Strategic Focus Areas
Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development adopted a new strategic plan in January 2021.
Strategic Focus Areas
Equity, Diversity & Belonging
Recognizing the historical, systemic, and ongoing marginalization within education and human development, we are committed to dismantling systemic barriers and taking bold actions that make the life chances of everyone equitable.
Strategic Objectives
1. Recruit, cultivate, and support Wheelock community members (faculty, staff, students, alumni) with a commitment to equity, diversity, and belonging.
2. Prioritize learning and teaching that emphasizes the unique histories, experiences, and challenges faced by people who have been marginalized.
3. Strategically support partners that build upon and amplify BU Wheelock’s commitment to equity, diversity, and belonging.
Research
Guided by the communities we serve, we are committed to conducting high quality research collaboratively, using varied methodologies, in order to contribute to the
knowledge base necessary to transform systems that positively impact learning and human development.
Strategic Objectives
1. Prioritize research in education and human development that informs the dismantling of systemic barriers and takes bold actions to counteract systemic injustices (actions, policies, or structures that restrict opportunity of traditionally marginalized groups or individuals).
2. Increase research productivity, impact, and stature of BU Wheelock.
3. Develop a culture of inquiry and curiosity that values and encourages methodological, conceptual, and interdisciplinary approaches reflected in our college.
4. Continuously develop the capacity for faculty, research staff (e.g., post-docs), and doctoral students to become the next generation of outstanding and influential researchers.
Learning, Knowledge Sharing & Teaching
At BU Wheelock, we commit to academic excellence. We embrace practice- and research-informed teaching and learning that a) bridges disciplines and communities of practice, and b) builds from respect for the diversity of human experience. Our commitment as educators, researchers and administrators extends to those we serve and to our own personal growth as educators, professionals, and community members.
Strategic Objectives
1. Establish and maintain high academic standards in teaching, learning and research, and provide mechanisms to support students to achieve them.
2. Ensure that graduates of BU Wheelock have the skills, knowledge, and experiences to sustain purposeful, resilient, and satisfying careers in their chosen field.
3. Offer academic programs in alignment with the Guide Star and a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to enable students to achieve learning outcomes specific to disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge applied to research, policy and practice, and build students’ capacity to be ethical, reliable and resourceful members of their professional communities.
4. Offer teaching, learning and mentoring opportunities in various modalities that promote academic excellence and rigor and embrace creativity, innovation, and deep commitment to critical reflection, continual growth, and relevance to the communities and professionals whom we serve.
5. Build and enhance professional development programs, networks, and opportunities for faculty and staff that encourage their continued growth as learners and colleagues.
6. Invest in areas of academic distinction (signature areas) to advance the quality of BU Wheelock academic offerings and institutional reputation.
Partnerships
We believe in sustainable and reciprocal partnerships that exhibit respect and exercise humility to bring about systemic transformation through authentic collaboration.
Strategic Objectives
1. Deepen and prioritize partnerships with BPS that focus on systemic transformation.
2. Recognize and respect expertise, experiences, perspectives, and contributions of all parties in co-creating collaborations. (ethical and systematic approach).
3. Operationalize equity, diversity, and belonging strategic objectives within BU Wheelock partnerships in service to social justice.
4. Prioritize partnerships that contribute to, support, and strengthen the strategic objectives of our research mission and that focus on systemic transformation and
exhibit authentic collaboration. Deepen and strengthen research-practice partnerships to facilitate engaged research in our communities.
5. Build and support partnerships that enhance rigorous learning, knowledge building, and teaching through authentic collaboration. Ensure that partnerships include opportunities for mutually beneficial teaching and learning.
6. Support existing and develop new sustainable partnerships that broaden our systemic impact on those who live in the City of Boston.
Allyship, Activism & Advocacy
As members of BU Wheelock community, we recognize our multiple privileges, both earned and unearned. We commit to support marginalized communities and individuals in real, lasting and sustainable ways by listening to and learning from communities in order to advance intersecting causes, interests, values, and commitments.
Strategic Objectives
1. As faculty and staff, we are involved in developing, critiquing, revising, and implementing outstanding curricular and co-curricular activities continually to ensure that we prepare students to be advocates for their professional fields and for individuals and communities with whom they work.
a. We craft classroom content purposefully to center pedagogy and practice that is anti-racist and humanizing.
b. We practice continuing learning and professional development as teachers and life-long learners, with a focus on unpacking privilege, anti-racist and humanizing pedagogy and practice and the role faculty can play as advocates, allies, and activists.
c. We prepare graduates whose work improves social outcomes and causes, particularly with groups that have experienced historical, systemic, and ongoing marginalization within education and human development and amplify existing efforts around such advocacy.
2. Increase BU Wheelock service with and within local, national and global communities that supports allyship, activism, and advocacy.
3. Using our multiple privileges, including many that are unearned (racial, gender- based, ability-based and others), build, sustain and promote alliances with
communities based on the mutual needs and interest/fit in ways that develop and sustain trust. Support reciprocal partnerships that amplify advocacy for systemic
transformation.