Faculty at the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development and the Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education will host a conference sponsored by the Spencer Foundation, Walton Foundation, and Wallace Foundation.This two-day event will bring together scholars, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to explore Dan Lortie’s insights in the context of the contemporary challenges confronting public education.
Dan Lortie described a profession in which norms of conservatism, individualism, and presentism made teachers more of a force for continuity than for change. Yet the teaching profession and education system of today are different from the one that Lortie described. New challenges include the recruitment and retention of teachers, the politicization of teaching, teacher burnout and dissatisfaction, and a myriad of other issues. This conference will explore Lortie’s key constructs to address critical questions confronting public education in the 21st century.
Topics will include:
- How the attraction of teaching and the individuals that enter the profession shape teaching’s professional culture and efforts to create a more equitable system.
- How socialization processes (i.e., preparation, professional development) influence, commitment among teachers to shared goals, knowledge, and beliefs.
- How teaching’s reward system shapes teachers’ commitment to the profession.
WHO:
Joshua Glazer, Professor of Education Policy, George Washington University
Matthew Shirrell, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Administration, George Washington University
Ellen Goldring, Professor of Education Leadership and Policy, Vanderbilt University
WHEN:
Thursday, October 30, 2025, and Friday October 31, 2025
WHERE:
The George Washington University
University Student Center Continental Ballroom (3rd Floor)
800 21st St NW
Washington, D.C. 20052
Media Guidance: For any media interested in attending, please reach out to Skyler Sales at skylers
gwu [dot] edu (skylers[at]gwu[dot]edu) or Julia Garbitt at julia [dot] metjiangwu [dot] edu (julia[dot]metjian[at]gwu[dot]edu).
-GW-