GSE Hosts Visitors From University of Pretoria

Left to right: Dean Hennessy, Dr. Ina Joubert,
Dr. Ronel Ferreira, Dr. Gerrit Stols

This week, several members of the Faculty of Education from the University of Pretoria visited the Graduate School of Education, as part of Fordham University’s ongoing partnership with the South African institution. Drs. Ronel Ferreira (Head of Department of Educational Psychology), Ina Joubert(Senior Lecturer, Department of Early Childhood Education) and Gerrit Stols (Senior Lecturer, Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education) spent the week with GSE administrators, faculty, staff and students, as part of an effort to develop the Fordham partnership and collaboration with Pretoria further at the faculty and program levels.

Ferreira, Joubert and Stols participated in discussions with Dean James Hennessy, Associate Dean Rita Brause and GSE Division Chairs. They also observed several classes in session, including a team-taught course in the Fordham Teacher Residency Scholars program in Adolescence Education, and a course entitled “Leading in a Diverse Society” in the Division of Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy’s Master’s in Administration and Supervision program. They toured both the Fordham Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses, and visited several Bronx elementary schools which are members of GSE’s Partnership Support Organization/Children First Network (PSO/CFN). GSE hosted them as guests at receptions celebrating three cohorts of graduates of GSE’s NYSED grant-funded Educational Leadership Program Enhancement Project (ELPEP) and welcoming incoming students to the first cohorts of the Accelerated Master’s in Educational Leadership (A.M.P.E.L.) program, and they interacted with faculty from the new doctoral program in Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research (CLAIR)-- as well as with faculty from almost every other GSE program.

Many collaborations resulted from interaction between GSE faculty and the visitors from Pretoria. These include an agreement for GSE faculty to serve as external reviewers of Pretoria Faculty of Education doctoral candidate dissertations, plans to develop joint courses, and new research alliances amongst faculty. Future possibilities include GSE providing a means of advanced professional development and leadership preparation opportunities for Pretoria faculty, and the possibility of fieldwork for students in several programs within GSE’s Division of Psychological and Educational Services abroad in South Africa.

We look forward to these and many other mutually beneficial partnership opportunities as GSE’s relationship with the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria continues to grow!