 Dr. Stanton E.F. Wortham, associate dean for academic affairs at the Graduate School of Education, has received the School’s 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award.
This award, given annually to an “outstanding member of the teaching faculty,” is an honor bestowed by the GSE student body. The recipients have “a strong commitment to teaching and learning” and are known to challenge their students intellectually and imaginatively.
One student said of Dr. Wortham: “By extending a conception of research that is rigorous, ethical, and non-legalistic, Stanton has challenged my assumptions of research and scholarship.”
Dr. Wortham’s scholarship focuses on ethnography, linguistic anthropology, and immigrant populations. Most recently, he has studied Mexican immigrant populations as they settle in towns without a history of Latino presence, aiming to create new models for how school districts can address the needs of Latino students and their families. The efforts resulted in a professional development film that gives teachers a glimpse into the lives of Latino families, who share their suggestions for teachers and administrators.
Students say the film, which has prompted Dr. Wortham to co-teach a course on film and research, “articulates his commitment to excellence in the research process, not just the product.”
Dr. Wortham received his BA in psychology from Swarthmore College and his PhD in human development from the University of Chicago. Before joining Penn GSE, he taught at Bates College in Maine. Throughout his career, he has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals and has received several distinguished awards and fellowships. |
