Education faculty, first-year teacher publish chapter about research project

A recent Westminster College graduate and two education faculty members recently published a chapter on their collaborative research project about social emotional learning.

“Uncovering Connections through Digital Culture Boxes,” by Faith Guy ’22, recently retired Professor of Education Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi and education adjunct faculty member and capstone cooperating teacher Dr. Jennifer Toney, appears in the National Council of Teachers’ Special Issues Series “Bringing Critical Media Literacy into English Language Arts Classrooms.”

Their piece, which demonstrates how elementary teachers can apply the theory of cosmopolitanism by intentionally exploring differences and similarities in students’ lives, is based on research conducted during Guy’s student teaching experience in Toney’s Sharpsville (Pa.) Elementary School classroom in February and March 2022. The project focused on creating greater empathy in elementary learners through an anti-racist project involving second and third grade students.

“As I started my journey of teaching, I gained the knowledge of how crucial relationship building and higher order emotional thinking is in and out of the classroom,” said Guy, who is currently a sixth grade learning support teacher at Dutch Ridge Elementary School in Beaver, Pa.

“As a Westminster College Graduate School of Education adjunct instructor and practicing elementary educator, I was honored to be a link between the college classroom and the authentic teaching practice of Westminster’s pre-service educators,” said Toney.

In October 2022, Toney, Guy and Klassen Endrizzi presented their study to teachers at the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts literacy conference in Cranberry Township, Pa. Their session provided K-12th grade audience members with time to consider how to apply a cosmopolitanism perspective through English language arts instruction while also addressing the social emotional needs to their students.  

“In these uncertain educational times, I am encouraged by the fortitude seen in teachers like Jennifer and Faith,” said Klassen Endrizzi, who retired from Westminster in 2022 after spending nearly 30 years as part of the education faculty. “They are a constant source of inspiration to students, colleagues and families. Their determination and vision for teaching and learning offers hope in a complicated era.”

To learn more about the publication, click here.

For more about Westminster's School of Education, please visit www.westminster.edu/education.

Pictured above are, from left, Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Faith Guy '22 and Dr. Jennifer Toney.

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