Lauren Gatti, an associate professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, has been awarded the Edith. S. Greer Professorship in Education for her dedication to teaching, exemplary scholarship and impactful service.
“As part of my preparation for applying for this professorship, I read Edith Greer’s work on preparing teachers, including her 1951 publication entitled ‘Learning To Know Your Pupils,’” Gatti said. “Her call for educators to know where their students come from culturally, linguistically, and racially constitute the foundation of culturally responsive teaching. She was expansive, she was radical, and she was ahead of her time. To be formally connected to Dr. Greer’s legacy through this named professorship both validates and further inspires my deep commitment to teaching and teacher education. I feel a deep and keen sense of professional kinship with Dr. Greer and feel honored to be trusted to continue her legacy.”
Gatti joined TLTE in 2012 after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In her time at Nebraska, Gatti has consistently earned outstanding evaluations from her students resulting in her recognition for numerous teaching awards. She received the College Distinguished Teaching Award from UNL in 2015, the UNL Parents Association Certificate of Recognition for Contributions to Students in 2017, and the Donald R. & Mary Lee Swanson Award for Teaching Excellence from CEHS in 2020.
“Central to my teaching philosophy is a simple maxim: I cannot teach students I do not know,” Gatti wrote in her application for the Greer Professorship. “If I do not work to understand where my students come from, who they are as complex people, and what they bring with them into my classroom, I will not succeed. It is this precise understanding that we must know our students in order to teach them that Edith Greer talks about in her 1951 publication, ‘Learning To Know Your Pupils.’”
She has cultivated a reputation for innovation in the courses she teaches, engaging students through things like poetry writing, found poetry, podcasting, and mapping.
“It is hard to put Lauren Gatti’s influence on me into words,” said Brianna Knoell, Gatti’s former student and current freshman English and broadcast journalism teacher at Lincoln Standing Bear High School. “Not only is Lauren incredibly kind, intelligent and dedicated to the education field, she is also one of the best educators I have ever had the pleasure of learning from. Alongside lesson plans and assessments, Lauren also taught about the importance of diversity, connection and community. The support I received from Lauren both in undergrad and still today has been paramount in my success as a teacher.”
Gatti’s research largely focuses on teacher education and teacher education policy. She is a co-PI for Project RAÍCES (Re-envisioning Action and Innovation through Community Collaborations for Equity across Systems) at UNL, which welcomed students from Youth Participatory Action Research programs at five schools across the state to Nebraska’s teacher preparation programs. A three-year project, Project RAÍCES aims to diversify and increase the number of individuals becoming and remaining teachers in Nebraska and Kansas.
Her work has appeared in journals such as Educational Theory, Democracy & Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Urban Education. She has also published two books, including “Toward a Framework of Resources for Learning to Teach: Rethinking U.S. Teacher Preparation” and the co-authored book, “The New Political Economy of Teacher Education: The Enterprise Narrative and the Shadow State. She is co-authoring a third book project with education philosopher Paula McAvoy that advances a framework for ethical thinking in teaching entitled, “Just Teachers: Taking the Ethical Long View in the Profession of Teaching.”
In addition to her teaching and research, Gatti has actively served on multiple committees at UNL, including the Teaching Council and the AAUP. She has also served as coordinator of the secondary English education program at the university since 2012. Gatti is an active member of educational organizations such as the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE). She is currently working with English teachers across the state to revive the NCTEs state affiliate, the Nebraska Language Arts Council (NeLAC).
“Lauren Gatti embodies the qualities and achievements that the Edith S. Greer Professorship in Education seeks to recognize,” Interim Dean Nick Pace said. “Her exceptional research, exemplary teaching and dedicated service make her a deserving candidate for this honor.”
The Edith S. Greer Professorship was established in 1993 to recognize a faculty member based upon teaching ability and accomplishments, as well as academic promise. Greer was a groundbreaker as the first woman elected to county office in Richardson. While serving as Richardson County superintendent, she started a traveling library for schools and kept office hours on Saturdays to better serve the public.
Greer earned her bachelor’s (1926) and master’s (1940) degrees at the University of Nebraska and completed her Ph.D. from the university in 1946 while serving as the coordinator of curriculum at the Nebraska Department of Education. She held that position from 1943 until being named the specialist for curriculum coordination at the U.S. Department of Education in 1965, except for a period in the 1950s when she was dean of instruction and head of the education department at Peru State Teachers College.
Greer was also past president of the Nebraska County Superintendents Association, district officer of the Nebraska State Education Association, state board member of the Nebraska Congress of Parents and Teachers, and member of the Nebraska Council on Teacher Education.
College of Education and Human Sciences
Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education
