Education

Center for Education

The Center for Education houses a variety of programs that lead to teacher certification and advanced certification and leadership in education. Our undergraduate and post-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs are designed to prepare community-engaged teachers. Graduate programs at the certificate, master’s and doctoral level prepare specialists, counselor educators, and leaders for both K-12 and higher education settings.

https://www.widener.edu/profile/center-education

Director: coming soon

Widener Spotlight & Success Stories

Community Engaged Teacher Education Program (CETE) Events

August 23, 2022 – Community Mentors, Teacher Candidates, and WU Faculty joined together for their opening luncheon at Taylor Arboretum. This luncheon is a tradition in their program, but this year, they came together to celebrate a grant ($8800 Delaware County Interactive Gaming Revenue Authority 2022 Next Generation Community Grant) that is dedicated to supporting programming designed by community mentors for the Stetser classrooms that they work in.

August 25, 2022 – CETE teacher candidates worked with classroom teachers to get ready for the opening day of school.

August 29, 2022 – In addition, they hosted a viewing of the documentary “Divided Attention” for Teacher Candidates, WU Faculty, and community mentors. This documentary follows four students from Toby Farms, a public middle school in the historically underfunded Chester Upland School District, as they learn and practice mindfulness amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the school to prison pipeline, and the threat of charter takeover.

Child Development Center’s Innovative Student-Learning Approach Bolsters Child Care

In late 2021, the center was the main recipient of a $175,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts program. The program works to expand the number of children able to experience a high-quality pre-kindergarten program, and Widener’s selection solidified the CDC’s reputation for excellence. The grant is allowing the CDC to add placements for an additional 16 children.

Read more about the CDC from the Widener Insider

CFE: Widener Professors and Alumni of Community Engaged Teacher Education Program Write Book Chapter

Widener University professors in the Center for Education’s Community Engaged Teacher Education (CETE) program collaborated to write Chapter 4 Shared Power in Teacher Preparation: University, School, and Community in a recently published book, titled The Power of Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation.

The chapter was written by Professor Nadine McHenry, who coordinates the CETE program, as well as Director of the Widener Child Development Center Essence Allen-Presley, Associate Professor Bretton Alvaré, retired Stetser Elementary Principal Janet Baldwin, alumna Rev. Hilda Campbell, and alumna Taylor Borgstrom.

The book focuses on how and why community-engaged teacher preparation is a vital approach to address an educational system that his historically deficient, discriminatory, and inequitable.

CFE: Widener Students open mini library in Chester Saturday

Last spring, the Community Engaged Teacher Education students completed a service learning project and erected a “Little Free Library” on the corner of 17th and Melrose.

Below are articles were written up by various news networks talking about the Widener Free Library.

CETE Service learning Project:

Tribute to honor Veterans at Greenlawn Cemetery, Saturday November 13th at 1 pm.

There are at least 200 veterans at Greenlawn including a Civil War veteran and several Buffalo Soldiers along with many veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. We will be sharing a brief history from each time period and reading the names of the veterans.

In the spring of 2019, two sixth grade students from Stetser were selected to be trained to do some videography connected to the development of a documentary about Greenlawn Cemetery located in Chester Township. Ms. Twyla Simpkins, former teacher at CHS, has been working tirelessly to restore this historical cemetery which came to be due to the fact that African Americans were not permitted to be buried in the City of Chester. Taeqwan Naylor and Theodore Fairfax (9th grade students at STEM) were both filmed and included in the documentary about Greenlawn.

We would love to have all CETE Community members and supports come that day to learn about the history that exists at Greenlawn so that we can be aware and share the legacy of those who have gone before us. A group of our CETE teacher candidates have been working diligently to capture information from headstones to be entered on a database as their Service Learning Project. A “Save the Date” card and flyers are attached for sharing with others. The video titled “Beyond the Sunset: The Story of Greenlawn Cemetery” created by Twyla Simpkins is available using the link below and it will provide you with some history and background. One of our former active mentors, Ms. Eloise Rothwell is included in the video.

There will be several veterans in attendance dressed in uniform and the opportunity to honor those who have served will be meaningful to everyone in attendance. One of our veterans will be bringing some Buffalo Soldier artifacts for us to view.

This is an opportunity for us to bring our community together as we restore this piece of history to the place of honor that it deserves. We hope that you will join us. https://vimeo.com/637538083/928bb41422

CETE Help with Stetser Elementary School’s Back to School Night

Many of the teachers were joined by a Widener student in the CETE (Community Engaged Teacher Education) who will assist during the Stetser school year. These Widener seniors will be graduating in the spring with their education degrees and will carry with them some real classroom experience from the teachers, staff, and students at Stetser Elementary… click here for the full article.

Abdul-Hakeem Imoro op-ed published in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

Higher Education Leadership doctoral student, Abdul-Hakeem Imoro’s, op-ed was written as an assignment for ED-617, which is taught by one of our adjunct faculty members, Dr. Janelle Williams. For the full piece, click here.

First-Generation Grad Finds Passion for Helping Others Pursue College Dreams

Jose-Luis Vasquez knows a college degree can be life-changing, especially for first-generation students. That is why he pursued a Master of Education (MEd) at Widener to gain the skills and connections needed in his field to help make college dreams a reality for high school students. Click here for the full story.