Higher Ground Literacy Symposium

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Blackwell Inn and Phafl Conference Center,
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

About the Higher Ground Literacy Symposium

"What I love most about reading — It gives you the ability to reach higher ground."

(Oprah Winfrey, 2014)

On behalf of the College of Education and Human Ecology’s Department of Teaching and Learning and our generous sponsors, I am thrilled to be part of the Higher Ground Literacy Symposium. As an educational researcher and former teacher, I know that literacy plays a critical role in shaping a child's future. The above quote captures the vital importance of literacy. It also represents the spirit of this symposium and reflects the unwavering dedication of the College of Education and Human Ecology and the Department of Teaching and Learning to supporting teachers who help our children reach their full potential through the power of literacy.

Our commitment is illuminated not only by faculty, who will facilitate workshops today, but also by the various centers affiliated with the Department of Teaching and Learning. These include the Center for Discourse Analysis and Video Ethnography (CDAVE), a center that I direct. CDAVE studies language and human interaction, particularly how people use language to position others and navigate their everyday lives. Discourse is especially important when considering our students' backgrounds and experiences. CDAVE hosts symposiums, conferences, community teach-ins and D-Table talks, and it collaborates with Ohio State’s Global Arts and Humanities’ K-12 Interdisciplinary Teaching Institute on programming for central Ohio teachers.

The Hiphop Literacies Conference (HHLC), founded by Professor Elaine Richardson, is a community-based literacy conference that provides a space for dialogue and reflection upon issues that are relevant to lives of Hiphop generation youth. The initiative promotes the educational and social value of Hiphop and its roots, evolution and cross-cultural dimensions. Activities include exchanging ideas among educators, researchers, youth and youth advocates (inter)nationally, through publishing, social media, outreach through extracurricular programs in the city, and hosting the HHLC.

Martha King Center (MKC) is directed by one of today’s workshop leaders: Professor Pat Enciso. The MKC provides a forum for dialogue across diverse communities about the study of language and literacies. It hosts a series of powerful talks throughout the year and has a wonderful resource library that I am sure you will hear more about.

Another college resource is the Early Literacy and Learning Lab, facilitated by Professor Shayne Piasta. The lab collaboratively conducts and shares high-quality research to support children's literacy development. Another important forum for advancing children’s literacy is the Center for Digital Learning and Innovation (CDLI). Professor Detra Price serves as the executive director, and Casey Rinehart is director of Distance Education and Learning Design. CDLI fosters innovation in developing and implementing digital learning programs and technologies. It also hosts programming throughout the year, which supports digital learning through research, an innovation studio and the design of distance education and learning experiences.

I sincerely hope that today’s symposium will serve as an opportunity for us to share and reflect on best practices, build community and learn about resources, research and new literacy approaches that will ignite a passion for literacy learning and reading in young learners. Equally important, I am looking forward to our all leaving with renewed motivation and actionable insights that help every child find their voice and reach higher.

Stephanie Power-Carter, Symposium organizer
Director, Center for Discourse Analysis and Ethnography (CDAVE)

