INFORMATION FOR
Every month during the academic year, we will spotlight a different member of the WP faculty or staff who plays a powerful role in student success.
Name: Liz Brown
Title: Faculty, Teacher Education Department; Director, Center for Teaching Excellence
Years at WP: 14
Tell us about yourself: Raised by a powerhouse single mother who pursued a law degree later in life, I learned to value education and community support. The guidance of teachers, neighbors, and coaches shaped who I am. After graduating from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, I taught in NYC and partnered with community members to embed gardening and mock trials into the curriculum. I earned my PhD from Rutgers-Newark, where I researched the impact of gentrification on the community efforts to maintain racial and economic diversity at a Jersey City school. Today, I proudly guide William Paterson education majors as they grow. Shaped by community ties, my journey has come full circle as my husband, Gaz, and I watch children's theater build confidence in our daughters, Penelope (13) and Tilly (11).
Describe your role on campus: I am a faculty member in the Teacher Education Department and the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. I direct the Elementary Education Certification program and teach education courses where I have the pleasure of looping with cohorts of elementary education students for three semesters. As the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, I collaborate and learn from colleagues all over campus. I love learning new methods and being challenged by pedagogical questions that I have not yet considered.
A defining moment at WP: During the pandemic, my literacy students met remotely to read the book The Wild Robot with fifth graders at Paterson School 12 and then teach the children to write their own stories about robots. Through the support of William Paterson's College of Education, we invited the author of The Wild Robot to speak remotely with the fifth graders, education students and faculty about the process of writing a children’s book. More than 80 individuals attended the event. After the presentation, the author publicly celebrated each fifth grader by sharing individual feedback on their stories. During a period of isolation and uncertainty, I felt deeply connected to my colleagues, students, field partners, and a children's author whose magical story brought us together and offered us a much-needed escape.
Favorite part about your job: Teaching and planning lessons. I love learning about my students, trying to understand how they are attempting to grasp a new topic or idea, and then being creative to make the new idea accessible to them. I truly embrace the obstacle of re-teaching a lesson that didn’t go as planned and the endless hours I spend brainstorming pedagogical ideas with my colleague, Professor Julie Rosenthal, who challenges and inspires me as an educator.
Fun fact: When I taught seventh grade in NYC, my students and I spent over a year petitioning for a school traffic light to improve their safe access to the building. By the time they reached eighth grade, the traffic light was installed.
Finish this sentence: "WP is a powerhouse of community." Students, staff and faculty inspire and challenge one another to achieve their fullest potential.
