Teacher SEL: Programs, Possibilities, and Contexts

Daniel (Dan) Liston, PhD is Professor of Education in the Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice (EFPP) program and in the Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) program. Professor Liston's research interests include curriculum theory, teacher education, reflective teaching, and educational foundations. Specifically he examines justifications for distinct curricula; provides articulations for and critiques of teacher education; and explores the social and political contexts of schooling. Recently he has begun to explore the various ways reason and emotion interact to affect the practice of teaching and the education of teachers. Professor Liston currently co-directs (with Paul Michalec and in conjunction with Susan Kaplan and Rev. Paul Kottke) Colorado Courage and Renewal, a program of professional development and renewal for public school personnel, clergy, and others in the serving professions. Professor Liston’s teaching interests focus on curriculum theory, education in film, spirituality in education, and the social and political foundations of schooling. Professor Liston has been a member of various professional organizations including the American Educational Research Association, the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE), and the American Educational Studies Association. He is a past and current member of the Editorial Review Board of Educational Theory. During his time at CU, Professor Liston has received the AACTE Outstanding Writing Award, CU’s SOAR and the “Best Should Teach” teaching awards, and the university-wide Robert L. Stearns Award for extraordinary achievement in teaching, service, research and work with students. His research has resulted in publication of six books (single and co-authored, and edited) and numerous articles.

Randy Testa has been teaching since he was 23 years old – he’s taught third graders, undergraduates, masters and doctoral students –in suburban Chicago, Denver, New Hampshire and Cambridge, Massachusetts. He’s also worked in the movie business, doing professional development with educators around the use of commercial film adaptations of books widely read in public schools. His abiding love in teaching and research focuses on the moral and spiritual dimensions of teaching and the ways in which movies can enhance teachers’ capacities for self-reflection. Testa attended Northwestern University as an undergraduate and the Harvard Graduate School of Education for both his Ed. M. (in Reading Education) and Ed. D. (The Study of Teaching). His educational heroes are Vivian Gussin Paley and John Dewey. He has authored and/or edited 4 books including two on the Amish community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, along with numerous articles.