Muffet G. Trout
- Courses1
- Reviews3
- School: University of St. Thomas
- Campus:
- Department: Education
- Email address: Join to see
- Phone: Join to see
-
Location:
2115 Summit Avenue
Minneapolis, MN - 55105 - Dates at University of St. Thomas: April 2015 - December 2017
- Office Hours: Join to see
Biography
University of St. Thomas - Education
Assistant Professor at University of St. Thomas
Education Management
Muffet
Trout, Ph.D.
Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area
A teacher at heart, I am an education professional with over 25 years of experience spanning pre-school through doctoral level classrooms in urban, suburban, and rural settings.
I am committed to helping students, teachers, administrators, and teacher educators create strong foundations for their educational endeavors through relationship building. Additionally, I strive to raise awareness of and promote action against systemic social inequities that influence the work of teaching and learning.
Specialties: My Ph.D. is in social studies and teacher education. My research interests include teacher educator practice and in particular, I explore pedagogy which is informed by ethical and critical care and aims to be culturally responsive.
Experience
Glenwood City School District
Social Studies Teacher - Junior and Senior High Schools
Mentored first year and student teachers, taught a variety of social science courses, served on district-side committees, co-designed and co-taught with teachers from special education department, oversaw student produced political forums for statewide candidates, coached academic and athletic teams. Served on two state wide athletic governing boards.
University of Minnesota
Teacher Candidate Supervisor
Mentored and evaluated more than 90 practicum and student teachers in urban and suburban Twin Cities Metro Area.
University of Minnesota
Instructor
Taught graduate students and practicing teachers in teacher preparation and Master's degree programs. Mentored practicing teachers in inquiry-based action research projects. Graduate Student Teaching Award nominee.
University of Minnesota
Research Assistant
Project name: Program Evaluation of Civic Education in Six Countries. Compiled and analyzed survey data from more than 2,000 respondents, co-authored conference paper for the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Graduate Student Research Award nominee.
Trout Consulting, LLC
Founder and President
Visionary and procedural work in education. Provide strategic consulting for schools and start ups, create higher education curriculum materials, map industry standards to higher education curriculum materials.
University of St. Thomas
Assistant Professor
Teacher Education
Education
University of Minnesota-Twin cities
Ph.D.
Education
Dissertation - Moral Work in Teacher Preparation: Care Pedagogy in a Student Teaching Supervisor's Urban Practice. See http://search.proquest.com/docview/881648511#Occidental College
B.A.
Diplomacy and World Affairs, Economics
Stanford University
M.A.
Education
Publications
Making the moment matter: Care theory for teacher learning
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Making the Moment Matter is a wonderful contribution to the literature on meaningful teacher education. Grounded in Nel Noddings’ relational ethic of care, this finely written book explores both the moral foundations and the lived realities of facilitating teacher development through pedagogicalcaring. Trout’s theoretically rich, carefully designed, and engaging inquiry could not be more timely. In an era when reform talk in teaching and teacher education is increasingly characterized by reference to outcomes, accountability and “value added” measures, this book reminds us that better teaching is a process centered on caring relationships. Her work has a great deal to offer many different readers—educational researchers interested in models of well-crafted studies of practice, teacher educators looking for insights into the complex work of teacher development, and others who wish to learn more about the manner of relationships that stand at the heart of education.” Todd Dinkelman, Ph.D. University of Georgia
Making the moment matter: Care theory for teacher learning
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Making the Moment Matter is a wonderful contribution to the literature on meaningful teacher education. Grounded in Nel Noddings’ relational ethic of care, this finely written book explores both the moral foundations and the lived realities of facilitating teacher development through pedagogicalcaring. Trout’s theoretically rich, carefully designed, and engaging inquiry could not be more timely. In an era when reform talk in teaching and teacher education is increasingly characterized by reference to outcomes, accountability and “value added” measures, this book reminds us that better teaching is a process centered on caring relationships. Her work has a great deal to offer many different readers—educational researchers interested in models of well-crafted studies of practice, teacher educators looking for insights into the complex work of teacher development, and others who wish to learn more about the manner of relationships that stand at the heart of education.” Todd Dinkelman, Ph.D. University of Georgia
Embodying care: Igniting a critical turn in a teacher educator’s relational practice.
Studying Teacher Education.