Schedule

Time	Session	Location
8:00 – 8:30 a.m.	Registration and Continental Breakfast	Ballroom Foyer
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.	Welcome by Antoinette Miranda, Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning, Opening Remarks and Introduction of Speaker by Professor Stephanie Power-Carter	Ballroom BC
9:00 – 10:15 a.m.	Keynote by Eliza Braden: " Thin Love Ain’t Love at All:” The Power of Revolutionary Love in the Elementary Classroom	Ballroom BC
10:15 - 10:30 a.m.	Break and Transition to Concurrent Breakout Sessions A
10:30 – 11:40 a.m.	Brian Edmiston: Imagining Higher Ground: Humanizing Literacy Education with Dramatic Inquiry	Ballroom BC
	Peter Sayer: Translanguaging: Using Students’ Home Language as a Pedagogical Resource	Pfahl Hall 230
	Erin Parsons: A Teacher Guide: Integrated Strategies and Approaches to Identifying Students’ Academic, Behavioral and Clinical Strengths and Barriers in the Classroom	Daley Pavilion
	Casey Rinehart: Beyond Pencil and Paper: Using Digital Tools to Deepen Learner Engagement	Pfahl Hall 240
11:40 – 11:50 a.m.	Break/Transition to Lunch
11:50 – 12:50 p.m.	Lunch and Learn: Authors Showcase Book signings and conversations with featured local authors: Dia Mixon, S.R.D. Harris, Natalie Henderson, Paula Johnson Neal, Johari "J.P." Mitchell, Rayshawn Young	Daley Pavilion & Ballroom Foyer
12:50 – 1:00 p.m.	Break/Transition Time
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.	Breanya Hogue: What would a model that bridges school, family and community stakeholders together to collaboratively address the needs of children look like?	Ballroom BC
2:00 - 2:10 p.m.	Break/Transition to Concurrent Breakout Sessions B
2:10 – 3:20 p.m.	Pat Enciso, Adriana Sotomayor Pérez, Axa Khalid Warraich and Kandace McConnell: Selecting Diverse Literature and Opening Pathways to One Another’s Lives	Ballroom BC
	Laurie Katz and Mindi Rhoades: Teaching Literacy Through Arts-Based Pedagogies	Pfahl Hall 230
	Erin Parsons: A Teacher Guide: Integrated Strategies and Approaches to Identifying Students’ Academic, Behavioral and Clinical Strengths and Barriers in the Classroom	Pavilion
	Casey Rinehart: Beyond Pencil and Paper: Using Digital Tools to Deepen Learner Engagement	Pfahl Hall 240
3:20 - 3:30 p.m.	Break/Transition Time
3:30 - 4:00 p.m.	Teacher Reflection Time: Learnings and Next Steps Amber Bernal and Stella Villalba	Ballroom BC
4:00 p.m.	Closing remarks and HGLS giveaways: Dr. Stephanie Power-Carter	Ballroom BC

Descriptions for Breakout Sessions

10:30 a.m. –11:40 a.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions A

Imagining Higher Ground: Humanizing Literacy Education with Dramatic Inquiry

Professor Brian Edmiston

Using examples from my teaching in P-5 classrooms, in this interactive session we will experience and explore how teachers can use active and dramatic approaches to bring literacy learning to life.

Translanguaging: Using Students’ Home Language as a Pedagogical Resource

Professor Peter Sayer

Students of immigrant families bring a wealth of cultural and linguistic knowledge to school. However, it is often challenging for teachers who do not share the language background of their students to know how to leverage their students’ linguistic and cultural funds of knowledge to support their learning. In this workshop, we’ll familiarize ourselves with the concept of translanguaging, a conceptual and pedagogical tool that gives us strategies to draw on our students’ home languages as a resource to support their acquisition of English and learning of academic content.

A Teacher Guide: Integrated Strategies and Approaches to Identifying Students’ Academic, Behavioral and Clinical Strengths and Barriers in the Classroom

Erin Parsons, PhD

This session will share relevant information for educators that will enhance their knowledge and competency in understanding complex and multifaceted factors that often intersect and inform students’ learning, behavior and academic performance in classroom settings. The presenter will provide empirically supported approaches, strategies and interventions that teachers can utilize when working with a diverse student population.

Beyond Pencil and Paper: Using Digital Tools to Deepen Learner Engagement

Casey Rinehart

Curious how technology can help transform the learning experience from passive to active? Join this hands-on workshop where we'll explore innovative ways for students to engage and showcase their learning using digital tools.

2:20 p.m.–3:20 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions B

Selecting Diverse Literature and Opening Pathways to One Another’s Lives

Professor Pat Enciso, Adriana Sotomayor Pérez, Axa Khalid Warraich and Kandace McConnell

As instructors of a course on diverse literature and comprehension, the presenters will share books that have awakened preservice teachers’ interest in the past, present and future lives of people whose stories have been distorted or denied in school curricula. We will introduce teachers to contemporary novels, poetry and picture books offering nonfiction and fictional stories, as well as provide selection tools for locating literature representing the diversity of children’s lived experiences. Throughout this presentation, we will share useful ways to select, organize and plan for reading experiences with contemporary, diverse children’s literature.

Teaching Literacy Through Arts-Based Pedagogies

Professor Laurie Katz and Associate Professor Mindi Rhoades

Preschool, elementary and middle school teachers who use arts-based pedagogies with their students often find these young people more engaged and exhibiting more creative thinking. This session will demonstrate how to integrate the arts into practice. Participants will learn how to create habitats with natural as well as traditional materials to promote children’s reading, writing and oral language skills.

