About

Maria Estela Brisk is a Professor of Education at the Teacher Education, Special Education and Curriculum and Instruction Department in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. She received her Ph.D. in linguistics and bilingual education at the University of New Mexico in 1972. Her research and teacher-training interests include elementary students’ writing development, bilingual education, bilingual language and literacy acquisition, methods of teaching literacy, and preparation of mainstream teachers to work with bilingual learners. She is the author of numerous articles and books.

Martin Scanlan is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. Before joining the academy, Scanlan spent over 10 years as a teacher and administrator. He primarily worked in urban settings in schools serving traditionally marginalized students in Washington, D.C., Berkeley, CA, and Madison, WI. 

Daren Graves is an Associate Professor of Education and Social Work at Simmons University and Adjunct Lecturer of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research lies at the intersection of critical race theory, racial identity development, and teacher education.

A teacher and coach in the Boston Public Schools for over 20 years, Elizabeth MacDonald’s interests include urban education, reading and writing instruction, dual-language schools, and the preparation of pre-service teachers. She has worked with Maria Estela Brisk on writing instruction as a teacher, coach, and colleague. Additionally, as co-author of the first and second edition of The Mindful Teacher, she is committed to supporting and retaining urban educators.

Michael "Mookie" Manalili has degrees in the fields of civil engineering, theological pedagogy, theological studies, and clinical social work and is currently co-chairing the Psychology & the Other conference, assisting with research in the Morality Lab, and co-directing the Psychological Ethics and Humanities research group.

Keisha Valdez has been a professional educator for over 22 years. She has been a teacher, coach, and mentor for new professionals, teachers, school leaders, and university faculty. As a former urban, public elementary school teacher she has remained tied to teacher education over the years. She has advised struggling schools/districts on strategies for improving student outcomes, school reform, school-based management, and raising the quality of teaching, learning, and parent support.

Patrick Proctor is a professor and educational researcher focusing on bilingualism, bilingual education, language, and literacy at Boston College. His work attempts to merge critical and developmental perspectives on language, literacy, and bilingualism in education. He works directly with teachers and administrators on issues of bilingual education and language-based literacy instruction, particularly in schools and districts characterized by student (and ideally teacher) multilingualism. 

Scott Seider is an applied developmental psychologist whose research focuses on the role of schools in supporting adolescents’ civic development. He has reported on this work in more than 70 academic publications. As a core faculty member in the Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology department at the Lynch School, Dr. Seider teaches undergraduate and graduate courses focused on adolescent development and social oppression and transformation.

Tracy Hodgson-Drysdale has taught in various capacities over a 20-year period, including five years working as an elementary generalist, six as a reading specialist, and 13 as an instructor teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in literacy, bilingualism, and systemic functional linguistics. She has worked with Dr. Maria Estela Brisk since 2008 as her teaching assistant and research assistant, and they also presented at conferences and collaborated on articles. 

Lisa Portadin has been an urban public school teacher for over 20 years at all levels - elementary, middle, and secondary. She is currently a Writing Coach for the Excellence for All Initiative in the Boston Public Schools. At the university level, Lisa teaches a Foundations of Literacy course and serves as a University Supervisor for students at their student teaching practicum sites across Massachusetts. Lisa has spent her career working to reform urban schools as places of excellent and inclusive learning spaces. Lisa's professional interests are in reading pedagogy, learning disabilities, and genre writing. 

Matthew Clemente is a Fellow in the Center for Psychological Humanities and Ethics, a Lecturer at Boston College specializing in existentialism, philosophy of religion, and contemporary Continental thought, and the author of Technology and Its Discontents: The Perils of Ethical Distancing (with David M. Goodman, Oxford University Press, 2024), Posttraumatic Joy: A Seminar on Nietzsche’s Tragicomic Philosophy (Routledge, 2023) and Eros Crucified: Death, Desire, and the Divine in Psychoanalysis and Philosophy of Religion (Routledge, 2019). He serves as the Coeditor in Chief of the Journal of Continental Philosophy and Religion (Brill) and the Codirector of the Guestbook Project, a 501c3 nonprofit.

Samantha Deane, Ph.D. is a Philosopher of Education, the Director of the Formative Leadership Education project at Boston College, and an instructor of Formative Education at Boston College.