Jori S. Beck joins W&M Educational Policy, Planning & Leadership faculty

This fall, the School of Education welcomes new faculty members. Today, we introduce Associate Professor of Research Design, Methods, and Analysis Jori S. Beck, who joins the Educational Policy, Planning & Leadership faculty.

Tell us a little about your background and what brought you to W&M.

I began my career as an 8th grade language arts teacher, and I decided to pursue my Ph.D. in Teaching and Teacher Education to try to make teacher preparation better for other new teachers who were entering the field after me. Along the way I also fell in love with research methods when I was earning my Ph.D. at George Mason University, and I earned a secondary emphasis in this area. I was faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Old Dominion University before coming to William & Mary. I was looking for a smaller institution that put a greater focus on teaching and learning, and I was happy to find that at William & Mary. I attended a small, private liberal arts college as an undergraduate, and I know how important that environment was for me as a first generation college student. I get that same liberal arts feeling here at William & Mary.

What’s your area of research and what question are you most passionate about answering right now?

I am a teacher education scholar, and many of the questions I am interested in focus on how to make preservice teacher education better — especially through enriching teacher preparation with field experiences and school-university partnerships. Right now, I am really interested in studying how we can support teacher candidates’ learning around data in their field experiences. I am also part of a study on different pathways to teacher preparation and the components that make these pathways excellent. I also just submitted a book proposal about case study research methods that I’m excited to pursue.

What else are you hoping to get involved with on campus or in the community?

I am looking forward to getting to know my colleagues and students better. My mentor told me that it’s my job my first year at a new place to be a learner and I’m looking forward to learning a lot this year.