A Teacher Guide: Integrated Strategies and Approaches to Identifying Students’ Academic, Behavioral and Clinical Strengths and Barriers in the Classroom

Erin Parsons, PhD

This session will share relevant information with educators that will enhance their knowledge and competency in understanding complex and multifaceted factors that often intersect and inform students’ learning, behavior and academic performance in classroom settings. The presenter will provide empirically supported approaches, strategies and interventions that teachers can utilize when working with a diverse student population

Using Digital Tools to Deepen Learner Engagement: Beyond Pencil and Paper

Casey Rinehart

Curious about how technology can help transform the learning experience from passive to active? Join this hands-on workshop where we'll explore innovative ways for students to engage and showcase their learning using digital tools.

College Leadership

DON POPE-DAVIS

Don Pope-Davis (PhD, Stanford University) is dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. He is passionate about using higher education to prepare the educators of tomorrow and professionals who support the health and economic vitality of individuals, families and communities.

An educator for more than 25 years, he previously was dean of the College of Education at New Mexico State University. He also served in senior-level positions at the University of Notre Dame.

Pope-Davis’ work on counseling and psychology is widely published in peer-reviewed journals. He is an active member of the America n Psychological Association and an elected Fellow of the Society of Counseling Psychology.

He recently made a personal pledge to create a new endowed fund to re-start the university’s graduate degree in counseling psychology, his area of scholarly expertise.

ANTOINETTE MIRANDA, PHD Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning

Antoinette Miranda is professor of School Psychology in the Department of Educational Studies. She was the first recipient (2014) of the William H. and Laceryjette V. Casto Professorship in Interprofessional Education in honor of Henry and Ruth Leuchter and Van Bogard and Geraldine Dunn. Her research interests include developing effective interventions with at-risk children in urban settings, consultation services in urban settings and the development of racial identity and its relationship to academic achievement. She is a past president of the Ohio School Psychologist Association and Trainers of School Psychologists. She also was the secretary for the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs. She was the 2014 recipient of the TSP Outstanding Trainer of the Year Award.

BINAYA SUBEDI, PHD Associate Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning

Professor Subedi’s is an educator and community-based researcher/worker, and his research examines the intersection of anti-Asian racism, anti-racist pedagogies and community-based advocacy. In particular, the research engages with assets or community cultural wealth of immigrant/refugee communities and its implications to teacher education.

Subedi’s scholarship also engages with the need to critique deficit representations of communities within the Global South and advocates for decolonizing teaching and research practices. His current research includes transdisciplinary collaborations on immigrant youth advocacy efforts and mental health challenges immigrant/refugee communities faced during the pandemic.

Subedi has published in journals such as Race, Ethnicity and Education, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Qualitative Inquiry, Educational Studies, Theory and Research in Social Education, Theory into Practice and Equity and Excellence in Education. He is the author of the book: Critical Global Perspectives: Rethinking Knowledge About Global Societies. Professor Subedi served as co-editor of the nationally and internationally recognized journal Education Studies from 2015-18. He has served on numerous leadership capacities with AERA (American Educational Research Association).

An important aspect of Subedi’s work includes community outreach and advocacy in solidarity with marginalized communities. The projects have included culturally responsive leadership development practices and youth mentoring projects within under-resourced immigrant communities. Subedi also collaborates with nonprofit organizations (e.g., Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services, Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio) to seek policy reforms within state, national and global contexts.

Keynote Address

ELIZA G. BRADEN, PHD

“Love is or love ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all:”* The Power of Revolutionary Love in the Elementary Classroom

In this keynote, Eliza Braden, PhD, will illuminate the transformative power of pedagogies of love. Drawing on classrooms where teachers engage in emancipatory teaching, Braden highlights how educators center children's histories, heritages, communities and languages, despite systemic pressures and dominant narratives. This keynote explores how love, as a revolutionary pedagogical force, empowers teachers to honor and uplift the brilliance of their students while resisting deficit-driven frameworks.

Braden is an associate professor of elementary education at the University of South Carolina. She is a former elementary teacher, ESOL instructor and reading interventionist. Her major research interests include critical language practices of culturally and linguistically diverse young children, in- and out-of-school literacy practices, family literacy, social justice and education, and digital literacies.

*Toni Morrison, Beloved. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.

