Faculty Biographies
Please click on one of the photographs or names below to read that faculty member's biography.
Supriya Baily has been an Instructor of Educational Transformation in the George Mason University Graduate School of Education Master's in New Professional Studies—Teaching program for over three years. Before that she spent over a decade working with nonprofit organizations conducting research on international education programs, writing proposals for funding for projects, and traveling. She has presented papers at national and international conferences. She received her doctorate in International Education from George Mason University where her dissertation focused on women’s empowerment in rural India. She has a Master's degree in International Development Studies from George Washington University and a Bachelor's degree in Social Work and Women's Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has lived, studied, and worked in India for over a decade and has used literature, music, and drama to raise the public's perception of social injustices in India.
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/Truland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-4447
Krissy Bartlett is an Instructor of Educational Transformation. She received her Bachelor's degree in English and Education from William and Mary College in 2000 and later graduated from the Initiatives in Educational Transformation Program with her Master's Degree in 2004. She taught English for six year at Osbourn High School in Manassas, VA. Her skills in collaborative faculty planning and desire to teach transformational learning methods brought her back to share the program with others. Krissy coaches swimming at a national level at the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center in Manassas, VA and manages seven pool sites for SwimKids Swim School. Marriage and motherhood are her greatest joy.
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/ Bull Run Hall, Room 225B
- Phone:
- (703) 993-4335
Jennifer Garvey Berger is an Assistant Professor of Educational Transformation. Her research focuses on understanding the ways adults grow and change over time and on giving voice to that journey. She is committed to offering teachers professional development opportunities that not only increase their knowledge, but also transform their ability to implement that knowledge in their classrooms and with their colleagues. Jennifer has taught middle and high school English in Augusta, Georgia, and has taught college, graduate school, and professional development courses at Harvard University, Georgetown University, and the Bard Institute of Writing and Thinking. The co-editor of two books, Executive Coaching: Practices and Perspectives (2002, Davies-Black), and Acts of Inquiry in Qualitative Research (2000, Harvard Educational Publishing Group), she has a B.A. in English from St. Mary's College of Maryland and both a Master's degree and a doctorate in Learning and Teaching from Harvard University.
- E-mail:
- jberger1@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/Truland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-8184
Monimalika Day is an Assistant Professor in the Initiative for Educational Transformation Program at George Mason University. She received a master’s in Child Development from Jadavpur University in India and a doctorate in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Maryland in College Park. Moni grew up in India and began her career helping to develop drop-in educational and health programs for homeless children and their families. Later, she worked with children with special needs and their families for several years. Her research focuses on action research with families to promote inclusion of children with special needs. She has co-authored two books on culturally responsive service provision, titled Building Cultural Reciprocity with Families (Paul, H. Brookes) and How Culture Shapes Social-Emotional Development (ZERO TO THREE). She directed a professional development project for early intervention professionals and an initiative on cultural diversity at ZERO TO THREE, a national non-profit organization for young children in United States. She recently participated in a Core Leaders Group, hosted by the Early Childhood Equity Initiative at Teaching for Change.
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/Bull Run Hall, Room 225B
- Phone:
- (703) 993-4447
Betsy DeMulder is Director and Associate Professor of Educational Transformation. She earned a B.S. summa cum laude degree in Psychology from Wright State University and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from St. John's College, Cambridge University, England. Betsy was a Staff Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health and came to Mason in 1994 under the auspices of the National Science Foundation's Visiting Professorships for Women Program. She has been a member of the IET faculty since 1996. Betsy's research concerns the study of interpersonal relationships in educational contexts and risk and protective conditions in children's development and early education. She is involved in community-based action research in South Arlington, where she developed a family-centered preschool program for low-income, immigrant families as a university/community partnership. Betsy co-edited a book entitled Transforming Teacher Education: Lessons in Professional Development (Bergin and Garvey, 2001) and has published her research in a variety of professional journals.
- E-mail:
- edemulde@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/Bull Run Hall, Room 228C
- Phone:
- 703-993-8326
Mary Stone Hanley Dr. Mary Stone Hanley, assistant professor in Initiatives for Transformative Education (CEHD), has been an educator in public and higher education for more than 35 years. She received a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis in Multicultural Education, from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA in 1998. In prior faculty positions she taught social studies, arts education, and multicultural education courses. Her research interests include the Arts and Equity in Education. Her interest in how the arts facilitate learning as a vehicle of culture and equity, particularly with African American youth, has grown during her work as a public school teacher, an artist and arts educator, an urban community educator working with children at risk for failure in public schools, and as a researcher and university faculty member. Her articles, The Name Game: Naming in Culture, Critical Theory, and the Arts in Journal of Thought 39(4), and Learning to Fly: Critical Multicultural Education through Drama in Arts and Learning Research Journal, 18 (1) are examples of her writing on the use of drama with young African Americans. Transformation through Hip Hop, a chapter in Contemporary Youth Culture: An International Encyclopedia is an example of Dr. Hanley’s research in the Hip Hop culture and art forms as they affect young Black males and White teachers. Dr. Hanley has a Masters degree in Educational Communications and Technology with an emphasis in television and film. She is a playwright, screenwriter, and poet. She has written several plays and two films produced for young audiences.
