UW-Green Bay’s First Nations Education Doctorate program wins Teaching Excellence Award
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents announced the recipients of its 31st annual Teaching Excellence Awards. The awards recognize outstanding teaching and are the UW System’s highest recognition for members of its faculty and instructional academic staff, and were presented at the Board of Regents award ceremony on March 31.
UW-Green Bay’s First Nations Education Doctorate program was selected as one of just three recipients for 2023. The First Nations Ed. Doctorate program is an applied degree centered in indigenous knowledge systems and housed within UW-Green Bay’s College of Health, Education, and Social Welfare. The program is the first doctoral program of its kind in Wisconsin and only graduate-level offering in First Nations, Indigenous, or American Indian Studies in the UW System. The program emphasizes indigenous context, including elder epistemology, indigenous teaching methods, and indigenous forms of assessment, offering a more holistic approach to education.
J P Leary, Associate Professor in First Nations Studies, History, and Humanities accepts the award on the programs behalf. (Photo credit: UW-Stout)
Through the expertise of four full-time faculty members as well as elders and oral scholars from the First Nations community, the program is able to represent a breadth of nations, including Oneida, Menominee, Lac du Flambeau, Cherokee, and Delaware. The program prepares transformational leaders who will impact change in schools, community agencies, and other institutions. These impacts are visible from student dissertation projects involving tribal and community organizations that promote indigenous language among youth, revitalize environmental resources, impact generational healing through art, and other projects.
“These UW educators and programs are inspiring students to develop invaluable life skills,” said Regent Cris Peterson, chair of the selection committee. “With this award, we recognize the innovative, collaborative approaches to teaching that are equipping students to reach their full potential.”
Each award recipient demonstrates an exceptional commitment to teaching and learning; uses effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning; and makes a significant impact on students’ intellectual development.
Congratulations!
