by Claire Miller
Clinical Associate Professor Janet Burns was named president of The Academy for Career and Technical Teacher Education, an international organization that supports higher education programs that train career and technical educators.
Burns, program coordinator for the College of Education’s Career and Technical Education program, has worked in career and technical education for more than 20 years. She’s served on the board of directors for Trade and Industrial Educators of Georgia, chaired the American Education Research Association’s CTE special interest group and has published research in several scholarly journals, including Human Resource Development Quarterly, Career and Technical Education Research, Business Education Forum, and Journal of Industrial Teacher Education.
She has been involved with the academy since its inception and believes one of its most important roles is to provide a collaborative network of peers for higher education teachers and programs.
“I was at the Association for Career and Technical Education Research’s annual conference in Las Vegas when we first started talking about forming an organization around teacher education,” she explained. “To me, the higher education component is very important and the academy was formed to guide, strengthen and support those who teach career and technical education teachers.”
In her two-year term as president, Burns hopes to accomplish several goals: To edit a special issue of Career and Technical Education Research focused on teacher education; plan the professional development symposia for the academy’s annual conference; and strengthen the academy’s connection to members of the Association for Career and Technical Education Research, the academy’s sister organization.
She’s also looking forward to working with teacher educators who are early in their careers, sharing what she’s learned and gaining new insights from them.
“What gets me most excited about this position is the chance to network and help shape the future of career and technical education,” she said. “I love to talk to younger scholars and teacher educators – they’re the ones who bring energy to the field.”
For more information about The Academy for Career and Technical Teacher Education, visit http://www.academyctte.org.
