Greatlyopens in new window.
- Step 2: Join STPopens in new window and TOPSS. The resources that they curate and provide are unmatched. Many of the authors are on Twitter; find them, follow them, and begin actively participating in the discourse.
- Step 3: Read more. The Books for Psychology Classopens in new window blog has curated and categorized many books, linking them to relevant topics. Reading trade books will help boost your content knowledge, your storytelling, and your excitement for the subject.
- Step 4: Reach out and connect. Many psychology teachers are (professionally) by themselves at their schools. If your school doesn’t have another psychology teacher, create your own professional learning network by connecting with a nearby psychology teacher. Need help figuring out who they are? E-mail the administrator or guidance counselor at nearby schools. They can connect you.
- Step 5: Read, think, and dialogue about assessment more than what you are currently doing. Teachers and schools spend a lot of time thinking and/or working on our written and taught curriculum. Assessment is generally neglected in schools of education, district-provided professional development, professional learning communities, etc. Your growth in this area will positively impact learning in your classroom.
What does it mean to you to receive the STP Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Award?
This award is named after a high school teacher who wanted additional psychology coursework and training in order to better serve her students. She applied, enrolled, and worked as a research assistant for Bill McKeachieopens in new window at the University of Michigan. Beyond my psychology classroom, I teach at the University of Michigan in the School of Education, where I mentor future teachers on topics including developing written curriculum and their instructional and assessment practices. These connections to the University of Michigan and to the teaching of psychology are appreciated and motivating.