Eleanor Binstock, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies, National-Louis University. BA, Concordia (Sir George Williams) University (Quebec); M.Ed., University of Illinois at Chicago; Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago.

My earliest teaching was in the elementary grades in Montreal, Canada. Later, in Chicago, I taught for the Alternative Schools Network, and, in collaboration with high school students there, created socio-academic curricula and film documentaries of students' lives in and out of school. I also produced and directed documentary films during a four year period as artist-in-residence for the Chicago Council on Fine Arts.

My favorite work with teachers is helping them to implement action research in their classrooms. I see parallels between qualitative/action research and documentary art forms, and am currently conducting a 3-year videographic study exploring the social and emotional growth of middle school students. I also have a critical interest in media literacy and enjoy exploring this domain with teachers.

I have written articles on media literacy and on discourse analysis, one of which is in the Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts. Also recently, I began co-editing the journal Democracy and Education.

Holly Genzen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Academic Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Studies in Curriculum and Instruction, National-Louis University. BS, Education, Valparaiso University; MS, Outdoor Education, University of Akron; Ph.D., Educational Administration, Kent State University.

I am an Assistant Professor in the Master's in Education/Interdisciplinary Studies in Curriculum and Instruction program in the National College of Education. I am also the academic coordinator of the IDS program in Florida.

It continues to be a pleasure for me to work with teachers committed to excellence in education and to reflective practice. I have over 15 years experience working in schools and have presented on parental involvement, researched the issues of under-representation of minorities in gifted programs, and written about effective educational leadership.

My first love is the environment. Professionally, this love is expressed in presentations on multicultural/environmental children's literature at Environmental Education conferences. In addition, I enjoy assisting teachers in discovering ways to teach the traditional curriculum in and through the out-of-doors. Personally, this love for the environment led to my 1995 thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Marie Wilson Nelson, Ed.D.
Ed.D., University of Georgia; M.Ed., University of Georgia; BA, Furman University; Advanced Japanese Language Certificate, Nippon Kokusai Kenkyusha.

I love writing, fiddling with computers, unexpected discoveries, the dynamics of change, and the roseate spoonbills who roost on the island in front of my house. I think it’s time to redesign most of our institutions, our personal and professional relationships, and the way we interact with the natural world. I value caring conflict, the principle of non-resistance, and the benefits of diversity. I once lived in a tent for a year and I still travel widely, including two recent lecture tours in Japan and summer work with teachers in Lithuania. I also edit the Journal of Engaged Pedagogy.

As a writer and long-time teacher of writing, I've campaigned to make scholarly writing more readable so that breakthroughs in educational research and theory can benefit more teachers’ and children’s lives. In my own writing I use narrative, dramatic and poetic techniques — memoir, character setting, suspense, and vivid (I hope) images. I like prose that captures the music of everyday speech, and writing students tease me about "Nelson's Four-Letter Word Rule" — avoid Greek and Latin roots when Anglo-Saxon will do. My book, "At the Point of Need: Teaching Basic and ESL Writers," documents the writing breakthroughs students have when teachers create for students the kinds of writing conditions professional writers prefer and emphasize writing strategies rather than focusing first on form.

Todd Alan Price, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Educational Foundations and Inquiry, National-Louis University; Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Madison. BS, Psychology major and Sociology minor, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; MS, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Professor Price's teaching and research interests range from the uses of video production for educational purposes to the potential of the documentary form for inspiring political and social change.