Dr. Beth Wassell is a Professor in the Department of Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Education and the current Chairperson. She teaches a variety of courses related to language teaching and learning and multicultural education. Her research emphasizes the voices of students, teachers, and families and draws on critical and sociocultural frameworks to examine individuals’ agency in reshaping the structures of teaching and teacher education in P-12 settings. Her recent projects have focused on the classroom and schooling experiences of students in urban schools, particularly emergent bilingual students, and on access to world language education for minoritized students in the US. She uses a range of qualitative methods that privilege the voices of youth, families, and educators, and views data collection and analysis as an iterative process whereby participants can collectively generate solutions to significant issues in classrooms and schools.

Dr. Wassell has published articles in journals such as Teaching and Teacher Education, Urban Education, TESOL Journal, Education and Urban Society, the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, and Teacher Education and Practice. She is co-author of Words & Actions: Teaching World Languages through the Lens of Social Justice. She also regularly provides consulting and professional development to public school districts.

Dr. Wassell received an Ed.D.. from the University of Pennsylvania in Teaching Learning & Curriculum, an M.A. from the University of Central Florida in Spanish, a graduate certificate in TESOL from the Pennsylvania State University, and a B.A. from Rowan University in Spanish and Secondary Education. Prior to coming to Rowan, Dr. Wassell taught Spanish as a world language at the elementary and high school levels in Florida and New Jersey and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) to adults in Philadelphia, PA.