Shelia C. Baldwin’s education career spans 27 years, with seventeen years in public school and ten in higher education. As a high school teacher of English, Reading and ESL, she taught diverse students who were often struggling and disengaged, which inspired her to eventually pursue her Ph.D. Her early work in action research with high school students to study the cultural diversity in their environment was transformational in her perception of classroom life. Her interest, promoting collaboration between teachers and students in the exploration and implementation of alternative instructional approaches, has been a focal point in her continuing work and research as a teacher educator. She has examined her own classes to learn more about teacher candidates’ developing theories about teaching, students, and learning environments. She has developed and supervised service learning field experiences in urban settings for undergraduate and graduate teacher candidates in content literacy courses to provide them with autonomous experiences in diverse settings. Her integration of action research processes introduces the concept of teacher as researcher and guides them toward critical reflection on their experiences that contribute toward their developing theories. She has developed a Master’s level action research course for both initial certification candidates and practitioners.