A Conversation with a Literacy Scholar

BREANYA HOGUE, PHD

What would a model that bridges school, family and community stakeholders together to collaboratively address the needs of children look like?

Join Breanya Hogue, PhD, as she engages participants in an informative and interactive session focused on research-based best practices that she has implemented over the past 15+ years in various classroom settings. These practices are informed by Hogue’s experiences with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® program and as a former elementary teacher.

Hogue is an assistant professor of literacy and language education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Purdue University. Her research interests include preservice teacher preparation, urban education, communities of practice, children’s literature, culturally proactive pedagogy and literacy engagement. Hogue is the founder of the Purdue Freedom Schools Program, established in 2023.

Teacher Reflection Time

FACILITATED BY:

AMBER BERNAL Literacy Specialist, Columbus City Schools

Amber Bernal helps support teachers and administrators in using evidence-based language and literacy practices to teach reading. During her 29+ years as a Columbus City Schools educator, Bernal has been an elementary school classroom teacher and instructional coach. She has a passion for literacy and ensuring that all students become proficient readers and lifelong learners.

STELLA VILLALBA Elementary Curriculum Specialist, Dublin City Schools

Stella Villalba is a teacher and instructional coach in Dublin City Schools. Her work involves teaching English language learners and helping teachers develop their skills and implement effective ELL strategies. Villalba is a lead ambassador for the National Council of Teachers of English. She is passionate about languages, literacy and culture.

Breakout Session Presenters

(in alphabetical order)

BRIAN EDMISTON, PHD, is a professor in the college’s Department of Teaching and Learning where he has been a faculty member since 1996. He is an internationally recognized leader in the field of drama as education focusing on project- and inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning. He has received research and teaching awards, including the Ohio State Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. He has written five books and published in premier education and literacy journals, handbooks of drama and education and international edited collections. His publications all come from his collaborative research with teachers and students in Columbus City Schools, other central Ohio districts and schools across the UK. His most recent publications use case studies to illustrate his theorizing of how a dramatic inquiry approach in classrooms can use the arts to create more humanizing, ethical and critical education environments that promote equity and inclusion. He has given keynote addresses at international conferences in the UK, Sweden and New Zealand, as well as in the USA.

PATRICIA ENCISO, PHD, is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning who has been studying and teaching literature with young people, teachers and preservice teachers for more than 30 years. She serves on the selection committee for the Tomás River Mexican American Children’s Book Award and has co-edited the Handbook of Research on Children’s and Young Adult Literature. She is currently co-editing a second handbook with a focus on diverse literature. She is past president of the Literacy Research Association and director of the Martha L. King Center for Language and Literacies in the college. Her research on storytelling is inspired by young people whose everyday stories teach us to value their imaginations, joy and desire for equity and justice.

LAURIE KATZ, PHD, is a professor of early childhood education in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Her research, teaching and service focus on the preparation of early childhood educators; inclusion issues; relationships between families, communities and schools; and narrative styles and structures employed by young children. One of the key issues she addresses is how early childhood curriculum and instruction can be conceptualized to incorporate the broad diversity of children (birth-8 years of age), including children from linguistic minority communities and children with disabilities. Professor Katz received her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with a specialization in early childhood education/early childhood special education. She earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

AXA KHALID WARRAICH is a doctoral student in the Department of Teaching and Learning. She is an international student from Pakistan who has served as a teacher and teacher educator both in Pakistan and the United States. She has also worked as an editor-in-chief of a widely distributed children’s magazine in Pakistan. Her current research at Ohio State focuses on investigating ethical and transformative ways of mediating historical fiction.

KANDACE MCCONNELL is an undergraduate student at The Ohio State University. Her field of study is English with a specialization in writing, rhetoric and literacy. Her interest in children’s literature stems from her experience working for the Columbus Metropolitan Library as a youth service intern where she enjoyed books that valued diversity, creativity and real human experiences.

ERIN PARSONS, PHD, is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, consulting therapist and scholar with 20 years of experience in the counseling profession. Her previous clinical and administrative roles include serving as a National Trainer for Multidimensional Family Therapy professionals and working in community-based settings. These experiences inform her work as a practitioner, adjunct professor and consulting therapist. Parsons currently maintains a private practice in Dublin, Ohio, where she specializes in providing therapeutic and executive consulting services. Learn more

CASEY RINEHART is the director of Distance Education and Learning Design and a lecturer in the college. She also co-leads the AI in Education community within the college. Before her current role, Rinehart served in roles related to instruction, technology-enhanced learning and employee learning and development. She is passionate about elevating the student experience and helping educators create transformative learning experiences.

