Meet The Dean
After serving twice as the
interim dean, Dr. Ena Shelley was appointed dean of the College of
Education in June 2005. Shelley's experience with the College of
Education began almost 25 years ago when she joined the faculty as
an assistant professor of early childhood education in the summer
of 1982.
Unlike deanship positions at other colleges, Shelley's position
isn't strictly administrative; she also teaches. In fact, that was
a condition of accepting the position. She couldn't imagine not
being directly involved the students and pursuing her passion,
teaching!
For the past several years, Shelley has been heavily involved in
state and national legislation and policy involving the education
of young children. She has also been involved with the National
Association for the Education of Young Children and the Indiana
Professional Standards Board (IPSB), which oversees teacher
licensure and accreditation of teacher education programs. Three
governors have appointed her to boards active in legislation to
help young children and their families as well as improved teacher
education.
Twelve years ago Shelley began building a partnership with
Lawrence Township's Centralized Kindergarten and in 1998 helped
them to begin to infuse the Reggio Emilia educational approach into
their environments and teaching practices. She continues that work
today, serving as co-chair on the Lawrence Early Childhood Task
Force, with the additional focus of integration of the arts. She
was instrumental in establishing the Indianapolis Reggio
Collaborative, which includes the Lawrence Early Learning Centers,
St. Mary's Child Center and the Warren Early Childhood Center.
Shelley also serves as a member of the Closing the Achievement Gap
Committee and Digital Literacy Committee within the Lawrence
Township Metropolitan School District.
Her current research interest is studying how teachers in the
new Early Learning Centers in Lawrence Township use the Reggio
influenced art studios as they continue to develop their
understanding of the many ways young children learn.