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Dr. Jim Towers graduated from the University of Iowa with a Ph.D. in Social Foundations of Education in 1985. He came to Saint Mary's in 1988 as Chair of the Education Department. He also served in the role of Master of Arts in Instruction program director (a program he helped to create) in the early 1990's. Dr. Towers also was instrumental in creating and founding the Master of Education in Teaching and Learning degree at the university. After serving a year as Associate Dean in the newly-formed School of Education, he served in the position of Dean of the School of Education for a decade before stepping down to become a full-time tenured professor in the School of Education in 2005.
Dr. Towers has lived and worked in education in Australia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. In the summer of 2003, he was hired by an affiliate of Harvard University as the Director of the Educational Leadership Institute for North African and Middle Eastern educational administators and high-level educational officials, a month-long institute which was convened in Toledo, Spain.
Dr. Towers' professional/research interests are in current social issues in education, educational philosophy, and international education.
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James Towers, Ph.D.
Office location:
Griffin # 214
Mailing Address:
Saint Mary's University
of Minnesota
700 Terrace Heights #23
Winona, MN 55987-1399
507-457-6610
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Courses Taught Recently at SMU
Introducation to Education
Foundations of Education
Student Teacher Supervision
Professional Organizations
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
American Assoication of University Professors
Association of Teacher Educators
Minnesota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
Education
Ph.D., University of Iowa, IA, 1985
Ed.S., Higher Education, University of Iowa, IA, 1976
M.A., English, University of Iowa, IA, 1976
B.A., English Education, University of Iowa, IA, 1970
Teaching Experience
2005 to Present: Professor, School of Education, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, MN
1995-2005: Dean, School of Education, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, MN
2004: Academic Director, University of the Middle East Project, Toledo, Spain
2000-2001: Assistant Dean/Chief Operating Officer, College of Education, Zayed University-Abu Dhabi Campus, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
1995-2005: Dean, School of Education, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Winona, MN
1993-1995: Associate Dean/Director of Graduate Studies, School of Education, Saint Mary'sCollege, Winona, MN
1992-1993: Director of Educational Programs, Education Division, Saint Mary's College, Winona, MN
1988-1992: Chair and Associate Professor, Education Division, Saint Mary's College, Winona, MN
Other Professional Experience
Consultant, ACT Testing Service, Iowa City, Iowa and College of Saint Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota
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Selected Presentations
Presenter: “Creating Community in the Classroom through Discussion.” American Association of College’s and Universities’ National Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2005
Presenter: “Accreditation and Accountability: New Paradigms.” Council of Colleges for the Arts and Sciences National Conference, Seattle, Washington, 2005
Presenter: "Consequences of Overindulged Children on our Nation’s Schools.” American Culture Association National Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada: February 2002
Presenter: "The Role of Constructivism in Teacher Preparation.” American Association of Educational Research (AERA) annual conference, Montreal, Canada: April, 1999
Presenter: "Building an M.Ed. Program through Learning Communities.” International Alliance of Teacher Scholars annual conference, East Anglia University, London, England: July, 1998
Presenter: "Teacher Education Advisory Committees: Roles and Responsibilities." National Conference of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), Washington, D.C.: February, 1995
Presenter: "An Elementary Principal's Experience with Implementing an Outcome-Based Curriculum.” National Conference on Creating the Quality School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: April, 1995
Presenter: Field Experience Configurations: Imagination and Innovation.” National Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, California: April, 1995
Presenter: "Minnesota's Experience in Attempting to Implement Outcome-Based Education" National Conference on Creating the Quality School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: April, 1994
Presenter: "More Field Placements: A Case Study of Perceptions from Minnesota's Schools and Colleges." Association of Teacher Educators' (ATE) National Conference. Orlando, Florida: February, 1992
Presenter: "Attitudes Toward Outcome Based Education: A Case Study of Minnesota's Deans and Chairs of Education." Minnesota Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota: November 30, 1990
Attended Annual American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) National Conference for past sixteen years
Institutional Representative for Saint Mary’s College to the Minnesota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE) 1988-present. Member of MACTE Executive Committee 1994-96
Publications
Towers, James. "A Case Study of Parental and Teacher Attitudes Toward the 'All-Day, Everyday' Kindergarten." Children Today 20, No.1 (January-February,1991):25-27
Towers, James. "Assimilating Smaller School Districts: Promotion, Pitfalls, and Productive Planning." The Rural Educator 12, No.1 (Fall 1990):21-22
Towers, James. "A Town Meeting Approach Draws the Community Into Curriculum Revision." Journal of Educational Public Relations 13, No.1 (June 1990):6-9
Towers, James. "Do Teachers Really Need Licenses?" Journal of the National School Development Council 20, No.3 (Spring, 1991):14
Towers, James. "Foundations in International Education: The Cases of the Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie Foundations." Journal of International Education 22, No.1 (Fall 1992):28-38
Towers, James. "How and Why Social Foundations of Education Topics Are Taught at Minnesota's Private Four-Year Colleges." The Teacher Educator 26, No.3 (Winter, 1991):20-25
Towers, James. "Outcome-Based Education: Another Educational Bandwagon?" The Educational Forum 56, No.3 (Spring 1992):291-305
Towers, James. "Outcome-Based Education: Friend or Foe?" Educational Research Quarterly 15, No.1 (February 1992):5-20
Towers, James. "Preliminary Attitudes Toward Outcome-Based Teacher Education: A Case Study of Minnesota's Deans and Chairs of Education." Teacher Education Quarterly 19, No.4 (Fall 1992):83-89
Towers, James. "Reflections on Becoming an Education Department Chair." Catalyst for Change 20, No.3 (Spring 1991):30
Towers, James. "An Elementary School Principal's Experience with Implementing an Outcome-Based Curriculum." Catalyst for Change 25, No.2 (Winter 1996):19-23
Towers, James. "Some Concerns About Outcome-Based Education." Journal of Research and Development in Education 25, No.2 (Winter 1992):89-95
Towers, James and Towers, G.C. “An Elementary Principal’s View of Implementing an Outcome-Based Curriculum.” Catalyst for Change 42, No.4 (Winter, 1997):47-59
Towers, James and Peckover, Roger. "Teacher Education Reform and Increased Student Field Placements: A Study of Perceptions from Minnesota's Schools and Colleges." Administrator's Notebook 35, No.3 (1991-92):1-4
Towers, James. "Teaching Licenses: An Alternative View." Journal of the Association of Canadian Educators 17, No.1 (1991):1-4
Towers, James and Peckover, Roger. "Teacher Education Advisory Committees, Roles and Realities." The Clearing House, 91, No.3 (Jan/Feb, 1995):610-619
Towers, James. "The Author Responds." Phi Delta Kappan 76, No.1 (September, 1994):96
Towers, James. "The Perils of Outcome-Based Teacher Education." Phi Delta Kappan 75, No.8 (April,1994):624-627
Towers, James. "The Rural Curriculum Dilemma" Journal of Educational Public Relations 13, No.4 (Winter, 1991):27-29
Towers, James. "Twenty-five Years After the Coleman Report: What Should We Have Learned?" Contemporary Education 63, No.2 (January/February 1992):93-95
Towers, James. "What Makes a Difference to the Public?" American Secondary Education 19, No.2 (January, 1991):28-30
Towers, James. "What Should Our Schools Be Teaching? One Community's Answer. "The Clearing House 64, No.4 (March/April 1991) 248-250
Towers, James. "What'll It Be, Academics or Athletics?" The Executive Educator 13, No.1 (January 1991):36
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