Wendy Gardiner is the Jolita Hylland Benson Endowed Chair in Elementary Education and teaches literacy courses in the School of Education. She is also the co-principal investigator on the National Science Foundation, Robert F. Noyce funded grant project, Pathways to Culturally Sustaining STEM Teaching with Drs. Simic-Muller and Munro. In this grant they recruit, prepare, and support new teachers’ implementation of ambitious and equitable STEM teaching in Title 1 schools. She regularly publishes in the areas of new teacher mentoring and literacy teacher education.
Before transitioning into literacy teacher education, Dr. Gardiner was a primary teacher in Chicago Public Schools. Her experiences working with students and families in schools and communities impacted by systemic inequities solidified her commitment to literacy as a central means to see one’s self, to see the world, and to increase life opportunities. Dr. Gardiner enjoys working with pre- and in-service teachers and strives to balance practical experiences in literacy instruction with a firm understanding of literacy research. Dr. Gardiner is also an active member in the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the Literacy Research Association (LRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the International Literacy Association (ILA).
Research indicates that partner placements—pairing two preservice teachers with a mentor teacher—... more Research indicates that partner placements—pairing two preservice teachers with a mentor teacher—provide a supportive and collaborative context for learning to teach. This qualitative study examines three partner placements in a 100-hour urban field practicum to understand how preservice teachers experience and perceive partner placements, and what facilitates or inhibits collaboration. Results from two successful and one less than successful placement
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Nov 5, 2018
Purpose Induction mentoring for early career teachers is a complex practice, requiring knowledge ... more Purpose Induction mentoring for early career teachers is a complex practice, requiring knowledge and skills distinct from teaching. However, more is known anecdotally than empirically about the challenges new mentors face and the type of support they need as they transition from teacher to induction mentor. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study investigated how nine first-year mentors developed, conceptualized and enacted their mentoring practice by asking, what supports/inhibits new mentors’ professional learning and practice? Are there patterns of struggle/challenge that new mentors face? Primary data sources included three 45–60-minute structured, individual interviews across each mentor’s first year. Data analysis was inductive, involving open and axial coding. Findings Mentors struggled to navigate multiple complex relationships with administrators, teachers and students. The quality of these relationships impacted their sense of efficacy and mentoring ability. Despite receiving what mentors perceived as effective professional development (PD), all mentors found it difficult to apply knowledge in practice. Mentors also experienced a steep and varied learning curve and identified supports that enhanced their knowledge and situated application of new teacher-centered mentoring. Originality/value Despite increases in mentoring programs, there is a lack of research addressing new mentors’ needs and development. This study makes a contribution by identifying new mentors’ needs and challenges and by providing recommendations for situated, responsive, and ongoing PD.
ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transf... more ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transforming coursework to improve the preparation of teachers for high-need schools. The FRR model leveraged school–-university partnerships and situated university faculty in high-need schools to conduct research related to the university courses they taught. This study investigated the outcomes of the FRR model for a 3-year period involving 16 research residency projects and 23 faculty members. Faculty research residents investigated a wide variety of teaching practices to contextualize their knowledge and better align their teacher education courses with the needs of students and teachers in high-need schools. Findings indicate that the FRR model shows promise as an innovative faculty development mechanism for colleges of education.
There is a cultural mismatch between teachers and students in classrooms across the U.S. that, de... more There is a cultural mismatch between teachers and students in classrooms across the U.S. that, despite teachers’ best intentions, too often leads to student harm. Mentors are uniquely positioned to interrupt conscious and unconscious bias that leads to inequitable practices but often have difficulty holding the necessary hard conversations. Among the reasons for this is socialized niceness, particularly in women, which prioritizes comfort and avoids conflict at all costs. Nina F. Weisling and Wendy Gardiner provide insights for recognizing, naming, and working through socialized niceness in mentoring to ensure all students have opportunities to learn in safe and rigorous classrooms.
ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transf... more ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transforming coursework to improve the preparation of teachers for high-need schools. The FRR model leveraged school–-university partnerships and situated university faculty in high-need schools to conduct research related to the university courses they taught. This study investigated the outcomes of the FRR model for a 3-year period involving 16 research residency projects and 23 faculty members. Faculty research residents investigated a wide variety of teaching practices to contextualize their knowledge and better align their teacher education courses with the needs of students and teachers in high-need schools. Findings indicate that the FRR model shows promise as an innovative faculty development mechanism for colleges of education.
ABSTRACT Research on peer placements suggests that partnering two preservice teachers with a ment... more ABSTRACT Research on peer placements suggests that partnering two preservice teachers with a mentor provides a better, more supportive context for learning to teach. As extant research has focused more on student teachers’ development, less is known about mentors’ perceptions and experiences. This qualitative study focuses on seven mentor teachers who have mentored one–three years in peer placements to provide a textured understanding of their perceptions and experiences. Results indicate: (a) peer collaboration provides important pedagogical scaffolding that helps student teachers plan and implement complex pedagogies; (b) peer–mentor observation helps student teachers feel more efficacious about their developing practice; (c) sharing responsibility for instruction and distributing roles and resources enables mentors to better meet the needs of student teachers and students; and (d) effective peer placements require mentors to conceptualize their work in different ways. Professional development recommendations are also provided.
