College of Education continues its series of educational events

by Debra Johnson | Published December 11, 2013

The fall semester opened with the annual College of Education (COE) Fall Conference for faculty and staff on September 3, 2013 in the John W. Porter Building. New staff members and faculty promotions were announced, awards were presented, and the year-in-review and plans for moving the COE forward in 2013-14 were discussed.

The COE hosted an educational conference, "Educator Preparation: A Call to Action in Michigan" on November 1, 2013. The keynote speaker was Marilyn Cochran-Smith, from Boston College University who presented on, "The New Landscape of Teacher Education: Trends and Challenges." Conference attendees included Michigan PK-12 school administrators and teachers, administrators and university professors.

On June 16, 2013, the COE began its 2013-14 Porter Chair Speaker Series with guest speaker, Jonathan Kozol, who presented his talk on "Fire in the Ashes: Race, Justice, and the Struggle for Survival in our Urban Neighborhoods and Schools." Kozol has spent most of his life advocating for equal opportunities within public schools for every child.

On November 6, 2013, the 2013-14 Porter Chair Speaker Series continued its esteemed lecture series with documentary filmmaker, Dan Habib. Habib screened and discussed his latest documentary film "Restraint and Seclusion: Hear Our Stories," which documented the devastating experiences of students in public schools resulting from these practices. He is a compelling guest speaker and a passionate supporter for inclusion. For more information, visit the Porter Chair Speaker Series site.

For the first time, the annual Brehm Symposium was expanded into a full day conference hosted by The Delores Soderquist Brehm Center for Special Education Scholarship and Research and the EMU Brehm Alumni Association. The conference, entitled "Connecting the Dots: Building Inclusive Societies", took place on November 9, 2013 and was a huge success and very well attended. For more information, visit the conference site.