Any time Mark Ginsberg speaks at the White House, he said, he is inspired.
“It’s just thrilling to be in that environment,” said the dean of George Mason University’s College of Education and Human Development.
Especially during a recent conference at which he represented George Mason as one of four “pioneer” institutions—with Old Dominion University, the University of Southern California and Kansas State University—that signed on to “Operation Educate the Educators,” an initiative that prepares school personnel to meet the needs of military-connected students.
Mason developed an online module designed to prepare teachers to connect with and support those students. It is required for all the university’s educator prep students.
Jennifer Drake-Patrick, assistant professor for literacy, coordinated the development of the module, “Supporting Our Military-Connected Children in School Settings: Moving Them from Risk to Resilience.”
“What we’re trying to do with this program is have educators be familiar with military culture, the military experience, the experience of these kids,” Ginsberg said. “We know some of these kids experience many different personal challenges, including stress and anxiety, with the multiple moves and contextual factors associated with military service.”
Those factors include transitioning to different state curricula and dealing with administrative hurdles to participate in school activities such as sports or band.
Mason’s module emphasizes establishing a support system for military-connected students by setting up buddy systems, gathering information about students from liaison officers at military bases and ensuring students with special needs receive continuity of educational services. Mason also is working with regional school districts to incorporate the module into their pre-licensure and professional development programs, Ginsberg said.
To have that discussion at the White House in front of an audience that included Secretary of Education John King; Jill Biden, a lifelong educator and wife of Vice President Joe Biden; senior members of the military; and some of the nation’s leading educators, was an honor, Ginsberg said.
“We are very proud that Mason has become a top-tier school of education in our nation,” he said. “To be invited to the White House with our colleagues from other top-tier universities reaffirms the recognition of our College of Education and Human Development as a national leader in educator preparation and professional development.”