Current
Professor, Emeritus, Science Education and Curriculum Studies, Northern Arizona University
Researcher and Advisory Board Member, International Bateson Institute, Stockholm Sweden
Independent Researcher, Consultant, Author
Education
B.S. in Biology from Guilford College in 1971
My time at Guilford was particularly powerful in that it provided my first experiences with transdisciplinarity in a small liberal arts community focused on psychological, social, political, and environmental issues. I learned about community, relationships, and activism in a college that valued and enacted them.
Graduate Work in Zoology at University of Rhode Island from 1972 to 1973
My experiences at the University of Rhode Island opened my eyes to how scientists think and work. Although the coursework was informative, the extended field trip to Georgia and South Carolina and the many shorter field trips, conversations, local events, and work in scientists' labs had a much greater impact.
Workshop in Education with Gregory Bateson at Naropa Institute — Summer, 1975
This 5-week live-in workshop may have had the biggest impact on my thinking of any other education experience. This opportunity to talk and be with Gregory Bateson in both formal and informal settings had a lasting effect on my thinking as an educator and researcher. From this point forward, I began to develop as a "hopeless" systems and pattern thinker.
M.Ed. in Teaching from University of Houston — University Park in 1983
Ed.D in Curriculum & Instruction — Science from University of Houston — University Park in 1987
My time at the University of Houston was a period of intensive growth and learning that was marked by personal transformations in philosophical and theoretical orientations, as well as the development of expertise in qualitative research approaches. I was the first graduate student to complete a qualitative research dissertation in the College of Education.
Current Work
2014 to present — International Bateson Institute
- Researcher & Advisory Board Member
September, 2017 to present — Cubit
- Consultant for curriculum development to accompany educational technology
Relevant Past Work Experience
As a child and young adult I worked in many different jobs, including factories, construction, healthcare, animal care, service, and small business. All of these jobs have had an impact on my attitudes towards work and towards the people who work in various jobs now. Throughout my professional career, I usually felt more of a kinship to the custodians and office workers than to my professional colleagues. However, my work at the Aquarama in Philadelphia along with opportunities to tag sharks fed my curiosity and motivation to explore the living world around me. This job was in some ways a teenager's dream job. I fed sharks, cared for other fish, helped collect specimens, put medications on 10-foot alligators, and got to be with dolphins, which I now think should never be in captivity. But, at the time, it was exciting. And, I learned a great deal.
1973-1974 — New York Ocean Science Laboratory, Montauk, NY
- Marine Biologist — Studying fish eggs and plankton for environmental impacts of two nuclear power plants being built along Long Island Sound.
1974-1976 — Brooklyn Friends School, Brooklyn, NY
- Middle School Science Teacher — Taught multigrade classes in a progressive program. This school and teaching experience had a huge influence on my development as an educator.
1979-1980 — The Julia Bates School, Columbia, SC
- Middle and High School Teacher — Taught middle science, math, biology, political science.
1980-1982 — North School District, North, SC
- Designer, Administrator, Teacher of Gifted Program — Taught grades 2 through 12 in a pull-out program.
1983-1984 — Houston Independent School District, Houston, TX
- Curator, Teacher — Curator in science support division for 6 months, then middle school science teacher for 6 months.
1987-1993 — Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Assistant Professor — Taught elementary science education methods, graduate curriculum, and graduate qualitative research courses. Began my research program that emerged as a Batesonian view of contexts of meaning.
1993-1997 — Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Associate Professor — Taught elementary and secondary science education methods, inclusive education, graduate curriculum, graduate qualitative research courses. Extended my research into chaos and complexity theories in children's discourse.
1997-1999 — Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
- Associate Professor — Ran and taught in the math and science education doctoral program. Expanded research into metapatterns. My students taught me so much about African American cultures, values, experiences; and they touched my heart in ways I can never repay.
1999-2014 — Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
- Professor — Taught elementary science methods, curriculum theory, and ecology of mind courses. Extended research into learning as and about "ecology of mind." I am particularly thankful for the Navajo and Hopi students, colleagues, and friends who taught me much and put up with many of my unknowing blunders with kindness and humor.
Past Professional Activities
- Editorial Board Member — Science Education (journal)
- Advisory Board Member — Summit On Science
- National Association for Research in Science Teaching
- Dissertation Award Committee
- Program Committee Coordinator of Conception Change Strand
- National Science Foundation
- Pre-Proposal Evaluation Panelist
- Proposal Reviewer
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada — Proposal Reviewer
- American Educational Research Association
- Subject Matter Knowledge and Conceptual Change SIG — Newsletter Editor
- Chaos and Complexity SIG — Website Administrator
- Book and Journal Reviewing
- Fordham University Press
- Houghton Mifflin
- D. C. Heath
- Dragonfly (pre-publication review of children's magazine)
- Kybernetes
- Science Education
- International Journal of Science Education
- Journal of Research in Science Teaching
- Canadian Journal of Education
- American Educational Research Journal
- Journal of Curriculum Studies
- Journal of the Learning Sciences
- Visiting Scholar at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, 1994
- Training Consultant — Regional Education Centre for Science and Mathematics (RECSAM), Penang, Malaysia, 1994
- At the university level, I've participated in a variety of committees and leadership roles, including the first president of College of Education's Faculty Assembly/College Council (2009-2010) and assistant department chair. I've also created school—university collaborations that allowed teacher-in-training to work with children in schools or at the university for extended period of time. These collaborations allowed children to engage in authentic inquiries and projects and provided opportunities for professional development of both my students and the school teachers. I've also created weekend events during which my students set up exploratory/inquiry activities for parents and children. These events were known as "Science Discovery Day," "Exploring Science Day," and "Exploring Your World Day."
©2015 Jeffrey W. Bloom