Refusing the Return:

Mobilizing Toward a Just Educational Futures

Proposals Due January 15, 2023

The 2023 Society of Professors of Education Conference Call for Proposals

In early 2021, Gloria Ladson-Billings called on us to resist a post-pandemic “return to normal” and instead mobilize toward a hard re-set. Where are we nearly two years later? How are we, and our programs of education, refusing the pull of the past, unsettling the normative, and reenvisioning the democratic possibilities of education. At this critical juncture, how are we activating our research and practice to inform the agentic future of education, while also working in solidarity with movements for justice? Whether drawing on historical, contemporary, global and/or national perspectives, we invite presentations that contemplate, confront, and/or reimagine our role in and responsibilities toward education’s role in fostering a just democracy. We welcome all presentations that speak to this sociopolitical moment, educational climate, and the urgent issues facing today and tomorrow’s educators.

The Society of Professors of Education (SPE) invites proposals for presentations at its annual meeting to be held during the 2023 AERA Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, April 15th. We are especially interested in presentations that are focused on the theme of “Refusing the Return: Mobilizing Toward Just Educational Futures” Proposals not related to the theme but  focused on the goals of the Society (below) are also welcome. Abstracts accepted for presentation will appear in SPE’s conference proceedings; select papers may be published in Professing Education, SPE’s journal.

Founded in 1902, the Society of Professors of Education is a professional and academic association open to all persons engaged in teacher preparation, curriculum studies, educational foundations, and related activities. The Society’s primary goal is to provide a forum for consideration of major issues, tasks, problems, and challenges confronting professional educators. SPE is an interdisciplinary organization. Its members include both scholars and practitioners in education.

All presenters must be members of the Society of Professors of Education. To be included in the conference program, join the Society at your earliest convenience. See the Society of Professors of Education web page for the membership form: http://societyofprofessorsofeducation.com

Proposals must be submitted via this online form no later than 11:59pm on January 15, 2023.

Length: Proposals should be between 350-500 words. The proposal should describe the background/contexts, methods, potential findings, and significance. The proposal should not identify the presenters.

Call for Reviewers: In addition to submitting your work, you can participate in the Society as a volunteer proposal reviewer. The review process will take place soon after the deadline for proposal submissions. Please contact Program Committee Co-Chairs Meghan Phadke and Kelli Rushek at SPEConference2023@gmail.com if you are interested in reviewing proposals.

Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!

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2023 Calls for Nominations for Awards

The DeGarmo Award and Lecture

Established in 1975, The DeGarmo Lecture is an annual statement on a problem or issue of special current concern to the education professoriate, offered by a prominent and distinguished figure in American Education. The DeGarmo Lecture is published by the Society and distributed to its members. The lecture series is named for Charles DeGarmo, a Professor of the Science and Art of Education, and the first president of the National Society of College Teachers of Education in 1902.

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Bettina Love, Teachers College, Columbia University is the recipient of the 2023 DeGarmo Award and will be give the DeGarmo Lecture on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Professors of Education.

Committee Chair: Brian D. Schultz, Miami University | brian.schultz@miamioh.edu 

The William H. Watkins Award

This award honors Dr. William H. Watkins and his commitment to freedom and self-determination through over 40 years of educational activism and scholarship focused on the lived experiences of the African diaspora in the United States. More specifically, Dr. Watkins’ illustrious career was a commitment to curriculum study, community/solidarity, socio-political and class issues, and culture in his activism/scholarship/mentorship. The recipient of this award exemplifies these qualities. Nominees can be academics, community activists, community educators, or K-12 educators. Individuals may be nominated or self-nominated, simply by naming the individual to committee chair Jason Lukasik (lukasik@augsburg.edu) no later than February 1, 2023.

Committee Chair: Jason Lukasik, Augsburg College |  lukasik@augsburg.edu

The Martha Allexsaht-Snider Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Multilingual and Transnational Education

Martha Allexsaht-Snider, in whose tribute the award is named, is an Emerita Professor of Elementary Education at the University of Georgia. She has led efforts to support international and multilingual emerging scholars throughout her lengthy career. As a longstanding member of the Society of Professors of Education, she has received The Wisniewski Award for Teacher Education along with her colleagues at the University of Georgia in 2016. Dr. Allexsaht-Snider is an internationally recognized scholar, who spearheaded several scholarly and community projects to study and support emergent bilingual K-12 students and international graduate students through family and community engagement. She has contributed to educational research in Colombia, Mexico, Turkey, and the US as well as through collaborations with the European Research Network About Parents in Education.

Application Requirements:
This award is given to doctoral students for outstanding achievements in promoting multilingual and transnational education. Applications should be organized with the following components: CV, a 1-page cover letter addressing the qualifications of the applicant, and a letter of support from a doctoral committee member.

Submit your application materials as a single PDF no later than February 1, 2023.
Chair: Tricia Kress, Molloy College | tkress@molloy.edu

The Wisniewski Teacher Education Award

The Wisniewski Teacher Education Award of The Society of Professors of Education (SPE) is presented annually to recognize and honor an outstanding teacher education program at a college or university. The purpose of the Award, as created by the SPE Board, is to select and honor, each year, an institution which has made a significant contributions to the theory and practice of teacher education. The criteria used by the Wisniewski Committee focus specifically on the integration of theory and practice, strength of foundational study, and effective innovation in the field of teacher education. The annual recipient is selected by the SPE’s Wisniewski Teacher Education Award Committee, based on nominations from the teacher education community and/or self-nominations.  The Award is named for Richard Wisniewski, a past president and treasurer of SPE, the former Dean of the College of Education at University of Tennessee, and Past President of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.

Application Requirements:
A description of the program that identifies its core principles, key ideas that were used as foundations for developing the program, and examples of how these principles are manifested in courses and field experiences (no more than 2-4 pages, suggested).

Please send nominations no later than February 1, 2023.

Committee Chair: Brad Conrad, Capital University | bconrad2@capital.edu

The Mary Anne Raywid Award

The Mary Anne Raywid Award is named for Mary Anne Raywid, Hofstra University Professor Emerita and Past president of the Society of Professors of Education (1978-1979). The award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the study of education.

Individuals may be nominated or self-nominated, simply by naming the individual to committee chair Nicholas Hartlep (hartlepn@berea.edu) no later than February 1, 2023.

The Society of Professors of Education Book Award

Note: Nominations for 2023 have already closed, but nominations for 2024 can begin now. Reviewers consider how well each text, among other attributes, assists readers in understanding the relationship between education and the social complexities in which schools are contextualized and in fostering inquiry into the history, current status, and future alternatives of teaching, learning, and education. You do not have to be a member of the SPE to nominate a text, and self-nominations/publisher nominations are welcome. The review process is competitive. SPE hopes that winners who are not yet members will choose to support the organization through membership.  Texts must have been published in 2022, 2023, or 2024 to be considered. Nominations will be until through October 1, 2023, as our reviewers need time to read, contemplate, and review.

Please contact committee chair pamela.konkol@cuchicago.edu with the book title, author email, and publisher contact; Pamela is happy to answer questions about review criteria and what makes for an “outstanding” book as defined by the SPE. Too, SPE has a great panel of reviewers, but there is always room for more! Please consider volunteering to review a text or two.