UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mariah Harmon, assistant professor of education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Penn State College of Education, was recently named the recipient of the Robert F. Schuck Distinguished Dissertation in Teacher Education Award, presented by the Association of Teacher Educators (A.T.E.). It is the second recent honor she has received for her work.
The award is given to “encourage, recognize, and promote exemplary doctoral level research that substantially contributes to the improvement of teacher education.”
Harmon won for her dissertation “From Object to Subject: Exploring the Experiences and Developmental Needs of Black Women Pre-Service Teachers” in which she centers Black women to theorize and implement strategies to build more inclusive teacher education programs and discusses how researchers have identified racial matching — ensuring teachers of color work with students of similar racial backgrounds — to improve students’ achievement.
“As Dr. Harmon is once again honored for her outstanding work, we remain proud, but unsurprised,” said College of Education Dean Kimberly Lawless. “As our college strives to fundamentally change education to make it more equitable, engaging with researchers like Dr. Harmon will be a key part of that process. She is a leader in this area and to see her continually recognized for her research demonstrates why. We are thrilled to have her among our world-class faculty ranks in the Penn State College of Education.”
It is not the first award Harmon has won for this dissertation. Earlier this month, she was announced as the recipient of the James Anderson Outstanding Dissertation Award presented by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).
“I am in shock right now with receiving this type of recognition from two amazing organizations,” Harmon said. “I was not expecting these awards, but I continue to be encouraged to keep doing the work and to push forward, even in a climate that is not always welcoming to critical work and critical scholars.”
Harmon was the winner in the traditional dissertation category. A separate award is given for three-paper dissertations.
A.T.E. was founded in 1920 and is the only national, individual membership organization devoted solely to the improvement of teacher education for both school and campus-based teacher educators. Today A.T.E. members represent nearly 1,500 teacher educators in colleges, universities, school districts and state education agencies within 41 regional and state affiliated units and U.S. territories.