Northern Illinois University - Department of Curriculum and Instruction

04/29/2022

Consider attending our Social Justice Summer Camp 5.0 for Educators. We have a great line up of keynote speakers! Check out a brief blurb about our fourth speaker.

Dr. J. Q. Adams has spent his entire academic career studying and teaching about multicultural education and diversity. With more than 25 years at Western Illinois University, Dr. Adams has both created and taught undergraduate and graduate multicultural courses. Dr. Adams has been recognized for excellence as a teacher and a mentor, and he has served as acting Director of African American Studies and Director of the Educational Opportunity Program.

Notably, Dr. Adams has developed and taught three editions of the PBS course, Dealing with Diversity, which has been taught at over 150 colleges and universities across the United States. Dr. Adams has also created a ten-hour DVD course that provides an in-depth exploration of teaching and learning about diversity in the United States.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Adams has served as a multicultural awareness consultant for school districts, principals’ organizations, health care providers, social service agencies, and police departments, as well as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroads. He continues to offer consulting services, conference presentations, and workshops drawing from his vast experience and his ongoing research.

04/29/2022

Consider attending our Social Justice Summer Camp 5.0 for Educators. We have a great line up of keynote speakers! Check out a brief blurb about our third speaker.

Dr. Leslie David Burns is an Associate Professor of Literacy in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Kentucky, and he serves as both Program Chair of Secondary English Education and a member of the Literacy Program Faculty. Dr. Burns is the author of the first national standard for social justice in teaching and teacher education to be implemented in US history.

Focusing on policy, Dr. Burns elucidates the fundamental role of social justice in public education and professional teacher education. He also highlights how social justice teaching can be understood beyond an orientation for professional educators as a fundamental tenet and primary consideration of public education overall.

Within his book, Change Matters: Critical Essays on Moving Social Justice Research from Theory to Policy, Dr. Burns provides researchers, university instructors, and preservice and inservice teachers with a framework that pivots social justice toward policy. This work focuses on teaching about the intersections between teaching for social change and teaching about social injustices, and the enactment of social justice methodologies.
Dr. Burns has also edited the “Social Justice Across Contexts in Education” book series which discusses how social justice mediates and disrupts systemic and structural inequities across early childhood, K-12 and postsecondary disciplinary, interdisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary educational contexts. The series constructs, advances, and supports socially just policies and practices for all individuals and groups across the spectrum of our society’s education system.

04/29/2022

Consider attending our Social Justice Summer Camp 5.0 for Educators. We have a great line up of keynote speakers! Check out a brief blurb about our second speaker.

Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad is an associate professor of Language and Literacy at Georgia State University, and she serves as the director of the Urban Literacy Collaborative and Clinic. Additionally, she works with teachers and young people across the United States and South Africa in best practices in equity, anti-racism and culturally and historically responsive instruction.

Dr. Muhammad’s research take ups the ways in which literacy was defined historically within black communities, particularly in black literary societies. Deriving a 4 part equity model her research delineates how black communities practice literacy to develop 4 frames: identity, skills, intellectualism, and criticality. Dr. Muhhamad uses her equity to shape the national conversation for educating youth that have been underserved, particularly about how education needs to be responsive to student identities.

Dr. Muhammad has received numerous national awards, and she the author of the best-selling book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Model for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy inspiring readers about what it means to enact culturally and historically responsive instruction. Dr. Muhammad engage teachers in practicing researched-based equity practices and offer pedagogical examples of lesson and unit plans that honor the cultural and linguistic diversity of our students.

04/29/2022

Consider attending our Social Justice Summer Camp 5.0 for Educators. We have a great line up of keynote speakers! Check out a brief blurb about our first speaker.

Dr. Venus E. Evans-Winters (Dr. V) is a certified clinical trauma professional with training in EDMR, hypnotherapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Dr. V helps adolescents and adults heal from PTSD derived from race-based trauma inside or outside of schools, childhood family violence, relationship violence and/or sexual violence. Dr. V is proudly listed as a "highly qualified, culturally competent" service provider for Black girls and women on the Therapy for Black Girls directory and is a "verified" clinical professional on Psychology Today.

Dr. V is a bold truth-teller, cultural worker, and healer who interweaves humanizing dialogue, mindfulness, and story-telling into her presentations and writing. She believes that the role of educators and healers is to help individuals, families, and communities gain knowledge about themselves, their history, and cultural traditions.

Educators and social justice activists will find deep insights from reading her books, academic articles, and online commentary on the intersectionality of race, class, and gender in education, social identity, and psychological development. Dr. V is recognized nationally and internationally. Her research on gender, race, and culture has been recognized by the Obama administration and recently the "United State of Women" (USOW).

03/31/2022

Help us in congratulating our very own Dr. Melanie Koss on her recognition by the Honors Program with the Great Professor Award. Congratulations, Dr. Koss!

Melanie Koss Some people are born into their callings. Consider Melanie Koss. “I just grew up loving books. I don’t ever remember a time when I wasn’t a book lover. I learned to read very young, and even before I learned to read, I would carry around books and ‘read’ the pictures, accordin...

03/29/2021

Make an ! Please support the crowdfunding campaign for , which will help students near the finish line of their degrees to cross the stage at commencement. Donation Link

Help NIU Foundation raise $15,000 for the project: Project Graduate. Your gift will make a difference!

12/10/2020

https://cedu.news.niu.edu/2020/11/17/clinical-supervisor-megan-gerken-finds-bright-workarounds-for-covids-puzzles/

Megan Gerken had Monday, March 16, circled on her calendar. That was the day the clinical supervisor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction expected to welcome representatives from Deans for Impact, who were coming to observe a pilot round of their

06/29/2020

Much of the history of racism has been obscured, Joseph Flynn tells 94.9 WDKB, and “without understanding that history, it’s hard to create or paint an accurate picture of what racism really looks like and what the experience of racism in America is.” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3038688126227904 Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University Graduate School Northern Illinois University Alumni Association

06/23/2020

“We have begun to speak more openly about issues related to identity, diversity, respect and just practices,” Flynn said. “I do believe there is more we all can do, and it starts with listening, sharing and being open.”

Celebrating the unique faculty who make Northern Illinois University a thriving community.

06/23/2020

Learn a bit more about Jorie O’Brien, Middle Level Program Advisor, College of Education!

Celebrating the unique faculty and staff who make Northern Illinois University a thriving community.

06/23/2020

Learn a bit more about Jennifer “Jenny” Johnson,
Director of Teacher Preparation and Development, College of Education!

Celebrating the unique faculty who make Northern Illinois University a thriving community.