When I teach teachers or future teachers, I always have their students in mind. I believe that by inspiring educational professionals, I have a positive impact on the learning experiences of children.
Professor
I pioneered research on Black home education because the voices and experiences of Black homeschool families serve as a counternarrative to stereotypes and myths regarding Black parents and demonstrate the learning potential of Black children.
When I teach teachers or future teachers, I always have their students in mind. I believe that by inspiring educational professionals, I have a positive impact on the learning experiences of children.
As an educator, I am most effective when my students have voice and choice in their educational experiences. The more students share, the more I can get to know them. This knowledge of my students informs my approach to teaching. I am also a constructivist. I believe my students learn from experiences and collaboration.
In addition to the course content, students in my classes gain a better understanding of themselves and their teaching style through reflection.
Dr. Fields-Smith is a Professor of Elementary Education in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice (ETAP) at UGA’s Mary Frances Early College of Education in Athens, Georgia. She has been a member of ETAP faculty for 22 years and currently serves as ETAP’s Associate Department Head, after serving as the Graduate Program Coordinator for three years. Dr. Fields-Smith earned her doctoral degree from Emory University in 2004 under the direction of Dr. Vanessa Siddle Walker. She is a former elementary school teacher who taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades, in her home state of Connecticut.
Dr. Fields-Smith’s research interests center on understanding Black parents’ engagement in their children’s education from the perspective of Black parents. She is a pioneer in Black homeschool research and published the first empirically based study in 2009 with the article, Motivations, Challenges, and Sacrifices: Black Parents’ Decisions to Homeschool co-authored with a doctoral student who served as her research assistant on a Spencer Foundation grant at the time. Since this publication, Dr. Fields-Smith has written three books on the topic of Black home education including Exploring Single Black Mothers’ Resistance Through Homeschooling, Co-edited a book titled, Homeschooling Black Children in the U.S.: Theory, Practice, and Popular Culture, and most recently, Creating Educational Justice: Learning from Black Home Educators. Her work has been featured in major networks and other multimedia broadcasts.