New Center of Pedagogy will support educator preparation efforts at Wright State

Brian Boyd, director of the Center of Pedagogy and associate professor of mathematics education.

Wright State’s College of Education and Human Services has established a new Center of Pedagogy as a coordinating structure for building and sustaining collaborative relationships among P-12 educators, university faculty and community stakeholders to improve programs that prepare educators and P-12 student achievement.

Brian Boyd, Ph.D., director of the Center of Pedagogy and associate professor of mathematics education, said the center will coordinate a number of the college’s important initiatives.

“We do a lot of work preparing people to work in school and community organizations,” he said. “The center is a way to organize around that and do things that are beneficial for those organizations and benefit [CEHS] programs that prepare candidates to work in those organizations and schools.”

Charlotte Harris, dean of the College of Education and Human Services, said the center will help the college promote the improvement of teaching and learning in a time of continuous change.

“It’s so important for the nation that we educate and produce good citizens,” she said.

Through the Center of Pedagogy, the college will enhance its partnership relationships with local P-12 school districts and community organizations, working collaboratively to meet school needs and community expectations.

“As someone who is trying to help people become good math teachers when they leave here, I feel like I can do a better job of that if I’m connected to other practicing math teachers in the field,” Boyd said.

Partnership school districts include Bellbrook-Sugarcreek, Dayton Public, the Dayton Regional STEM School, Fairborn, Huber Heights, Milton Union, Ripley Union Lewis Huntington, Trotwood, Troy and West Carrollton.

The center will also support the college’s collaborative relationships with Wright State’s College of Liberal Arts and College of Science and Mathematics. A number of faculty who teach teacher-preparation courses have joint appointments within those colleges.

Boyd, who has a joint appointment in CEHS and COSM, said the center intends to help faculty better prepare teacher candidates.

The center will increase opportunities for faculty involvement in the college’s partner organizations, providing support, expertise and resources to carry out research that demonstrates best practices for teachers, education programs and students.

“I want the Center of Pedagogy to be known for its research, it’s field-based research that then goes on to impact what we do and how we do it and improve outcomes,” Harris said.

The new center will also serve as a clearinghouse for professional expertise by connecting P-12 educators and university faculty, and promoting professional development opportunities.

“We’re trying to provide a service and enhance what’s happening in their classrooms,” Boyd said.

Next spring, the college will hold its third annual Wright State Network for Educational Renewal conference, which will focus on best teaching practices in P-12 schools and will highlight work faculty are engaged in with teacher candidates.

The center will also oversee the college’s Educator Preparation Advisory Council, which includes Wright State faculty and P-12 school representatives. The council provides guidance to assure the college’s educator preparation programs prepare educators whose knowledge and skills are aligned with the needs of P-12 students.

Since 2006, the college has also selected a teacher from one of its partnership districts to spend a year at CEHS teaching, supervising teacher candidates and contributing to educator preparation programs.

“Having a visiting P-12 teacher participating in the preparation of educators gives our programs more validity,” Harris said.