Description:

About the Talk:

Recent research demonstrates that educators can support the holistic success of students from historically marginalized groups through taking a strengths-based approach to the identities and experiences of these students. Specifically, educators can promote the well-being, motivation, and academic persistence of students from marginalized groups through recognizing and valuing the unique skills and perspectives that these students often gain as a direct factor of their backgrounds and lived experiences. This interactive talk will provide opportunities for graduate students to learn more about the research behind strengths-based approaches, as well as work with their peers to develop tools that they can use to create identity-supportive classrooms for students from marginalized backgrounds.

About the Speaker:
David Silverman's experiences attending a diverse range of schools in the Middle East and Europe has both shaped his interest in educational research and exposed him to the power of academic contexts to influence students' lives, particularly among students from lower-income backgrounds. His research focuses on how educators can leverage this influence to create schools that authentically support the identities of students from historically marginalized backgrounds. As a second year Ph.D. student working with Dr. Mesmin Destin in Social Psychology, he has pursued these ideas in several lines of work with high schools and universities across the U.S.