Completing the Cycle

Janet Alleman (PhD ’68) enjoys grassroots teaching and learning methods. The social studies education professor at Michigan State University (MSU) said she likes to show her students what social studies and civic education are by “walking the talk.”

“ I ask myself, how could I possibly teach social studies and not be a player in it?” she said. “I believe that modeling is the most important tool we have. In order for me to talk about what social studies and civic education are all about, I need to experience it and show my students how I approach it.”

Alleman’s hands-on involvement in her field has taken her all over the world. She’s been every where from Bulgaria to Kenya. Currently, she’s involved in an ongoing project with educators in Vietnam. She spent one month there last spring introducing educators to more engaging teaching and learning techniques.

“The workshop was designed to focus on learning strategies and opportunities that apply to life,” Alleman said.

Alleman said she was able to see the benefits of her work in Vietnam almost immediately.

“Teachers are using instructional strategies that are more engaging, require group work, and include multiple forms of assessment,” she said. “Observing the positive responses of the Vietnam students is extremely rewarding.”

Duong Quang Minh, who heads the project from the Vietnam side, said that Alleman is well respected among the Vietnamese educators she’s worked with.

“They admire her a great deal and said they have learned much from her both as an educator and a human being,” he said. “We’re very lucky to have her in our project.”

Minh said that the project is extremely important because Cantho University is the only school that trains teachers in the entire Mekong Delta region, which has a population of over 20 million people.

“This project is aimed at upgrading the quality of the teacher training program at our university, so it has an enormous impact on education in the region,” he said.

Social Studies Education Associate Professor Greg Hamot has known Alleman as a colleague and friend for many years. They worked together on a project in Bulgaria in 2000, and last fall, Alleman gave a presentation for a workshop Hamot orchestrated for educators from the Kyrgyz Republic.

“Janet is exceptionally enthusiastic, caring, and professionally top of the line,” he said. “She is a shining example of the long-standing tradition of excellent Ph.D. graduates from Iowa’s Social Studies Education program.”

Alleman said she considers her work in Vietnam and the other countries she visits as service, as well as an educational opportunity for herself. The Vietnam project, called “A Project for Educational Reforms and School Community Linkages: MSU and Cantho University,” will continue indefinitely.

“All of my service informs my practice. It makes the cycle complete,” she said.

Hamot noted that in addition to her civic education work, Alleman is known as an expert in elementary social studies. “Her work is some of the finest work produced in elementary social studies education over the past twenty years,” he said.

“For me, it’s like living out my dreams and my beliefs,” she said. “I take pride in everything I do.” –by Heather McElvain