About the Professor

Roni Jo Draper, Ph.D.

Professor

Brigham Young University
Department of Teacher Education
801.422.4960
roni_jo_draper@byu.edu

Dr. Draper is a former mathematics and science teacher. She taught high school freshmen and served students who were at risk of not graduating from high school. She earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Her teaching and scholarship focus on literacy instruction for the disciplines (especially science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts) and teacher education. She is primarily interested in preparing teachers to create safe and affirming spaces that allow all young people to learn, thrive, and create a better world.

She has one spouse, three sons, two daughters, two grandsons, and one granddaughter. In her free time she enjoys cooking, knitting, hiking, and playing games.

If you have six minutes (and a few seconds), here is a video about her.

All of us have values and beliefs—they are the basis of how we make decisions and react to the world. As a student you can spend quite a bit of time trying to “figure her out”—or she can give you a list of some of my values and beliefs. Keep in mind that she has developed these values and beliefs out of her work as a teacher/learner in school settings and her work with teachers and future teachers. We realize that not all of the people in this class are working toward becoming a teacher. But we know you are working toward becoming something; so, just substitute that for teacher.

Values               Beliefs

Courage:	Learning and teaching require courage—the courage to risk, the courage to challenge, the courage to question, and the courage to care.
Humility:	Powerful learning begins with the belief that there exists knowledge that we do not possess. Excellent teachers have the humility required to continue learning.
Integrity:	Teachers have extraordinary influence over students and parents—indeed, teachers wield tremendous power. Therefore, excellent teachers must possess both knowledge and integrity.
Excellence:	Teachers should be the best and the brightest. There is no room for average teachers—not average intelligence, average drive, average commitment, etc.
Choice:	Human beings have the ability to choose—I can choose my actions, my reactions, and my values. Furthermore, I take responsibility for my actions and I expect others to do the same.
Learning:	Learning is an active, meaning-making process that requires both social interaction and personal construction as part of a purposeful situation.
Literacy:	Literacy is the embodiment of knowledge—it consists of knowledge and the ability to manipulate, communicate, translate, and negotiate knowledge. Literacy is power.
Charity:	All people with whom we come into contact deserve charity. Therefore all people deserve our love, patience, and good will. If we approach everyone—including our students and teachers—with charity, we would create more joy and peace on earth.
Democracy:	Membership in a community and living an associated life requires individuals to value the possibilities and potentials that reside in themselves and in the others with whom they associate. Furthermore, participation in a democracy requires literacy, courage, humility, integrity, and a commitment to service, excellence, choice, and learning.

Additional Resources

Dr. Draper has been influenced by John Dewey's philosophy of education: My Pedagogic Creed

And here are a few things she has written:

• Jensen, A. P., & Draper, R. J. (2015). Arts education and literacies. New York, NY: Routledge.
• Draper, R. J. (2015). Using the Common Core State Standards to support disciplinary literacies. Voices from the Middle, 22, 58-62.
• Siebert, D., & Draper, R. J. (2012). Reconceptualizing literacy instruction for mathematics classrooms. In T. L. Jetton & C. Shanahan (Eds.) Adolescent literacy in the academic disciplines(pp. 172-198). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
• Draper, R. J., Broomhead, P., Jensen, A. P., Nokes, J. D., & Siebert, D. (Eds.) (2010). (Re)imagining content-area literacy instruction. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
• Siebert, D., & Draper, R. J. (2008). Why content-area literacy messages do not speak to mathematics teachers: A critical content analysis. Literacy Research and Instruction, 47, 229-245.
• Draper, R. J. (2008). Redefining content-area literacy teacher education: Finding my voice through collaboration. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 60-83.
• Draper, R. J., Smith, L. K., Hall, K. M., & Siebert, D. (2005). What’s more important—literacy or content? Confronting theliteracy-content dualism. Action in Teacher Education, 27(3), 12-21.
• Draper, R. J., & Siebert, D. (2004). Different goals, similar practices: Making sense of the mathematics and literacy instruction in a Standards-based mathematics classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 41(4), 927-962.
• Draper, R. J. (2002). Every teacher a literacy teacher? An examination of the literacy-related messages in secondary methods textbooks. Journal of Literacy Research, 34, 357-384.
• Draper, R. J. (2002). School mathematics reform, constructivism, and literacy: A case for literacy instruction in the reform-oriented mathematics classroom. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 45, 520-529.