Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Meet October’s Featured Scholar: Elyse Hambacher



Elyse is a doctoral student in the University of Florida’s School of Teaching and Learning. She is studying curriculum and teaching with a concentration in teacher education. Her research focuses on teaching and learning in high-poverty schools. She is interested in teacher learning across the professional lifespan and teaching for social justice. Elyse utilizes an array of qualitative research methodology to understand the depth of teaching and learning, particularly in urban contexts.

Elyse is an active member of AERA division C and has served as a campus liaison for two years. She reports that one of the best parts of being a part of AERA is the opportunities to get to know people and share opportunities. Elyse had the opportunity to present two papers, and attended the Asa G. Hilliard and Barbara A. Sizemore African American Research Course during the 2011 conference. This was also Elyse’s first time in New Orleans. While Elyse reports that the large conference felt a bit overwhelming, she found that carefully choosing a few sessions a day worked best for her instead of trying to experience everything all at once. She was also able to explore the many AERA opportunities, learn from the research of others, enjoy the city of New Orleans, and network with scholars in the field. Elyse also presented at the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) and Florida Association of Teacher Educators (FATE).

Elyse recommends Amos Hatch’s Doing Qualitative Research in Education Settings. She found the book helpful for methodological guidance. Nel Noddings’ book, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education and the Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed have also influenced her research and always provide new insight after each read.

When taking a break from studying, you can find Elyse getting a good work out—usually at a spin or hot yoga class. She loves to travel, enjoys anything outdoors, and is diligently working to improve her Chinese- though this is endeavor is proving to be much harder than she anticipated.

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