
Courtney Crim, Ed.D.
- Associate Professor , Education
Defining myself as a teacher educator, I draw from my practical experiences as a public education teacher with students who span a vibrant spectrum of learning. An alumnus of Trinity’s MAT program, I continually grow as an educator and feel so fortunate to work in an institution that focuses heavily on the student. As an educational researcher, I intertwine my research with my practice of teaching and, consequently, my teaching with my research. My teaching is guided by theory, centered on student learning, and steeped in reflection. Through the infusion of differentiation as a practical way to promote purposeful learning, I strive to provide opportunities for students to experience authenticity, autonomy, ownership in my classes. I embrace the foundation of differentiation as the umbrella of my scholarship and the cornerstone of my teaching.
Through my teaching and the practice of using differentiated instruction, I meet educators at the root of change. Research is the arena where I can continue to explore the role, impact, and outcome of differentiation on multiple levels and reach/teach others through dissemination of my work. Drawing on a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, my research threads are unified under the familiar umbrella of differentiated instruction. From this point, it follows two paths: Teacher education (which specifically intersects the practice of differentiated instruction for both inservice and preservice teachers) and environmental education (which extends the idea of differentiation past content, process, and product into that of environment also allowing me to tap into Gardner’s Naturalistic Intelligence and proactively address upcoming federal legislation regarding outdoor education). From these two angles, the paths unite again through impacting transformative leadership in the field of education.
I am fortunate that many of my community and professional interactions are so closely linked with my teaching and research. A few examples of recent local, state, and international involvement include:
Since beginning at Trinity in 2010, I continue to be involved in a growing number of interesting activities. A few of these opportunities include the German Fulbright Delegation planning committee, Co-facilitating Saturday Morning Experience (SME), participating in the Council on Teacher Education, Co-facilitating the Teacher Education Study Group, and participating in the Gifted and Talented Lecture Series Development Team.