Expertise
Teacher PreparationEducation
- Ed.D.: Language Arts & Literacy, (2006), University of Massachusetts - Lowell
Supporting Area: Full Scholarship - MA: English, (1995), Salem State University - Salem
Supporting Area: Full Scholarship - Additional Coursework: Moderate Special Needs, (1993), University of Massachusetts Boston - Boston
Supporting Area: Full Scholarship - BA: English, (1990), Stonehill College - N.Easton
Biosketch
During his nearly two decades as a school teacher, John developed an inquiry-based-learning environment using constructivist teaching methods and a skills-based curriculum to help traditionally underserved students improve their receptive and expressive language skills. John's particular areas of expertise are student motivation, social and emotional learning and developing positive school culture. For the past 15 years he has taught, coached and advised both pre-service and in-service schoolteachers as a member of the UML faculty. John has taught more than 20 different courses at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels, both online and on campus. He works in: the Curriculum & Instruction M.Ed. Program, K-12 School Leadership M.Ed & Ed.S. Programs, the Reading & Language M.Ed Program, the Leadership Ed.D. Program, the Ph.D. Program in Research and the undergraduate minor program. He also supervises student teachers in over 30 schools.
John is a Massachusetts Education Policy Fellow at the Rennie Center in Boston and an education consultant to K-12 school districts and other educational organizations. His book "The Use of Force:Teaching Adolescents in the 21st Century (Peter Lang Publishers)" is due out in December.
Selected Awards and Honors
- Massachusetts Education Policy Fellow at the Rennie Center in Boston.
Selected Publications
- Brown J. (2024) The use of force: Teaching adolescents in the 21st century. Peter Lang.
- Cooper, A. & Brown, J. (2023). Transcending time, history and race through ‘place.’ Language Magazine, 22(6), 36-41.
- Brown, J. (2022). Should Shakespeare Be Taught High School? The Leaflet, in press. (Winter).
- Brown, J. (2019). What Is Pedagogy? And, why it’s important for teachers to consider? educate, (Spring).
- Brown, J. (2019). What is my role as a teacher? The Leaflet, 118 (Winter) 25-29.
- Brown, J. (2018). Freewriting: Where did it come from? Why should we use it? How does it work? The Leaflet, 117 (Winter) 34-40.
- Brown, J. (2003). The big screen: Using the data projector in the writing classroom. Learning and leading in education.
- Brown, J. (2000). Who should decide if the kids can graduate? Billerica Minuteman.
Selected Presentations
- Mindset over Methods - New England League of Middle Schools Annual Conference, 2022
- Teacher Trauma and Transformation - Eastern Educational Research Association 42nd Annual Conference, February 2019 - Myrtle Beach, North Carolina
- Teacher panel as an Alternate Professional Developmental Model - Critical Questions in Education Conference (Academy for Educational Studies), March 2018 - Portland, OR
- Progressive Approaches to Teaching Grammar, Punctuation, and Usage - Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Annual Convention, March 2017 - Portland, OR
- Building Teacher Effectiveness Through the Use of Teacher Personal Narrative - AACTE 68th Annual Meeting, February 2016 - Las Vegas, NV
- Fieldtrip as Field Experience: Preparing Candidates to Plan, Supervise and Embed a Trip to Boston’s MFA Into the Curriculum - MACTE, October 2015 - Worcester, MA
- Progressive approaches to teaching grammar, punctuation, and usage - Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Annual Convention , March 2015 - Tampa, FLA
- Narrative landscapes as a new form of data for the professional development of teachers - National Council for the Teaching of English Annual Convention, November 2014 - Washington D. C.