MINDI RHOADES, PHD, is an associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning. She focuses on using multimedia and interdisciplinary arts-based approaches to teaching, research and activism. Rhoades’ research includes gender and 3D animation technology, dramatic inquiry with Ohio State scholars and the Royal Shakespeare Company, arts-based learning with infants and toddlers, digital video filmmaking and outreach with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth and using graphic novels for developing multiliteracy skills. She teaches courses in equity and diversity, arts and creative pedagogies, digital media and new literacies, urban education, and middle and early childhood education. She has a particular interest in the intersections of arts and media with STEM fields.

PETER SAYER, PHD, is a professor of multilingual language education in the Department of Teaching and Learning. He specializes in sociolinguistics and pedagogical approaches that support multilingual students, particularly Spanish-speaking Latine students in the United States and Mexico. He is a former Fulbright Scholar (Mexico) and editor of the TESOL Journal. He has published over 50 articles and books on educational linguistics.

ADRIANA SOTOMAYOR PÉREZ is currently pursuing a PhD in the Innovative Arts, Literacies and Languaging program in the Department of Teaching and Learning. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education with a focus on drama and a master’s degree in reading, writing and children’s literature, both from the University of Puerto Rico. Her research interests include how dramatic activities can contribute to a reader’s comprehension of texts and analyzing Latinx children’s literature, especially literature published in Puerto Rico. Her work at the CELELI (Center for the Study of Reading, Writing, and Children’s Literature at the University of Puerto Rico) was pivotal in her development as a children’s literature specialist.

Authors Showcase

Authors

(in alphabetical order)

DIA MIXON has a passion for introducing children to new languages and cultures. As a Spanish teacher with a Master of Education in Bilingual-Bicultural Education, she seeks innovative ways for readers to build cultural awareness and connect with the characters she creates. Mixon published her debut children’s book, One Whole Me, in 2021, and released her second book, When I Feel at Home, in 2022. Her upcoming book, The World That I See: Europe, is the first of in a series that follows a neurodivergent child through his travels around the world. Mixon loves going on new adventures with her young son and teaches high school Spanish in her hometown, Columbus, Ohio.

S.R.D. HARRIS has always been a reading fanatic! Ever since she was a young child and was featured in two children’s books, she dreamed of becoming a published author. She achieved that dream when she wrote and published her first book, Future Miss President. Harris co-writes with her youngest daughter, Camryn, and they currently have 10 children’s books published and two more in production. Her mission is to write and publish high-quality, uplifting, empowering and diverse children’s books that inspire a love of reading in all children. She has been featured on PBS/WOSU’s “Broad and High” and in many publications. Harris was honored as a Literacy Champion by Read for a Cause in April of 2021 and was a 2022, 2023 a nd 2024 Ohioana Library Festival Featured Author. She has donated h undreds of books to students all over Ohio, and she enthusiastically volunteers for various literary events.

NATALIE HENDERSON, PHD, is a distinguished educator with over 17 years of service. An advocate for inclusive education, Henderson has dedicated her career to serving diverse learners. As a content creator and her school district's online program lead, Henderson has become a prominent figure in shaping innovative learning environments. She seamlessly blends technology with pedagogical expertise to create enriching and inclusive online educational experiences. She firmly believes in the transformative power of education to unlock the full potential of every student.

JOHARI "J.P." MITCHELL is an educator, writer, speaker and solutionist whose passion is to help leaders to link vision to opportunity through the power of words. A College of Education and Human Ecology alumna, she is a two-time TEDx speaker and independent publisher of Sweet Fire, an empowerment anthem for girls and women.

PAULA JOHNSON NEAL is an alumna of the College of Education and Human Ecology with a degree in early childhood development. She currently works at Future Ready Five as a project manager. I’m Gonna Have a Good Day, her debut book published in June 2019, earned her the Saint Vincent Family Center Corcoran Award in May 2021 for its positive influence on the youth served by the center and the broader community. Neal is dedicated to narrating life through the eyes of young children, attentively observing and listening to their expressions. I’m Gonna Have a Good Day was conceived out of the necessity to initiate an open conversation with young children about their social and emotional challenges, in order to encourage dialogue that fosters thoughtful peer interaction. Her follow-up children's book, Breathe, Gabby, Breathe, continues this journey. Gabby's promise of a better day takes the reader on a bumpy ride as she struggles to be kind to others. Happily, she learns to regulate her big emotions with the support of her teachers and classmates. The third installment in the series, Gabby Meets Kindness, is set for release in July 2025.

