Assistant Professor, Education
Ph.D., University of New Hampshire, 2017
M.S. Ed., Bank Street College of Education, 2005
AB, Bryn Mawr College, 2000
CCSS 269: Education and Society, Spring 2020
EDC 420: Classroom Management, Spring 2020
Student Teaching Seminar
Field Placement II
EDC 638: Reading and Language Arts, Fall 2020
My classes are usually discussion-based with a great deal of active learning. I try to incorporate a range of scenarios and applicability to what can otherwise be very theoretical courses. I get to know my students well, as people, thinkers, and educators. I make my syllabi and other course materials as reflective of diversity in perspective and background as I can, and I am always open to feedback and inquiry.
In addition to her teaching and scholarship, Dr. Stearns is beginning a professional development series oriented toward supporting educators working in settings where many children and families have experienced trauma.
Dr. Stearns' research focuses on the emotional life of classrooms and the complex relationship between emotional development and education. She is interested in exploring ways to move education away from narrow visions of learning. Her writing has critiqued codified social and emotional learning, and in general she is an advocate both for public education and for a vision of children as whole and complex beings.
Stearns, C. (2020). "Let Them Get Mad: Using the Psychoanalytic Frame to Rethink Social-Emotional Learning and Trauma Informed Practice." Bank Street Occasional Papers Series 43.
Stearns, C. (2019). "Show your work: Math curricula, knowledge, and rehumanizing pedagogy." Pedagogy, Culture and Society.
Stearns, C. (2019). Critiquing Social and Emotional Learning: Psychodynamic and Cultural Perspectives. New Jersey: Lexington Books.
