An Interview with Kevin Zook, Dean of the School of Education at Holy Family University

Posted by on September 17, 2013

Kevin Zook is a short three months into his position as the Dean of the School of Education at Holy Family University. He took time out of his busy schedule to speak with me about his goals as dean, partnerships with local schools, and perspectives on teacher education. Dean Zook comes to us most recently from the School of Education at Gannon University in Erie, PA with extensive experience as an administrator, professor and field supervisor. He is excited to be starting his new role as dean with a dedicated faculty and staff, strong partnerships with local schools, and a diverse student body. We at PHENND are happy to welcome Dean Zook to the K-16 Partnerships Network and to Philadelphia.

Q: What makes you most excited about your new position at Holy Family?

A: I’m excited about the opportunity to lead a group of really talented, dedicated faculty and staff who have a proven track record as well as a lot of potential for continued excellence. With the current challenges facing teacher education as well as small private colleges, strong faculty are essential to progress institutionally and serve our students. There are incredible faculty here to help re-envision what teacher education is going to look like, not only for Holy Family, but for the region. I have the sense that I’m on the ground floor of opportunities to create new and exciting initiatives with my faculty colleagues.

Q: What experiences in education/teaching led you to this position?

A: I’ve been in teacher education and higher education for about 25 years. My undergraduate background is elementary education, and my graduate degrees are in the field of educational psychology.  I began my career in higher education as a professor teaching a variety of courses and supervising student teachers. Beginning in 2000, I began to do more administrative work in my role as the chair of the Department of Education at Messiah College.  Through this work, I discovered that I enjoyed supporting faculty, working on curricular issues, and administering programs. I aspire to be an administrator who strongly supports faculty and facilitates the great work they are doing.

Q: What new teacher education strategies are you excited to support?

A: The education faculty at Holy Family are extremely hard working. They embrace change and are not afraid of it. They are able to be flexible and are always focused on what is best for students. This group of faculty is also effective at creating new and creative teaching strategies. For example, Holy Family is beginning to utilize blended courses that are offered through a combination of face-to-face class sessions and online classes. I’ve seen our faculty begin to embrace that mode of teaching. In addition to opening up new avenues for effective instructional techniques, blended courses also will make our classes more accessible to non-traditional students who have heavy family demands and work schedules.

As we move into online learning, we are focusing at Holy Family on making sure we utilize technology in ways that ensure the quality of student learning.

Q: What is a goal you have for the Holy Family School of Education?

A: Pursuing the possibility of arrangements that would allow our students to study abroad for a semester, which is often challenging for education students to do with extensive certification requirements. I would like to expand study abroad opportunities for education students to help develop their understanding of teaching in a global context.

Overall, I envision my job primarily as advocating for and supporting faculty. They are the ones who bring our programs and curricula to life. I believe that administrators need to support faculty and then, “get out of the way!”

Q: What future would you like teachers to have in the United States?

A: I have an enduring fundamental belief that teachers need to be treated and viewed as professionals and that they should be educated to think for themselves so that they can truly function as decision-making and problem-solving professionals. When it comes to teaching, there are no shortcuts, kits, or recipes that will be effective for 100% of our learners 100% of the time. What good teachers need to do is understand learning processes and principles of instructional design, and then make decisions based on what is best for their particular students. I believe that professional teachers should be able to implement plans that are not created by other people. They should be able to design their own curricula, learning goals, teaching strategies, and assessments.

Q: How do you plan to work with schools in the Holy Family neighborhood?

A: I’m excited about this area because there are so many different types of schools right at our doorstep including suburban, urban, and parochial schools.  All of them are important to us because they serve a wide variety of students and families. There are rich opportunities to form partnerships which will aid our students and enable us to give back to schools in our area. I will be working to create mutual relationships, win-win situations where we can give back to our local schools and open up authentic learning opportunities for our Holy Family students and faculty . I know we have productive partnerships with many schools already and I am looking forward to developing relationships with new partners as well.