This self-study research contributes to the literature on caring teaching by suggesting that in racially and culturally diverse classrooms, caring habits can help teacher educators from dominant groups gain critical self-awareness. When a cultural disconnect became antagonistic between students of color and me, a White teacher educator in the United States, I was at a crossroads: use coercion and force students to follow my directions or care and base my responses on student needs. I chose the latter. Findings suggest that this choice benefitted the class and changed how I see myself as a teacher educator. The construct of embodied care (Hamington, 2004) helps describe the turn in my relational teacher educator practice (Kitchen, 2005) from caring intentions that were dyadic in nature to caring that uses relational means for social justice ends. Data points include field notes, analytic journal entries, email communication, course materials, student interviews, and course evaluations. Implications for the field of teacher education follow. Keywords: relational teacher education, embodied care, ethical care, diverse classrooms, teacher educator practice
Making the moment matter: Care theory for teacher learning
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Making the Moment Matter is a wonderful contribution to the literature on meaningful teacher education. Grounded in Nel Noddings’ relational ethic of care, this finely written book explores both the moral foundations and the lived realities of facilitating teacher development through pedagogicalcaring. Trout’s theoretically rich, carefully designed, and engaging inquiry could not be more timely. In an era when reform talk in teaching and teacher education is increasingly characterized by reference to outcomes, accountability and “value added” measures, this book reminds us that better teaching is a process centered on caring relationships. Her work has a great deal to offer many different readers—educational researchers interested in models of well-crafted studies of practice, teacher educators looking for insights into the complex work of teacher development, and others who wish to learn more about the manner of relationships that stand at the heart of education.” Todd Dinkelman, Ph.D. University of Georgia
Embodying care: Igniting a critical turn in a teacher educator’s relational practice.
Studying Teacher Education.
This self-study research contributes to the literature on caring teaching by suggesting that in racially and culturally diverse classrooms, caring habits can help teacher educators from dominant groups gain critical self-awareness. When a cultural disconnect became antagonistic between students of color and me, a White teacher educator in the United States, I was at a crossroads: use coercion and force students to follow my directions or care and base my responses on student needs. I chose the latter. Findings suggest that this choice benefitted the class and changed how I see myself as a teacher educator. The construct of embodied care (Hamington, 2004) helps describe the turn in my relational teacher educator practice (Kitchen, 2005) from caring intentions that were dyadic in nature to caring that uses relational means for social justice ends. Data points include field notes, analytic journal entries, email communication, course materials, student interviews, and course evaluations. Implications for the field of teacher education follow. Keywords: relational teacher education, embodied care, ethical care, diverse classrooms, teacher educator practice
Preventing the Shut-Down: Embodied Critical Care in a Teacher Educator's Practice
Action in Teacher Education
This article explores the practice of one teacher educator to understand how she mitigates student resistance to prevent what we call “the shutdown” when teaching mostly White students about systemic forms of oppression. Engaging students in conversations about oppression does not in itself disrupt systems of power and privilege in schools. But learning to avoid the shut-down is an important step for teacher educators who wish to teach with social justice aims. This article offers an inside look into one teacher educator’s practice to show how she avoids the shut-down and maintains student engagement through a pedagogy of embodied critical care. In particular, she (1) helps students embody care by teaching with carefully sequenced stories, including her own and (2) uses ethical care to develop critical consciousness in her students.
Making the moment matter: Care theory for teacher learning
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Making the Moment Matter is a wonderful contribution to the literature on meaningful teacher education. Grounded in Nel Noddings’ relational ethic of care, this finely written book explores both the moral foundations and the lived realities of facilitating teacher development through pedagogicalcaring. Trout’s theoretically rich, carefully designed, and engaging inquiry could not be more timely. In an era when reform talk in teaching and teacher education is increasingly characterized by reference to outcomes, accountability and “value added” measures, this book reminds us that better teaching is a process centered on caring relationships. Her work has a great deal to offer many different readers—educational researchers interested in models of well-crafted studies of practice, teacher educators looking for insights into the complex work of teacher development, and others who wish to learn more about the manner of relationships that stand at the heart of education.” Todd Dinkelman, Ph.D. University of Georgia
Embodying care: Igniting a critical turn in a teacher educator’s relational practice.
Studying Teacher Education.
This self-study research contributes to the literature on caring teaching by suggesting that in racially and culturally diverse classrooms, caring habits can help teacher educators from dominant groups gain critical self-awareness. When a cultural disconnect became antagonistic between students of color and me, a White teacher educator in the United States, I was at a crossroads: use coercion and force students to follow my directions or care and base my responses on student needs. I chose the latter. Findings suggest that this choice benefitted the class and changed how I see myself as a teacher educator. The construct of embodied care (Hamington, 2004) helps describe the turn in my relational teacher educator practice (Kitchen, 2005) from caring intentions that were dyadic in nature to caring that uses relational means for social justice ends. Data points include field notes, analytic journal entries, email communication, course materials, student interviews, and course evaluations. Implications for the field of teacher education follow. Keywords: relational teacher education, embodied care, ethical care, diverse classrooms, teacher educator practice
Preventing the Shut-Down: Embodied Critical Care in a Teacher Educator's Practice
Action in Teacher Education
This article explores the practice of one teacher educator to understand how she mitigates student resistance to prevent what we call “the shutdown” when teaching mostly White students about systemic forms of oppression. Engaging students in conversations about oppression does not in itself disrupt systems of power and privilege in schools. But learning to avoid the shut-down is an important step for teacher educators who wish to teach with social justice aims. This article offers an inside look into one teacher educator’s practice to show how she avoids the shut-down and maintains student engagement through a pedagogy of embodied critical care. In particular, she (1) helps students embody care by teaching with carefully sequenced stories, including her own and (2) uses ethical care to develop critical consciousness in her students.
