Labs & Concentrations

Interdisciplinary Labs

The Study of Teaching & Learning Lab at Rowan University is dedicated to advancing the study of P-12 teaching and learning and teacher preparation. Our lab serves as a dynamic hub for faculty and doctoral students to engage in reflective and inclusive pedagogical practices, fostering innovative approaches to curriculum development and addressing pressing educational challenges. The Study of Teaching & Learning Lab seeks to study current P-20 educational systems and advocate for change through policy, practice, and advocacy. Our mission is to prepare education researchers, teacher educators, curriculum specialists, and instructional leaders who are committed to equity, social justice, and educational change. Faculty and students collaboratively explore issues from sociopolitical, cultural, philosophical, psychological, and historical perspectives, ensuring a well-rounded and interdisciplinary approach to education.

The lab fosters opportunities for engaged scholarship through research to practice partnerships within the Rowan College of Education School-University Partnership Network, as well as faculty-driven networks of teachers and school districts. The Study of Teaching and Learning Lab centers on the aim to balance teaching the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the current system while critically analyzing and working toward changing them. A guiding question for this lab would be: How do teachers and teacher educators in P-12 and higher education institutions utilize theory, practice, and research in education to transform learning environments and support student learning?

The Critical Praxis Lab is dedicated to work at the intersection of deep study, community collaboration, and intentional action towards liberation in education, within and outside of institutions and processes of schooling. In keeping with scholars such as Paulo Freire (1972) who described praxis as “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (p. 52), we understand praxis as critical examinations of how sociocultural systems construct knowledge and access through education, the everyday educational experiences those understandings engender, and how we can actively amplify pathways for justice while interrupting oppressive policies and practices. Along similar lines, we understand criticality to be studies that expressly attend to questions of power, for and to whom such political economies are available, and the intended and unintended consequences of relationships between power, communities, and individuals. Open to a wide variety of research interests, theoretical orientations, and research methodologies, a central throughline question for the Critical Praxis Lab is: How do people make sense of their worlds and engage in community to change it?

We offer the following potential directions in research interests, conceptual framework, and methodologies as examples of the kinds of approaches that align with our understandings of the Critical Praxis Lab. These are possibilities towards critical inquiry, justice, access, and change for disenfranchised youth and communities.

Higher Education/Postsecondary Education

The Higher and Postsecondary Education specialization of the PhD in Education prepares students to conduct research on higher education organizations, students, and policy. Our graduates will pursue careers as academic faculty, researchers, senior college and university administrators, and policy analysts. Our curriculum provides a strong theoretical foundation in organizational theory, public policy, and issues of social justice in postsecondary institutions. . Candidates will build on this foundation by working on research projects with faculty, such as high school to college transitions among minoritized and low income students, support for student success, college outcomes for minoritized and low income students, career transitions, conflict and rebuilding through policy networks in African higher education, methodological advances to support the study of marginalized populations, efficacy of online instructional methods, access to educational opportunities for women through e-learning, and the role of ethics in leadership, faculty work, and educational policy. Learn more

Language & Literacy Education

The Language and Literacy Education Ph.D. specialization is designed to prepare individuals for roles in research, policy, and teaching in higher education. The courses examine influential theories and research that address the developmental, cognitive, motivational, multimodal, literary, linguistic, sociocultural and sociopolitical foundations of language and literacy. The program is strongly framed by a critical stance that emphasizes the transformative potential of language and literacy. Candidates for the literacy education doctorate conduct research examining major issues around the interaction of theory, research, and practice in their role in promoting access, equity and success across a range of educational contexts. Learn more

Special Education

Students in the Special Education Specialization examine critical issues in the field of special education and disability studies in education (DSE). The program encourages progressive thinking about traditional segregated special education practices, and changing educational structures to be fully inclusive for all students and families. At Rowan University, students and faculty engage in progressive research that promotes the development of inclusive schools and educational policy. Learn more

Counselor Education

The Counselor Education specialization of the research-focused Ph.D. in Education is designed specifically for those who wish to pursue careers as counselor educators at the university level, or as supervisors in schools or clinical settings. The program is committed to promoting the counseling profession and evidenced-based practices and initiatives through advanced curricular experiences that address systemic and persistent barriers for P-20 students. Through intensive faculty-supervised clinical and research experiences that address the academic, personal/ social, and career development needs of children, adolescences, and young adults; our candidates will contribute to improving equity and success in educational outcomes. As a result, candidates will engage in research, teaching, supervision, and consultation with mentors, which will equip them to advocate for systemic change. Our graduates will be counseling leaders in the profession, advocates, and researchers who contribute to their schools and communities through rigorous scholarship and who are committed to leading efforts to enhance educational equity.

Urban and Diverse Learning Environments

The Urban and Diverse Learning Environments PhD concentration is designed to prepare future researchers, educators, community organizers, policymakers, and youth-focused change agents to understand and disrupt the contradictions that underpin educational and broader socioeconomic disparities. Our faculty actively engage in studying and challenging the social, political, and economic forces that bear on what is often labeled as “urban schooling,” and shape the contradictions faced by youth, families, teachers, and educational leaders in these diverse learning environments that so often can be characterized by both oppression and resilience. Learn more