Master of Education
Faculty
Donna Clementi is co-director of the master's program and the director of education and research at Concordia Language Villages. She is a long-time staff member of the Concordia Language Villages which includes providing instruction for the teacher workshops and the graduate course in Second Language Methodologies. She also collaborates annually with the University of Minnesota’s summer assessment course for language teachers. She teaches a foreign language methods class at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. She is a recognized expert in world language performance assessment. Clementi has received the Florence Steiner Award for K-12 language leadership given by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). She has also received the National District Supervisor of Foreign Languages Award given by the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NADSFL). She was recognized by the Wisconsin Association for Foreign Languages (WAFLT) as Wisconsin’s Distinguished Foreign Language Educator. Ms. Clementi is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program and anticipates completion in 2008.
Dr. Garett Heysel is a senior lecturer in French and associate director of the University Honors and Scholars Center at The Ohio State University, and past dean of the French Language Village.
Dr. Paul Hoff is a Professor in the department of foreign languages at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and past dean of the Spanish Language Village. He obtained his Doctor of Arts degree in Spanish and Education from Syracuse University and his M.A. in Hispanic Civilization from New York University. He has collaborated on four Spanish textbook series (Navegando, Somos así, Poco a poco, Para empezar) and was a member of the task force that developed Wisconsin’s Planning Curriculum for Learning World Languages. Since 1996 he has been an ACTFL Oral Proficiency Tester of Spanish, conducting academic and commercial OPIs for Language Testing International. He also is a frequent presenter at professional conferences.
Dr. Bernard Mambo is a French and ESL instructor and head of the French program at St. John’s Catholic Preparatory School in Frederick, Maryland, and past credit facilitator at the French Language Village. He earned his doctorate degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in educational computing, design and online learning at Kansas State University. He has participated in several technology integration projects in language learning settings, including a language immersion program. His areas of academic interest include technology integration, language education, constructivist approach in teaching, computer assisted language learning, project-based learning, and impact of technology integration on language and literacy practices.
Dr. Viann Pederson de Castañeda is co-director of the master's program and a professor in the department of Spanish and Hispanic Studies, Concordia College. Dr. Pederson has directed numerous international programs through the Spanish and Hispanic department and the Concordia Business School. She has taught Spanish and English as a second language in K-12 schools in the United States and in Mexico. Having lived in Mexico, she is a consultant for U.S. firms doing business in Latin America and assists in planning meetings in the region for legislators and corporate officials from Spanish-speaking countries.
Dr. Gay Rawson is associate professor and chair of the department of French and Russian at Concordia College. She is also involved in the First-Year Experience, Global Studies, and Women's Studies Programs, and directs the International Business program in France. She has led numerous study abroad programs in France, Germany, Switzerland, and most recently Cameroon. She is a certified expert in translation and interpretation, and is certified as an ACTFL OPI tester as well. She has presented internationally on subjects from foreign language pedagogy, study abroad programs, to relationships between literature / medicine.
Dr. Karla Smart-Morstad is an associate professor of education at Concordia College and teaches secondary methods courses for students in all disciplines.
Dr. Allison Spenader is an assistant professor of education at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University in Minnesota. She earned a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction: Second Languages and Cultures Education from the University of Minnesota. Her areas of academic interest include language acquisition in study abroad, immersion education, less-commonly taught languages, intercultural development and second language pedagogy. She is also dean of the Swedish Language Village.