Social skills in action: An ethic of care in social studies student teaching supervision
In A. Crowe (Ed.) Advancing social studies education through self-study methodology: The power, promise, and use of self-study in social studies education. Dordrecht: Springer
"Trout demonstrates for readers how Nel Noddings' Ethic of Care can be combined with social studies teacher education practices. Her self-study showed her, and lets us all in on, how a teacher educator in a supervisory role enacts a pedagogy of care as a social studies educator. It gives us a chance to see the ways in which self-study helped her to enact this pedagogy, examine it, and learn from the experience. Her piece gives an example of a self-study in action at the university level in supervision and shows another example of what can be learned about ones' practice through self-study and how it connects with her student's learning (in this case a preservice teacher)." Alicia Crowe, Ph.D., Kent State University
Making the moment matter: Care theory for teacher learning
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Making the Moment Matter is a wonderful contribution to the literature on meaningful teacher education. Grounded in Nel Noddings’ relational ethic of care, this finely written book explores both the moral foundations and the lived realities of facilitating teacher development through pedagogicalcaring. Trout’s theoretically rich, carefully designed, and engaging inquiry could not be more timely. In an era when reform talk in teaching and teacher education is increasingly characterized by reference to outcomes, accountability and “value added” measures, this book reminds us that better teaching is a process centered on caring relationships. Her work has a great deal to offer many different readers—educational researchers interested in models of well-crafted studies of practice, teacher educators looking for insights into the complex work of teacher development, and others who wish to learn more about the manner of relationships that stand at the heart of education.” Todd Dinkelman, Ph.D. University of Georgia
Embodying care: Igniting a critical turn in a teacher educator’s relational practice.
Studying Teacher Education.
This self-study research contributes to the literature on caring teaching by suggesting that in racially and culturally diverse classrooms, caring habits can help teacher educators from dominant groups gain critical self-awareness. When a cultural disconnect became antagonistic between students of color and me, a White teacher educator in the United States, I was at a crossroads: use coercion and force students to follow my directions or care and base my responses on student needs. I chose the latter. Findings suggest that this choice benefitted the class and changed how I see myself as a teacher educator. The construct of embodied care (Hamington, 2004) helps describe the turn in my relational teacher educator practice (Kitchen, 2005) from caring intentions that were dyadic in nature to caring that uses relational means for social justice ends. Data points include field notes, analytic journal entries, email communication, course materials, student interviews, and course evaluations. Implications for the field of teacher education follow. Keywords: relational teacher education, embodied care, ethical care, diverse classrooms, teacher educator practice
Preventing the Shut-Down: Embodied Critical Care in a Teacher Educator's Practice
Action in Teacher Education
This article explores the practice of one teacher educator to understand how she mitigates student resistance to prevent what we call “the shutdown” when teaching mostly White students about systemic forms of oppression. Engaging students in conversations about oppression does not in itself disrupt systems of power and privilege in schools. But learning to avoid the shut-down is an important step for teacher educators who wish to teach with social justice aims. This article offers an inside look into one teacher educator’s practice to show how she avoids the shut-down and maintains student engagement through a pedagogy of embodied critical care. In particular, she (1) helps students embody care by teaching with carefully sequenced stories, including her own and (2) uses ethical care to develop critical consciousness in her students.
