By Matt Kurnick
"I think I've been very fortunate during my nine years here. I've seen ISU's already good reputation as an institution, continually get better." — Thomas Crumpler, associate professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
(November 21, 2008) When Thomas Crumpler, associate professor of reading and literacy at Illinois State University, was hired in the summer of 1999 he had a solid idea of what he was giving up and what he would gain as a faculty member at Illinois State.
Coming from California State University–San Marcos near San Diego, Crumpler traded 70 degrees and sunny, the beach, and palm trees for long-term research, master's and doctoral students.
"Nobody believes that I left San Diego for the Midwest," Crumpler recalled. "I really wanted to work with graduate students, particularly doctoral students. I really wanted a place that was a bit more established. I wanted the opportunity to do longitudinal research. I think I've been very fortunate during my nine years here. I've seen ISU's already good reputation as an institution continually get better. I think our reputation is only improving. I think our graduate programs are better than ever. It's been a great move for me."
Since Crumpler's arrival at Illinois State he has been given the opportunity to work with master's and doctoral students in a variety of ways. For the past four years Crumpler has served as the coordinator of the doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction. Crumpler has also advised students throughout their thesis and dissertation writing process. In addition, Crumpler teaches graduate level courses in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction focusing on literacy assessment.
As an advisor, Crumpler enjoys working one on one with his students and seeing them progress through the coursework and research while getting to know them. For Crumpler, the most rewarding part is seeing his students complete their goals. "It's a really marvelous feeling because you realize that they're the ones that did most of the work," Crumpler said. "To see someone finally get to that point and work really hard at it, and your standing on the stage with them, and you're able to hood them, and call them doctor for the first time, you really feel like you were doing the work you were hired to do."
In the classroom Crumpler pushes his students to think past common conventions. Because of increased technology use in classrooms, and society in general, he sees it as vital for his students to utilize technology to help their students learn. According to Crumpler, there are few feelings that are as fulfilling as leaving a class where all the students were involved in quality discussion. "I do enjoy teaching," Crumpler admitted. "There's nothing more satisfying than coming out of a class feeling you've really connected with learners. The people were really engaged and really thinking pretty hard about whatever it was we were working on together."
One of the topics his class encountered and considered was the Flat Classroom Project. The idea is to connect several classrooms using the Internet so that they may work together. The use of technology has sparked Crumpler's scholarship and has motivated some of his research. "I want to push student thinking about what constitutes as text as well as the shifting nature of literacy," Crumpler said of his reference to the Flat Classroom Project. One student's thinking stood out in particular. "She said, ‘What about graffiti? Graffiti could be a text too. We could analyze that. How do we assess the students' comprehension of that kind of text?' It was really interesting to see them making those kinds of connections to see literacy isn't something that only happens in a school."
In addition to working with graduate students, Illinois State has also afforded Crumpler the opportunity to work in local school districts with students as young as kindergarten. It is here that Crumpler is able to see some of his research come to life. Crumpler has published multiple articles on educational drama in the student writing process and literacy learning. "It really began by using drama as part of curriculum and about getting kids up out of their seats and engaged and enacting meaning rather than being passive receivers," Crumpler said of the arts-based approach.
In the dramatic approach Crumpler often takes popular children's books like Where the Wild Things Are and has his students take on the rolls of the characters in the book. During these classroom adventures, the class often extends the story, attempts to solve problems that the story might suggest and even sails off to fantasy islands to search for treasure. "The thing that really connects this to literacy development is when we step out of the role, and analyzed how the kids took on the characters — what sort of personality or meaning system they were drawing on," Crumpler said. "Trying to get them to think about their own learning process and meaning making — how they construct text."
Whatever means Crumpler uses to reach students, there is one overarching goal the 2005 ISU College of Education Outstanding Researcher and Spencer Foundation Grant award-winner maintains. "I'm really interested in how we work with educators to develop new innovative pedagogies," Crumpler said. "One thing that is happening is the students that are coming into our schools now are very different learners than we were. The old tried and true practices of instruction, we need to re-think those. We can still build on classical philosophical work, but it needs to be re-fashioned, more innovative and engaging, involving new technologies, ways of thinking about language learning, and how best to mediate learning."
Whichever group of students Crumpler is working with, one thing is for sure, there's no way he'd trade back the experience of working with them for 70 degrees and sunny.
© 2009 Illinois State University • An equal opportunity/affirmative action university encouraging diversity • Privacy Statement • Contact Us • Check COE faculty and staff e-mail
