Six faculty members from Niagara University’s College of Education presented their research at the New York State Association of Teacher Educators/New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s annual fall conference, held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Oct. 27-28, 2022. This year’s conference, “Seeking Solidarity: Preparing Educators in and for Challenging Times,” brought together stakeholders to explore ways to prepare educators to participate in challenging educational conversations; work collaboratively to build solidarity and help prepare and support educators as they engage in complex work; and promote and support an informed citizenry.
Presenters included Dr. Caitlin Riegel, Dr. Asma Ahmed, Dr. Mary Ellen Bardsley, Dr. Dennis Garland, Dr. Karen Poland, and Dr. Paul Vermette.
Dr. Riegel offered ways to prepare educators for the ever-changing demands of the field, as well as for unforeseen challenging times, in her presentation, “Anticipating Burnout: Taking Preventative Measures in Educator Preparation Programs to Combat the Teacher Shortage.”
Dr. Ahmed shared ways to create safe havens for Muslim youth in his presentation, “Understanding and Confronting Islamophobia in Schools.”
Dr. Garland facilitated a roundtable on his work with undergraduate college students and athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities in his Special Olympics: Coaching and Games Management course, and how the course impacted participants' self-esteem and attitudes toward intellectual disability.
Dr. Poland’s roundtable discussion, “The Rugg Textbook Controversy: Applying yesterday's lessons to today's curricular battles” illustrated how the national discourse affects local decisions and offered an interesting perspective about how curricular decisions are made in a democratic society.
Dr. Poland joined her colleagues, Drs. Bardsley and Vermette, for a roundtable that shared how their “Invent-a-Kid” strategy helped their students better understand the developmental and contextual realities of schoolchildren.
The New York State Association of Teacher Educators, the state affiliate of the national Association of Teacher Educators, is an individual membership organization of teacher educators from colleges and universities, elementary and secondary schools, and teacher centers and institutes committed to the highest quality teacher education in New York state.
The New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the state-level affiliate of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, is an institutional membership organization representing New York state institutions of higher education who prepare teachers and other professional educators.