Internationalizing Education in Teacher Preparation

Presentation slides

AACTE’s Committee on Global Diversity is proud to host the University of Missouri-St Louis, College of Education, recipient of the 2022 AACTE Best Practice Award in Support of Global & International Perspectives.

This award, sponsored by AACTE’s Committee on Global Diversity, recognizes exemplary practice in the intercultural, global, cross-cultural, and international arenas and is presented each year at AACTE’s Annual Meeting.

The College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis launched a year-long effort to enhance the internationalizing of our teacher preparation programs. The main objectives were to initiate a professional learning community centered on globally competent teaching, integrate global perspectives in their teacher education programs, create and share globally infused curricula, and strengthen international partnerships. The project was a comprehensive approach targeting faculty, staff, and students. In this webinar, faculty & staff from the College of Education will share four of the initiatives from their year. These four initiatives serve as examples of how teacher preparation programs can support internationalization:

• Internationalizing Teaching and Learning Inquiry Circles
• Teaching Global Readiness Grand Seminar
• Integrating Global Readiness in Curriculum Outcomes and Standards

Speakers:

Shea Kerkhoff, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Shea Kerkhoff is an assistant professor of literacy and secondary education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She utilizes mixed methods to investigate critical, digital, and global literacies. Her research centers on teaching inquiry-based reading and source-based argumentation on issues of social and environmental justice. Shea is Co-PI on a large federal grant to promote teaching literacies comprehensively. Her work has been published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, and Reading Research Quarterly. She also serves as chair of AACTE’s Internationalizing Teacher Education Topical Action Group and as a member of the Committee on Global Diversity.

Natalie Bolton, Ph.D.
Director of Quality Assurance & Associate Professor

Natalie Bolton is an associate professor and director of quality assurance within the College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Bolton received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Organizational Development from the University of Louisville. Her research explores assessment, program evaluation, science of learning, education policy, student achievement, and social studies/civic education. She has a special interest in large-scale assessments, standards-based education reform, classroom-based formative assessment, standards-based grading practices, cognitive sciences, and program evaluation.

Erin Fastzkie, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Erin Fastzkie completed her Ph.D. in school psychology at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio and her APA/APPIC approved internship at the Louisiana School Psychology Internship Consortium (LAS-PIC) in New Orleans. Prior to moving to St. Louis, she worked as a school psychologist at a public and open enrollment middle/high school and in an urban high school in the 9th ward of New Orleans. McClure Fastzkie also provided supervision for doctoral students from Tulane University during their practicum and advanced practicum school-based experiences and obtained licensure as a psychologist in the state of Louisiana.

Miriam Jorge, Ph.D.
Allen B. and Helen S. Shopmaker Endowed Professor

Miriam Jorge serves as the Allen B. and Helen S. Shopmaker Endowed Professor of Education and International Studies. In this capacity, she is part of a network of other endowed faculty who promote the shared mission of the Des Lee Collaborative Vision with regard to sustained community partnership specifically with Springboard to Learning, Inc. Prior to joining UMSL,  Jorge was a professor of education and applied linguistics in Brazil. She is a sought-after lecturer and has published in relevant international journals and in various peer-reviewed books.

Stephanie D. Koscielski, M.Ed.
Senior Director of Clinical Experience and Partnership

Stephanie Koscielski, M.Ed. is the sr. director of clinical experience and school partnerships. Koscielski earned her master’s in elementary education at University of Missouri–St. Louis , has worked in K-12 and higher education for over 30 years, and has a passion for strong clinical collaborations, as evidenced by her leadership in the innovative Studio School model. She is committed to preparing strong, effective educational leaders who will improve student learning in K-12 education, agency-based work or human services industries. Koscielsk currently oversees the Studio School Model, with its 36 partner schools, and works closely with nearly every certification candidate.

Timothy Mikando Makubuya, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Timothy Mikando Makubuya is an assistant professor of education at University of Missouri- St. Louis. His primary research focuses on promoting wholeness, physical activity, health literacy, and teacher education. Makubuya teaches a number of courses including, psychological aspects of physical education, seminar in exercise science, and adult exercise leadership. Makubuya is a former Ugandan National distance athlete and also a former U.S. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship qualifier in the Men’s Marathon.

Alina Slapac, Ed.D.
Associate Professor

Alina Slapac is an associate professor of action research, curriculum and instruction at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Her research interests include teacher preparation and development with focus on global and multicultural education, culturally and linguistically responsive teaching, collaborative online international learning, and transformative pedagogy. She has been collaborating with educators from China, Norway, Romania, Spain, South Africa, and the United States on research and teaching. Slapac has been an UMSL Global Fellow and an UMSL Inquiry Circles Fellow on global competency.

Kim H. Song, Ed.D.
Professor

Kim H Song is a professor of the Department of Educator Preparation and Leadership of COE at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Applying translanguaging as a theory guide, her main research lines of inquiry examine (1) community translanguaging for multilingual family literacy development, (2) evidence-based teaching and learning; 3) intersection of language teaching and virtual coaching, 4) creativity in technology-mediated teaching for immigrant/refugee children in PK-12 contexts, and 5) equity in EL teaching and learning. Song’s equity-based professional development service entails not only as a professor at UMSL, but also as a resident of a global citizenship.