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/ Truland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-8184
Mark Hicks is an Associate Professor of Educational Transformation. He holds a doctorate degree in philosophy and education and a master's degree in higher education, both from Teachers College, Columbia University where he served as the Andrew Mellon Research Fellow.
As a teacher and administrator, he has a wide-ranging background in higher education, from being the associate director of admission at Rice University in Texas to an assistant dean of Columbia College, Columbia University in New York City. Committed to the ideals of creating collaborative, democratic and socially conscious learning communities, Dr. Hicks has been recognized for his work in transformative thinking and teaching, most recently being honored as a finalist for a university Teaching Excellence award at George Mason. He held an endowed university visiting professorship at the University of Southern Maine in 2004-2005.
Music, the arts, social justice, and progressive teaching are woven through every aspect of Dr. Hicks' teaching and consultation. He has published solicited and refereed articles in journals such as Educational Studies, The Journal of Transformative Education, Teacher Development, and the Journal of College Counseling (where his research was twice honored as "the most significant contribution to the Journal" and research that "stands the test of time"). In addition, he has served on several national research/book projects that explore and document pedagogical innovations that promote social change.
- E-mail:
- mhicks@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/Tuland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-8135
- Webpage:
Mary Kayler is an Assistant Professor of Educational Transformation. She taught social studies education for twelve years at the secondary level and holds a Master's Degree in Social Studies Education and Ph.D. from Syracuse University. While completing her doctorate at Syracuse University, she participated in The Future Professorate Project and worked in the Teaching and Leadership Program. Prior to coming to GMU, she taught at Mount Saint Mary's College in Maryland. Dr. Kayler's work at Mount Saint Mary's included the development and implementation of a Professional Development School at the elementary and secondary levels for undergraduate teacher preparation and certification. Dr. Kayler's research interests include portfolio assessment in teacher Education, cooperative learning, and democratic Education.
- E-mail:
- mkayler@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/Bull Run Hall, Room 228 B
- Phone:
- (703) 993-8417
Elavie Ndura is an Associate Professor of Educational Transformation. She earned a Doctorate (Ed. D.) in Curriculum and Instruction with emphasis in Bilingual and Multicultural Education from Northern Arizona University, USA; an M.Ed. in Teaching English for Specific Purposes from the University of Exeter, England; and a B.A. in Arts and Humane Sciences with emphasis in English Language and Literature from the University of Burundi, Africa. She taught English Language Arts, English as a Foreign Language, English as a Second Language, and French in culturally diverse secondary schools for 17 years in Africa and the United States. She has been teaching college graduate and undergraduate Multicultural Education and TESOL courses in teacher preparation programs for many years.
Elavie joined the IET faculty in 2005. Her research interests are in the areas of diversity and multicultural education, cultural identity development, immigrants' acculturation, students' academic achievement in culturally diverse educational settings, multicultural peace education, and peaceful conflict resolution. She has delivered numerous presentations and keynote addresses at international, national, and local professional meetings and other gatherings. She has contributed chapters to several books, including Suffer the Little Children: National and International Dimensions of Child Poverty (Elsevier, 2005), Teaching all of the Children in Your Classroom (Guilford, 2004), Multicultural and Multilingual Literacy and Language: Contexts and Practices (Guilford, 2004), and Conflict Resolution and Peace Education in Africa (Lexington Books, 2003).
Elavie's scholarly articles have appeared in Peace and Change; Journal of Adult and Adolescent Literacy; Language, Culture and Curriculum; Multicultural Perspectives; Multicultural Education; American Secondary Education, and other publications. Elavie served as Board Member of the Center for Holocaust, Genocide, and Peace Studies and was President and Founder of the Northern Nevada Chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education for four years. She is an active member of several community and professional organizations.
- E-mail:
- endura@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/Bull Run Hall, Room 222
- Phone:
- (703) 993-9424
Leo Rigsby is an Instructor of Educational Transformation, having taught as an associate professor in IET for several years prior to retirement. Specializing in Sociology of Education, research methods, and sociology of science, Leo joined IET from Temple University, where he taught for 23 years in the Department of Sociology. In recent years at Temple he conducted research on adolescent development in the National Center for Education in the Inner Cities. In addition, he directed a research program on school/community connections. From this work, he co edited a book entitled School/Community Connections: Exploring Issues for Research and Practice. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, Inc. 1995. His work at IET focuses on the epistemological and social bases of teacher research.
- E-mail:
- lrigsby1@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/Bull Run Hall, Room 222
- Phone:
- (703) 993-8318
Joyce Rollins is an Instructor of Educational Transformation. She graduated with the Arlington IET Class of 2000. For the past seventeen years she has taught elementary school, spending most of that time with the fourth grade at Tuckahoe Elementary School in Arlington County. She also co-sponsored the Student Council Association at Tuckahoe for fourteen years, which instituted many school traditions, including a weekly school newscast and an annual variety show. She has been a presenter at national, state, and local conferences, speaking to the integration of technology, physical education, and writing. She has been honored to be a nominee for Arlington Teacher of the Year, NAMSE Math Teacher of the Year, and the Disney American Teacher Awards.