In 2001, National Louis University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership partnered to creat... more In 2001, National Louis University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership partnered to create the country's first Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) program. Ten years later, with the assistance of Teacher Quality Partnership funding, the program quadrupled in size. As the UTR expanded, an increasing theory-practice gap became apparent, reflecting a perennial problem in teacher education (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Zeichner, 2010). A leadership team was formed to address the growing gap and several smaller scale interventions were implemented to no real avail. Subsequently, grant funding was allocated toward two interventions designed to increase university faculty engagement in schools. This paper describes and analyzes those interventions: 1) faculty liaisons as an alternative to traditional supervision, and 2) faculty research residencies to situate university faculty in high need schools for the dual purpose of engaged research and curricular revision. Questions pertaining to p...
Research indicates that partner placements—pairing two preservice teachers with a mentor teacher—... more Research indicates that partner placements—pairing two preservice teachers with a mentor teacher—provide a supportive and collaborative context for learning to teach. This qualitative study examines three partner placements in a 100-hour urban field practicum to understand how preservice teachers experience and perceive partner placements, and what facilitates or inhibits collaboration. Results from two successful and one less than successful placement
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Nov 5, 2018
Purpose Induction mentoring for early career teachers is a complex practice, requiring knowledge ... more Purpose Induction mentoring for early career teachers is a complex practice, requiring knowledge and skills distinct from teaching. However, more is known anecdotally than empirically about the challenges new mentors face and the type of support they need as they transition from teacher to induction mentor. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study investigated how nine first-year mentors developed, conceptualized and enacted their mentoring practice by asking, what supports/inhibits new mentors’ professional learning and practice? Are there patterns of struggle/challenge that new mentors face? Primary data sources included three 45–60-minute structured, individual interviews across each mentor’s first year. Data analysis was inductive, involving open and axial coding. Findings Mentors struggled to navigate multiple complex relationships with administrators, teachers and students. The quality of these relationships impacted their sense of efficacy and mentoring ability. Despite receiving what mentors perceived as effective professional development (PD), all mentors found it difficult to apply knowledge in practice. Mentors also experienced a steep and varied learning curve and identified supports that enhanced their knowledge and situated application of new teacher-centered mentoring. Originality/value Despite increases in mentoring programs, there is a lack of research addressing new mentors’ needs and development. This study makes a contribution by identifying new mentors’ needs and challenges and by providing recommendations for situated, responsive, and ongoing PD.
ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transf... more ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transforming coursework to improve the preparation of teachers for high-need schools. The FRR model leveraged school–-university partnerships and situated university faculty in high-need schools to conduct research related to the university courses they taught. This study investigated the outcomes of the FRR model for a 3-year period involving 16 research residency projects and 23 faculty members. Faculty research residents investigated a wide variety of teaching practices to contextualize their knowledge and better align their teacher education courses with the needs of students and teachers in high-need schools. Findings indicate that the FRR model shows promise as an innovative faculty development mechanism for colleges of education.
There is a cultural mismatch between teachers and students in classrooms across the U.S. that, de... more There is a cultural mismatch between teachers and students in classrooms across the U.S. that, despite teachers’ best intentions, too often leads to student harm. Mentors are uniquely positioned to interrupt conscious and unconscious bias that leads to inequitable practices but often have difficulty holding the necessary hard conversations. Among the reasons for this is socialized niceness, particularly in women, which prioritizes comfort and avoids conflict at all costs. Nina F. Weisling and Wendy Gardiner provide insights for recognizing, naming, and working through socialized niceness in mentoring to ensure all students have opportunities to learn in safe and rigorous classrooms.
ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transf... more ABSTRACT The faculty research residency (FRR) model was launched in 2010, with the goal of transforming coursework to improve the preparation of teachers for high-need schools. The FRR model leveraged school–-university partnerships and situated university faculty in high-need schools to conduct research related to the university courses they taught. This study investigated the outcomes of the FRR model for a 3-year period involving 16 research residency projects and 23 faculty members. Faculty research residents investigated a wide variety of teaching practices to contextualize their knowledge and better align their teacher education courses with the needs of students and teachers in high-need schools. Findings indicate that the FRR model shows promise as an innovative faculty development mechanism for colleges of education.
ABSTRACT Research on peer placements suggests that partnering two preservice teachers with a ment... more ABSTRACT Research on peer placements suggests that partnering two preservice teachers with a mentor provides a better, more supportive context for learning to teach. As extant research has focused more on student teachers’ development, less is known about mentors’ perceptions and experiences. This qualitative study focuses on seven mentor teachers who have mentored one–three years in peer placements to provide a textured understanding of their perceptions and experiences. Results indicate: (a) peer collaboration provides important pedagogical scaffolding that helps student teachers plan and implement complex pedagogies; (b) peer–mentor observation helps student teachers feel more efficacious about their developing practice; (c) sharing responsibility for instruction and distributing roles and resources enables mentors to better meet the needs of student teachers and students; and (d) effective peer placements require mentors to conceptualize their work in different ways. Professional development recommendations are also provided.
In 2001, National Louis University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership partnered to creat... more In 2001, National Louis University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership partnered to create the country's first Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) program. Ten years later, with the assistance of Teacher Quality Partnership funding, the program quadrupled in size. As the UTR expanded, an increasing theory-practice gap became apparent, reflecting a perennial problem in teacher education (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Zeichner, 2010). A leadership team was formed to address the growing gap and several smaller scale interventions were implemented to no real avail. Subsequently, grant funding was allocated toward two interventions designed to increase university faculty engagement in schools. This paper describes and analyzes those interventions: 1) faculty liaisons as an alternative to traditional supervision, and 2) faculty research residencies to situate university faculty in high need schools for the dual purpose of engaged research and curricular revision. Questions pertaining to p...
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