Student, faculty present at teacher educators conference

05/02/2014 6:01 PM

By Jennifer Cundiff ’16

School counseling graduate student Catherine Caldwell and two Bradley faculty presented on a workshop they conducted with teacher candidates to promote self-awareness and reflective practice. The presentation, with Dr. Heljä Antola Crowe and Dr. Robert Davison-Avilés, was at the Midwest Association for Teacher Educators Conference in April.

Caldwell and the faculty presented on promoting self-awareness and reflective practice as an educator. The title of their presentation was “Paparazzi and Professional Development: Photography as Reflective Practice.”

“I wanted to help Dr. Antola Crowe’s students reflect on their experiences, strengths, and areas for improvement, and provide a safe space for students to provide each other feedback,” Caldwell said. “By presenting to the students and creating the workshop and then presenting at the conference, I was able to work on my skills as a presenter and learn how to address various audiences differently.”

Other conference presentations touched on subjects and programs such as Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind and Response to Intervention.

“Going to the conference was a great professional experience,” Caldwell said. “It was nice to share ideas with other professionals and also receive feedback on our presentation. The entire process of submitting a proposal, and then developing a presentation with two other professionals was a collaborative process, and it was great to see how new ideas develop into a presentation.”