Ashley Whitehead ’17 PHD: Educating Our Educators

Ashley Whitehead ’17 PHD will use her Ph.D. to develop the next generation of pre-service math teachers.

Name: Ashley Whitehead

Hometown: Princeton, Indiana

Field of Study: Ph.D., Mathematics Education

Activities: Faculty Awards Committee Graduate Student Representative, Kappa Delta Pi, Preparing to Teach Mathematics with Technology (PTMT)

What’s Next: Assistant professor at Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education and continuing to teach mathematics education to pre-service elementary teachers

Why I Chose the College of Education: Because of their focus on technology in education. Besides being interested in how to develop teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching, I am also interested in how to best incorporate technology in the classroom and prepare preservice teachers to teach with technology.

What I’ve Learned at the College: I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of faculty members across the college. I have collaborated with them on papers and presentations for conferences, which has been extremely valuable. It has helped me see how no matter the content area, we are all trying to best prepare teachers, and those best practices span all disciplines.

A Faculty Member Who Made a Big Impression:  My advisor, Temple Walkowiak, modeled for me how to be a junior faculty member and also have a family outside of her job. She also helped me become a better writer through our various publications together and through the editing process of my dissertation. She was a wealth of knowledge as I went on the job search, and she has supported me in various pursuits over the past four years.

How the College Changed Me: Whether it was working on research, teaching methods courses, working in an elementary school, or leading a professional development, I continually grew as a person and as a teacher educator. Moving to Raleigh to pursue my Ph.D. at NC State was one of the best decisions I have ever made.