CARLOTTA PENN is the founder and an author at Daydreamers Press. As a Daydreamer, she believes in justice and in the power of arts and literature to activate change in the world. Daydreamers Press is the public vehicle for her personal passions and commitments. She brings her creative experiences as a songwriter, poet and writer — and in teaching and developing community programs nationally and internationally — to her work as lead curator of content and programming at Daydreamers Press. Her dream is for children to live a life filled with love, adventure, personal enrichment and service to others — in a free and compassionate world. She holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication, a master's degree in comparative studies and a doctorate in education. She is the author of several books for children and co-edited Race, Justice, and Activism in Literacy Instruction (Teachers College Press).

RAYSHAWN YOUNG is a graduate of the College of Education and Human Ecology and is originally from Dayton, Ohio. She is a proud mom to a 7-year-old son. After the birth of her son, Young found her passion for working with children and embarked on a childcare career, eventually leading to her to become an early childhood educator. Watching her son growing up, as well as wanting to support kids who look like him, inspires Young to write books to uplift and empower young minds.

Headshots

Before taking your photo, please sign in and make sure that you provide your name and email contact information.
Be prepared to take have your photo taken to help us ensure that the process is efficient.
Your photo will be emailed to you within two to three weeks.

Lunch and Learn Author Showcase

Feel free to eat, drink and mingle while you are in line!
Books will be on sale during lunch only.
If you wish to have an author write a note to a particular person in your book, print that name on a sticky note for the author’s reference. Please feel free to ask a symposium volunteer for sticky notes.
Be mindful of others. If there is a line, do not ask for a photo with the author. Please wait for another opportunity.
Please do not ask an author to sign more than three books at any one time. Take another turn in line for additional books so others can have the opportunity to get their books signed as well.

Special P-12 Educator Presentation

At the end of the program, we ask that attendees exit by the front door.

Acknowledgments

College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University

Office of the Dean

Dean Don Pope-Davis
Chief of Staff Nicole Luthy
Senior Executive Assistant to the Dean Melissa Newhouse

Department of Teaching and Learning

Antoinette Miranda, PhD, Chair
Binaya Subedi, PhD, Associate Chair
Center for Discourse Analysis and Video Ethnography
Center for Digital Learning and Innovation
Martha King Center

Office of Advancement

The Gladys Foster Anderson Early Literacy Fund
Kerry Dixon, Julie Miller, Stefanie White

Office of Marketing and Communications

Janet Ciccone, Robin Chenoweth, Stacey Dorr, Austin McClellan, Breana Smith, Matt Soppelsa

Facilitators and Collaborators

Amber Brenal, Columbus City Schools
Deborah Morbitt, College of Education and Human Ecology
Kelly Rivers, Columbus City Schools
Stella Villalbas, Dublin City Schools

Volunteers:

Ohio State University staff, students and alumni

Local Community

Bryan Loar, Cover to Cover Bookstore
Erin Parsons, PhD, Wellness Counselors, LTD
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers

Higher Ground Symposium Organizing Committee

Stephanie Power-Carter, PhD, Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning
Amanda Clark and LaToya Tingle, Graduate Students, College of Education and Human Ecology

About the Department of Teaching and Learning College of Education and Human Ecology

"United Together: Envisioning a Bold Future"

The mission of the Department of Teaching and Learning is to generate knowledge with communities and educators about effective practices for learning and teaching processes that affect people in diverse schools and environments, families and communities. We use world‐class research, innovative teaching and responsive service that address pressing educational problems both locally and globally. The major focus of the department is the education of students, including:

to be well prepared in theory, evidence-based and research-based practices in pedagogy
to develop the knowledge, pedagogical abilities and dispositions to effectively teach diverse learners in ways that are culturally relevant and sustaining
to become leaders in the field, helping to critique and re-conceptualize knowledge and pedagogy for academic content, critical inquiry and reflection, and learning processes

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