Joseph Flynn is, through and through, an educator. And as the associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction viewed and absorbed the 39 pieces contained in the “Hateful Things” traveling exhibition from Ferris State University, he saw the great potential
Read moreCAHE graduate students find validation of paths via Phyllis Cunningham honors
Valronica Scales felt the call to work toward social justice while working in Chicago with low-income students and families. Some were undocumented. Some spoke no English. Most were people of color. “Because I spoke fluent Spanish, and had lived abroad for a
Read moreBlack, Brown & Bilingüe: Alums launch podcast while leading suburban schools
For Lissette Jacobson and Maurice McDavid, the connection began Day One. Both began working in DeKalb in August of 2011, when they attended an orientation for new teachers – and Jacobson couldn’t help but notice McDavid’s commanding voice in the room: “You’re
Read moreSport Management alum Jamaal Hines scores job leading after-school programs
Jamaal Hines grew up hooked on police procedurals on TV, imagining that he someday would solve crimes like the detectives on “CSI” and “NCIS” on behalf of innocent victims. Enrolling at Old Dominion University in his native Virginia, he earned a bachelor’s
Read moreSocial Justice Summer Camp 4.0 turns to podcasts to continue vital momentum
Joe Flynn heard the news without any sense of surprise. “It came out in late April that there was a disproportionate representation of African Americans and Latinos who have been contracting and, most importantly, dying from the virus,” says Flynn, an associate
Read moreEd Psych students join Daryl Dugas for presentation on ‘white fragility’
Talking about race is never easy. Secondary teaching candidates in NIU’s EPS 450: Classroom Management course, however, are growing more comfortable in conducting such discussions in respectful, productive ways – something their professor hopes will “change the conversation.” Daryl Dugas, an assistant
Read more‘Keep talking’: Educators witness strength, advocacy at Social Justice Summer Camp
They were different women of different ages, sitting in different rooms, hearing different words on different subjects at different times. Yet their response – their natural, human reaction – was the same. The proverbial lumps in the throat, the moisture of not-quite-yet
Read moreSocial Justice Summer Camp 3.0 to foster growth via discomfort, ‘intellectual threat’
Jennie Hueber felt uncomfortable at NIU’s first Social Justice Summer Camp in 2017 – and that was a good thing. Hueber, the director of curriculum and instruction for DeKalb School District 428, already had begun her personal and professional journey to recognize,
Read moreCommunity Learning Series explores concepts, challenges of social justice
Jocelyn Santana remembers going to protests and picket lines with her mother, a public school teacher, even though she was too young to understand what was happening. She remembers sitting among “brown and black bodies” in a remedial math classroom at her
Read moreCommunity Learning Series will explore social justice during April 11 discussion
Joe Flynn grew up with a clear sense of his primary role and duty in society. “I was always raised to think about where other people are coming from, and what struggles folks have, and that oftentimes the things that people have
Read moreSocial Justice Summer Camp 2.0 pushes educators to confront issues of diversity
Participants in last summer’s debut of NIU’s Social Justice Summer Camp gave James Cohen, Joseph Flynn and Michael Manderino a clear directive as they departed for home. Please, please do this again. And so they did, even if they had planned to
Read moreDACA-ready: NIU College of Ed prepares teachers empowered to advocate for all students
When President Trump acted this fall to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, Cynthia Taines immediately looked beyond the inflamed political discourse. Taines, an associate professor in the NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations, thought instead of
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