Image of faculty member, Emily Smith

Dr. Emily R. Smith

Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction
esmith@fairfield.edu
o: Canisius Hall Rm 114
p: x2396

Current Research Interests

My scholarship focuses on several components of school-based mentoring for preservice teachers (student teachers). The first strand of my research looks at the ways in which existing models or structures of mentoring facilitate and/or inhibit the learning of student teachers. In particular, it focuses on the ways in which issues of power and competing visions of practice make learning to teach in someone else’s classroom a difficult task. The second strand of my research focuses on the preparation of secondary school teachers for their roles as cooperating teachers (mentors) for student teachers. The third and most recent strand focuses on ways of bridging university and P-12 schools’ work of preparing teachers. In particular, this strand focuses on exploring ways that teacher education faculty and P-12 teachers who serve as cooperating teachers can work together to develop shared discourse and knowledge for preparing today’s teachers. Most recenly, I've been exploring the role of teacher education faculty in mentoring beginning teachers.

Courses Taught

  1. ED 362: Spec Meth-Secondar School Engl
  2. ED 363: Teaching Methods Second Schl
  3. ED 381: Dir Observat&SupervisedStdTchg
  4. ED 382: Student Teaching Seminar
  5. ED 442: Educational Psychology
  6. ED 466: Spec Meth/Second Sch Eng
  7. ED 581: DirectedObserv&SuperStudentTch
  8. ED 589: English Seminar
  9. ED 593: World Language Seminar
  10. ED 594: Social Studies/History Seminar
  11. ED 595: Ind Stdy/Curr & Teaching
  12. EN 305: Literature for Young Adults
  13. EN 373: Literature for Young Adults
  14. EN 399: Independent Study 201009
  15. EN 405: Literature for Young Adults