Social skills in action: An ethic of care in social studies student teaching supervision
In A. Crowe (Ed.) Advancing social studies education through self-study methodology: The power, promise, and use of self-study in social studies education. Dordrecht: Springer
"Trout demonstrates for readers how Nel Noddings' Ethic of Care can be combined with social studies teacher education practices. Her self-study showed her, and lets us all in on, how a teacher educator in a supervisory role enacts a pedagogy of care as a social studies educator. It gives us a chance to see the ways in which self-study helped her to enact this pedagogy, examine it, and learn from the experience. Her piece gives an example of a self-study in action at the university level in supervision and shows another example of what can be learned about ones' practice through self-study and how it connects with her student's learning (in this case a preservice teacher)." Alicia Crowe, Ph.D., Kent State University
Care theory: Cohesive powers for reflective practice
In A. Cuenca (Ed.) Supervising Student Teachers: Issues, Perspectives, and Directions for Field-Based Teacher Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Muffet Trout in Care Theory describes how this theory can serve as a useful framework for student teacher learning. Trout argues that by infusing supervisory practice with care theory, field-based teacher educators will demonstrate a conception of teaching that is dynamic and responsive." Alexander Cuenca, Ph.D., Saint Louis University
Making the moment matter: Care theory for teacher learning
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Making the Moment Matter is a wonderful contribution to the literature on meaningful teacher education. Grounded in Nel Noddings’ relational ethic of care, this finely written book explores both the moral foundations and the lived realities of facilitating teacher development through pedagogicalcaring. Trout’s theoretically rich, carefully designed, and engaging inquiry could not be more timely. In an era when reform talk in teaching and teacher education is increasingly characterized by reference to outcomes, accountability and “value added” measures, this book reminds us that better teaching is a process centered on caring relationships. Her work has a great deal to offer many different readers—educational researchers interested in models of well-crafted studies of practice, teacher educators looking for insights into the complex work of teacher development, and others who wish to learn more about the manner of relationships that stand at the heart of education.” Todd Dinkelman, Ph.D. University of Georgia
Embodying care: Igniting a critical turn in a teacher educator’s relational practice.
Studying Teacher Education.
This self-study research contributes to the literature on caring teaching by suggesting that in racially and culturally diverse classrooms, caring habits can help teacher educators from dominant groups gain critical self-awareness. When a cultural disconnect became antagonistic between students of color and me, a White teacher educator in the United States, I was at a crossroads: use coercion and force students to follow my directions or care and base my responses on student needs. I chose the latter. Findings suggest that this choice benefitted the class and changed how I see myself as a teacher educator. The construct of embodied care (Hamington, 2004) helps describe the turn in my relational teacher educator practice (Kitchen, 2005) from caring intentions that were dyadic in nature to caring that uses relational means for social justice ends. Data points include field notes, analytic journal entries, email communication, course materials, student interviews, and course evaluations. Implications for the field of teacher education follow. Keywords: relational teacher education, embodied care, ethical care, diverse classrooms, teacher educator practice
Preventing the Shut-Down: Embodied Critical Care in a Teacher Educator's Practice
Action in Teacher Education
This article explores the practice of one teacher educator to understand how she mitigates student resistance to prevent what we call “the shutdown” when teaching mostly White students about systemic forms of oppression. Engaging students in conversations about oppression does not in itself disrupt systems of power and privilege in schools. But learning to avoid the shut-down is an important step for teacher educators who wish to teach with social justice aims. This article offers an inside look into one teacher educator’s practice to show how she avoids the shut-down and maintains student engagement through a pedagogy of embodied critical care. In particular, she (1) helps students embody care by teaching with carefully sequenced stories, including her own and (2) uses ethical care to develop critical consciousness in her students.
Social skills in action: An ethic of care in social studies student teaching supervision
In A. Crowe (Ed.) Advancing social studies education through self-study methodology: The power, promise, and use of self-study in social studies education. Dordrecht: Springer
"Trout demonstrates for readers how Nel Noddings' Ethic of Care can be combined with social studies teacher education practices. Her self-study showed her, and lets us all in on, how a teacher educator in a supervisory role enacts a pedagogy of care as a social studies educator. It gives us a chance to see the ways in which self-study helped her to enact this pedagogy, examine it, and learn from the experience. Her piece gives an example of a self-study in action at the university level in supervision and shows another example of what can be learned about ones' practice through self-study and how it connects with her student's learning (in this case a preservice teacher)." Alicia Crowe, Ph.D., Kent State University
Care theory: Cohesive powers for reflective practice
In A. Cuenca (Ed.) Supervising Student Teachers: Issues, Perspectives, and Directions for Field-Based Teacher Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
"Muffet Trout in Care Theory describes how this theory can serve as a useful framework for student teacher learning. Trout argues that by infusing supervisory practice with care theory, field-based teacher educators will demonstrate a conception of teaching that is dynamic and responsive." Alexander Cuenca, Ph.D., Saint Louis University
The supervision dance: Learning to lead and follow a student teacher
The New Educator
This article chronicles the journey of a student teaching supervisor as she worked with one of her student teachers. Early in their relationship, the supervisor's assessment of the student teacher's dispositions for teaching triggered concern. In this self-study, the supervisor was guided by Nel Noddings' (2003) phenomenological description of ethical care as she tried to engage the student teacher in dialogue about his growth as a beginning educator. The supervisor intended to include the student teacher's goals along with her assessments to support his professional development. Exchanging the lead in the supervision dance warranted ethical considerations. The supervisor, working within the limited timeframe of the student teaching experience, had the dual responsibilities of coaching and assessing the student teacher's performance as he worked toward licensure. She also had to manage her limited time for attending to the needs of the student teacher. The repercussions included the supervisor taking center stage more than she had originally planned and adapting her schedule to better explore the student teacher's motivations and aspirations.
