Erica Barnett-Southworth

Associate Professor of Education

B.A., University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
M.A., Viterbo University, Wisconsin
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Programs: Education

In the SNC Teacher Education Program, Erica Barnett-Southworth serves as an instructor, mentor and guide for pre-service teachers seeking license certification in grades K-12. Erica uses her previous experience as a full-service teacher in various school districts in Wisconsin to model educational pedagogies that deviate from rote learning and to cultivate culturally-sensitive educators who are reflective practitioners. Ideally, pre-service teachers who achieve these outcomes prior to graduation will not only “survive” their first years as full-service teachers but also thrive as effective educators.

Currently Erica’s research interests focus on using content analysis to examine overall women’s agency and the agency of women of color in social studies textbooks to promote more gender-balanced curriculums. She believes strongly in undergraduate research opportunities and she has enjoyed many successful study collaborations with undergraduate researchers. Content analysis and parts of her research are introduced and used by pre-service teachers in her courses to assist them in developing critical review skills of curriculum materials, regardless of content area. This coursework serves as part of the pre-service teachers’ training in becoming culturally-sensitive, reflective practitioners.



Learn more about Professor Barnett-Southworth.

Publications
Select peer-reviewed publications include:

• Southworth, E.M., Kempen, J., & Zielinski, M. (2018). Whose story is it, now? Re-examining women’s visibility in 21st century secondary world history textbooks. Teaching Social Studies, 19(2), 44-57.
• Southworth, E.M. (2018). On the male fringes: How early religious women remain marginalized in world history textbooks. Social Studies Education Review (SSER) of the Georgia Council for the Social Studies (Summer 2018), 7(2), 15-38.
• Southworth, E.M. (2017). Map it! Creating meaningful learning experiences in social studies with IHMC CmapTools. Social Studies Education Review (SSER) of the Georgia Council for the Social Studies (Winter 2016/2017), 6(1), 79-93.

Courses
EDUC 226 Elementary/Middle School Social Studies Methods
EDUC 254 Instructional Methods for Adolescents
EDUC 332 The Adolescent - Psychology & Methods in the Middle School