VCU School of Education hosts annual Research Colloquium

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The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education presents its annual Research Colloquium, focused on education research that helps prepare teachers to serve in urban schools. Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Ph.D., Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools and director of the doctoral program in curriculum and instruction at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College, will deliver the keynote address.

“Teacher Preparation for Urban Schools: A Perspective from Research” will be held Monday, Jan. 26, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the University Student Commons, Richmond Salons, 907 Floyd Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

“Dr. Cochran-Smith is one of the most knowledgeable and highly respected field leaders in research related to teacher education and evaluation,” said School of Education Dean Christine Walther-Thomas, Ph.D. “Most of her work examines teaching in urban settings so we are thrilled to have her as a speaker for the Research Colloquium, as we, in the School of Education, continue to focus our efforts on effective preparation of the next generation of teachers.”  

A teacher-education scholar and practitioner for nearly 30 years, Cochran-Smith is a frequent presenter nationally and internationally and is widely known for her work in teacher education research, practice and policy. She is committed to teaching and teacher education for social justice with inquiry as the centerpiece.

Drawing on a major new review of more than 1,500 studies of preprofessional teacher education, the colloquium will focus on what research on teacher education can tell us about preparing teachers for urban schools. The session will connect and critique three lines of research, which have quite different purposes and audiences in mind and which frame “the problem” of urban teaching in different ways.

To R.S.V.P., email clee9@vcu.edu. For more information, contact Deborah Speece, Ph.D., at 804-827-9337. The Research Colloquium continues the 50th anniversary celebration of the VCU School of Education. For additional events, visit soe50.vcu.edu.