Robin E. Hands

Associate Clinical Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

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Academic Degrees:

Doctor of Education in Teacher Education and School Improvement, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Master of Arts Degree in Gifted Education, Johnson State College, Johnson, VT
Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education, Barrington College, Barrington, RI

Areas of Expertise:

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Administrator Preparation

Curriculum Studies

Diverse Learning Needs

Education Reform

Education Administration

Educational Leadership

Elementary Education

Gifted & Talented

Biography:

Robin Hands has been a practicing educator for many years, teaching everything from nursery school to the graduate level, in both private and public settings.  She has served as an enrichment coordinator, an educational consultant to the state of VT, and she was a school administrator for eleven years. Robin earned her Master’s Degree in Gifted Education with a research focus on answering the question: Can creativity be taught?  Her Doctorate is in Teacher Education and School Improvement. Her dissertation was a case study exploring the phenomenon of underachievement as seen through the lens of a twice exceptional adolescent. Robin’s current research interests include the application of a co-teaching model to teacher preparation clinical settings, including the voice of the public school practitioner in teacher education program development, and professionalizing the role of the cooperating teacher through the development of collaborative and reciprocal school partnerships.

Selected Publications/Presentations:

Hands, R.E. (2016). Bridges: A Poetic Tribute to John Goodlad. Education in a Democracy: A Journal of the National Network for Educational Renewal, 8, 6.

Eckert, R., Payne, S., Hands, R., & Roselle, R. (2014). Leveraging clinical experiences to prepare teachers for culturally and linguistically diverse students. In T.H. Levine, E.R. Howard, & D.M. Moss (Ed.s). Preparing Classroom Teachers to Succeed with Second Language Learners: Lessons from a Faculty Learning Community (pp. 122-138). New York:  Routledge.

Hands, R.E., & Rong, Y. (2014). Schools as clinics: Learning about practice in practice.  Peabody Journal of Education, 89(4), 453-465.

Roselle, R., Hands, R., & Payne, S. (2013). The danger of a single story: Preparing pre-service teachers to teach for social justice. In K. Zenkov, D. Corrigan, & R. Beebe (Eds), Professional development schools and social justice: Schools and universities partnering to make a difference. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books

PRESENTER, National Network for Educational Renewal’s Annual Conference:  Progress Through Purpose: Sharing Our Journey Toward Simultaneous Renewal – “Using Core Practices to Promote Simultaneous Renewal with Teaching Candidates and K-12 Partners” and “Doing More with Less:  Advancing Equity and Simultaneous Renewal through Meaningful Professional Development Opportunities,” Arlington, TX, October 27-29, 2016.

PRESENTER, Professional Development Schools National Conference: “Doing More with Less: Advancing Equity and Simultaneous Renewal through Meaningful Professional Development Opportunities” and “The Fifth Year:  Internship and Inquiry,” Washington, D.C., March 2-6, 2016.

PRESENTER, National Network for Educational Renewal’s Annual Conference:  Diversity, Equity & Democracy in Education – “Doing More with Less: Advancing Equity and Simultaneous Renewal through Meaningful Professional Development Opportunities,” Chico, CA, September 30-October 3, 2015.

PRESENTER, Professional Development Schools National Conference: “Doing More with Less: Advancing Equity and Simultaneous Renewal through Meaningful Professional Development Opportunities,” Atlanta, GA, March 5-8, 2015.

PRESENTER, National Network for Educational Renewal’s Annual Conference:  Building Sustainable Communities:  Reclaiming Our Values – “Promoting Simultaneous Renewal by Establishing a Lead Teacher/Site Coordinator Role,” Cincinnati, OH, October 22-25, 2014.

PRESENTER, Professional Development Schools National Conference – “Promoting Simultaneous Renewal by Establishing a Lead Teacher/Site Coordinator Role,” Las Vegas, NV, March 26-March 30, 2014.

PRESENTER, National Network for Educational Renewal’s Annual Conference: Simultaneous Renewal: Everyone Teaches, Everyone Learns – “Co-Teaching: A Model for Teacher Preparation,” Albuquerque, NM, October 2013

PRESENTER, 19th Annual New England Conference on Gifted and Talented Education: Creating Strong Roots: Nurturing the Growth and Development of the Whole Child – “The Phenomenon of Underachievement: Listening to the Voices of Twice-Exceptional Adolescents,” Portland, ME, October 2013

PRESENTER, American Educational Research Association, “Establish a Baseline to Assess Simultaneous Renewal Between a University and Its Partner Schools,” DEANS’ SYMPOSIUM: Investigating Innovative Pre-Service Teacher Education in Australia, Scotland and the USA: Metaphors and Models, San Francisco, CA, April 2013

Honors/Awards:

Graduate Education Award, Johnson State College, Johnson, VT

Student Teacher of the Year Award, Barrington College, Barrington, RI

Alumni Citation of Merit Award, Barrington College, Barrington, RI

Associations/Committees/Outreach:

National Association for Gifted Children

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

NNER – National Network for Educational Renewal

AACTE – American Association of Colleges for Teacher Preparation