Professor Valerie Harlow Shinas is the chair of the Ph.D. in Educational Studies department and a faculty member in the Graduate School of Education. She joined Lesley University in 2012 after more than a decade working with middle school students and teachers.
“As a teacher educator, I use my teaching experiences to make visible the connections between theory and practice for my students. Much of my work at Lesley University has centered on preparing teachers and teacher candidates to develop and deliver effective literacy and disciplinary literacy instruction. With expertise in the areas of technology-integrated literacy instruction and the TPACK theoretical framework, my research interests include integration of digital tools to support literacy and learning in K-12 classrooms.
"In addition, recent scholarly work has focused on teacher development and assessment of teacher practice. My transition to the PhD department has allowed me to use my experiences as a teacher educator and more than ten years as an educational researcher to support doctoral students on their academic journeys."
Education: BA, Anna Maria College; M.Ed., University of Massachusetts-Lowell; PhD, University of Delaware.