- E-mail:
- joceyr@aol.com
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/Truland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-4443
Kmt Shockley is an Assistant Professor of Educational Transformation. His research focuses on understanding the relationship between teacher Education programs and classroom pedagogy. He also studies culturally centered ideological perspectives. Kmt advocates developing meaningful teacher education programs, and promotes the use of diverse perspectives to improve the educational outcomes for all people. Kmt has taught elementary school in the Cincinnati public school system and middle school in Fairfax County public schools. In 1999, he received the award of "Living Legend" from the University of Cincinnati and the City of Cincinnati for his positive impact in the tri-state region. Kmt has taught classes at the University of Maryland, College Park, and he travels extensively, conducting professional and cultural development seminars. Kmt holds a B.A. in African American Studies, a B.S. in Education, and a Master's in Education Administration. In the fall of 2003, Kmt received his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Maryland, College Park.
- E-mail:
- kshockle@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/Truland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-4434
Stacia Stribling is an Instructor of Educational Transformation. She received her Bachelor's degree from Mary Washington College and later graduated from the IET Program with her Master's Degree in 1999. She has worked as an instructor with the program ever since. Her research focus while at George Mason University has been elementary literacy. She presented a paper titled, "Why Can't I Read? A Study of Struggling First Grade Readers" at the University of Pennsylvania's Ethnography in Education Conference in 1999. Stacia's public school experience includes eight years as a first- and second-grade teacher in Fauquier County, three years as a member of the Language Arts Council for Fauquier County Public Schools, and three years as the lead mentor teacher for Grace Miller Elementary School. In addition to her Education background, Stacia holds a degree in music performance. She currently performs with the Piedmont Regional Orchestra as well as the Fauquier Community Theater.
- E-mail:
- sslawins@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/Bull Run Hall, Room 225A
- Phone:
- (703) 993-8309
Jenice L. View is an Assistant Professor of Educational Transformation. For more than twenty years, Jenice has worked with a variety of nongovernmental organizations to create space for the voices that are often excluded from public policy considerations: women, people of color, poor urban and rural community residents, and especially youth. She has also been an educator in a variety of classroom and community settings, including as a middle school humanities teacher at a DC public charter school, as the education and training director of a national environmental justice and labor organization, and as a professional development trainer of classroom teachers.
She is a co-editor of Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching, winner of the 2004 Philip Chinn award from the National Association of Multicultural Education. She has presented workshops and presentations in a variety of national and international settings on the subjects of popular education, labor education, environmental justice, youth development, and the civil rights education. A native of Washington, DC, she has a B.A. in economics and international relations from Syracuse University, an MPA-URP in development studies and urban and regional planning from Princeton University, and a Ph.D. in education from the Union Institute and University.
- Email:
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/Truland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-4447
Karen Weller is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University within the Initiatives in Educational Transformation division, founded in 1992 in the College of Education and Human Development, which seeks to transform our society one teacher, classroom, and school at a time. Her specialties are teacher professional development, curriculum and instruction, action research, middle school science education, critical pedagogy, and learner-centered teaching. Her research and writings focus upon teacher professional development, the pressure of high stakes testing and its impact on teaching, and middle school science education. Her professional experiences in both middle schools and higher education promise a wealth of information and expertise to recap the conference and make it valuable when attendees return home! Dr. Weller received her Ed.D. from Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff) in 2003. While in Flagstaff, she served as an instructor and graduate assistant at NAU, as well as English as a Second Language Specialist at Flagstaff High School and Science Teacher/Department Chair at Mt. Elden Middle School. With extensive classroom leadership in both K-12 and higher education positions, Dr. Weller has written extensively for professional journals and presented at national and international conferences. She is a reviewer for the Middle School Journal, a refereed journal of the National Middle School Association. She is involved with several consulting projects with Sector Group of the DC Education Compact.
- E-mail:
- kweller@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Prince William Campus/Bull Run Hall, Room 228A
- Phone:
- (703) 993-8351
Laura Zam is an Instructor of Educational Transformation. Also a practicing artist, she teaches in George Mason's Department of Art and Visual Technology. For the past 20 years, Laura has taught in a wide variety of settings, including elementary, junior- and senior-high schools in the U.S. and the Czech Republic, where she worked for five years. From 2001-2004, Laura was the Director of Education for Arena Stage, where she created programs that brought the arts into classrooms and community. She has also worked internationally, using drama with youth from conflict regions. Her own artistic work includes playwriting and performing in the U.S. and abroad. Awards include: Amiri Baraka Literary Prize, Open Society Fund grant, Tennessee Williams Fellowship, and a Salomon Grant for Educational Expansion from Brown University. In addition to George Mason, Laura has taught at UC Berkeley, Brown University, the University of the South and others. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Brown University.
- E-mail:
- lzam@gmu.edu
- Office:
- Arlington Campus/Truland Building, Room 315
- Phone:
- (703) 993-4447
- E-mail:
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