Group of presenters at conference

Photo provided by Dr. Golden from CEE. Pictured from left to right: Tim San Pedro of Ohio State University, Dr. Golden , Anne Elrod Whitney of Pennsylvania State University (moderator of the panel), Tonya Perry of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Jenell Igeleke Penn, doctoral student at Ohio State University.

By Cala Gin

While Chapman students were busy this summer with travel, internships, and summer jobs, many professors in the Attallah College of Educational Studies were busy sharing and gaining insights on important issues facing education.  As many of our Attallah College faculty are key figures in their fields, they often are invited to speak about their scholarship.  Here are two examples of some of the work advanced by our professors during summer break:

Dr. Quaylan Allen, Assistant Professor of Integrated Educational Studies, was invited by the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education to serve as the keynote speaker for the 2nd Annual Teaching and Learning National Institute (http://wacenter.evergreen.edu/tlni/index.html) on his research regarding Black male college students.  His keynote, entitled “Through the Lens of Black Male Achievers: Factors Contributing to Academic Success,” focused on the cultural wealth of Black males navigating postsecondary institutions, and the factors they describe as contributing to or limiting their college readiness and success – ranging from pre-college preparedness to college student persistence.  Dr. Allen’s talk drew upon his broader line of scholarship in which he examines the educational and social mobility of Black males as they advance from high school to college and into the workforce.  Dr. Allen examines many of the economic, political, and cultural issues facing Black male students in P-20 education, including what he describes as “particular K-12 and postsecondary policies and practices [that] provide opportunities or create barriers for culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse communities.”

Dr. Noah Golden, Assistant Professor of Integrated Educational Studies, was invited by colleagues at Pennsylvania State University and Ohio State University to serve as an opening plenary speaker for the Conference on English Education (CEE) biannual conference, a division of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).  During the plenary session entitled Passion and Compassion – A Conversation among English Education Friends, Dr. Golden addressed the importance of “creating humanizing spaces in English education” and focused on how to resist the “de-professionalization and dehumanization” that has taken over many current educational reforms.  Sharing experiences from his own career in education, both of strong work and shortcomings, Dr. Golden emphasized what he believes to be the ethical obligations of researchers, especially when “working with marginalized youth and future educators of marginalized youth.”