Keith Lambert Named Sue Chandler Endowed Professor in Education
Lambert has been at the forefront of developing and sustaining crucial partnerships that equip teachers to become culturally competent and help increase the diversification of the teacher workforce, something that lies at the heart of this professorship.
This summer, he was awarded the 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Change Agent Award from the Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education (AILACTE) for being a co-creator of the Wai‘anae-to-Whitworth scholarship program.
Established in 2015, the program has allowed Native Hawaiian students interested in attending Whitworth to complete their education and then return to their communities to serve as teachers and other professionals. It has also provided Whitworth education students with an intercultural teaching experience during which they complete practicum hours in the elementary and secondary schools along the Wai‘anae Coast, on O‘ahu.
Over the next year, Lambert would like to explore ways to develop a partnership and make placements with Whitworth’s special education pre-service teachers.
He also plans to write a book that will focus on how students with multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), like many of those in the Wai‘anae community, can rise above those experiences with the help of people like Whitworth mentors and schoolteachers.
“There will be one chapter dedicated to the growing number of Wai‘anae-to-Whitworth Scholars, many of whom have multiple ACEs,” Lambert says. “Their stories of hope and courage will help future generations of Hawaiian students from the Wai‘anae Moku (district). Each chapter will have a theme and a set of questions teachers and students can work through as they consider their own stories of hope.”
Lambert will also spend time fostering a partnership between Whitworth and Mead High School that was developed last spring. The partnership pairs mentor teachers with teacher candidates and provides them with a professional development opportunity designed specifically for their growth as a team. The ultimate goal for this partnership is to create opportunities that support the best learning environment for students. The mentor teacher benefits from additional professional development, designated time to talk with their candidate and a small stipend that has been funded through outside grants. The candidate benefits from focused attention on quality pedagogical practices and a more in-depth mentoring program. Lambert would like to see five or six teacher candidates and mentors identified per semester who will serve at least two semesters with the same teacher.
The Sue Chandler Endowed Professorship in Education was established in 2013 by Scott Chandler ’84, a member of Whitworth’s board of trustees. The professorship is named in honor of Chandler’s wife, Sue ’85, who has been an instrumental force for improving education in her community of Littleton, Colo.
About Whitworth University:
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private, liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Contacts:
Trisha Coder, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or tcoder@whitworth.edu.
