Latest News
- Book Launch: Educator Reflections: The Power of Our Stories
Announcing the newly released book, Educator Reflections: The Power of Our Stories
Congratulations to MTSU faculty, Pamela Kramer Ertel and Robyn Ridgley (editors), and their chapter contributors! They published an edited monograph on April 15, 2025, titled Educator Reflections: The Power of Our Stories. This is the third book published under the James E. Walker Library’s MT Open Press imprint. Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher? Or are you interested in how to improve or reflect on your own educator journey? Then you will want to read this book!
What’s inside
- Five chapters with short and insightful entries highlight various educators’ diverse professional journeys, from preschool to higher education.
- Reflections on unique paths to the profession, emphasizing pivotal moments and acknowledging the heroes and mentors who influenced their professional development.
- Inspirational stories from teachers at different stages of their careers.
What the book is about
Educator Reflections: The Power of Our Stories highlights the diverse professional journeys of various educators within Middle Tennessee State University and their partner schools as they share their experiences in the teaching profession. Contributors represent all educational levels, from preschool through higher education.
Teachers from various levels recount their unique paths to the profession, emphasizing pivotal moments and acknowledging the heroes and mentors who influenced their professional development. These shared experiences aim to inspire and guide individuals at different stages of their careers, including those just considering teaching as a career, preservice teachers, current educators, and those nearing the conclusion of their educational journey who seek to continue making a positive impact.
The book concludes with targeted recommendations and insights designed to propel the profession forward in a constructive direction, motivating readers to engage further with the content and their professional development.
If you have ever considered a career in education at the preschool, elementary, or high school level, aspired to be a college professor, or been inspired by a remarkable teacher, you will find resonance in the powerful stories these incredible educators share. Their experiences highlight the profound impact of teaching and will leave you inspired to embark on or continue your journey in the field of education.
Reviews
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book—I couldn’t put it down! I often finished one of the stories and thought, “I wish I had read this at that stage of my career!” The pieces were so interesting that I read the whole manuscript twice in two days. The ideas of mentorship and heroes come through clearly, and there is genuinely good, solid teaching advice. I wish I had read a book like this when starting graduate school and making my own transition from high school teacher to university professor and administrator. I would want this book in my personal collection and recommend it to anyone at any level of teaching.”
–Mary Clement, EdD, author and professor emeritus, Berry College
“This book is important as it humanizes the path toward being an educator in a very nuanced way. I think the novelty here is the conflation of teaching at both the K-12 and post-secondary levels. You don’t often think of “teachers” and “professors” as the same thing, and I think there’s value in showing sameness. I believe this is a really valuable contribution as I don’t know of any other similar or competing works.”
–Dr. Kenita T. Williams, Chief Operating Officer, Southern Education Foundation
About the editors and authors
Pamela Kramer Ertel is a Professor of Education, and Robyn Ridgley is a Professor and Associate Dean of the College of Education at Middle Tennessee State University. The editors have a wide range of experience in teaching, pedagogy, and teacher education.
The book features a diverse group of authors with incredible expertise from various disciplines and perspectives at Middle Tennessee State University and regional partners.
If you use this book in your course, please tell us at digitalscholar@mtsu.edu.
Book information
Available at https://openpress.mtsu.edu
© 2025 the Authors
Published by MT Open Press at Middle Tennessee State University ∙ Murfreesboro
DOI: 10.56638/mtopb00325
ISBN (digital PDF): 979-8-9871721-4-8
ISBN (paperback) 979-8-9871721-5-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2025933025. Full record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2025933025
Suggested citation: Ertel, P. K., & Ridgley, R. (Eds.). (2025). Educator reflections: The power of our stories. MT Open Press, Middle Tennessee State University. https://doi.org/10.56638/mtopb00325.
The print-on-demand version (paperback) is available at https://lulu.com/spotlight/mtop
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-4.0 International License
0225-1265 Middle Tennessee State University does not discriminate against students, employees, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or any other legally protected class with respect to all programs and activities sponsored by MTSU. Inquiries about Title IX can be directed to the Title IX Coordinator and/or the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The Title IX Coordinator can be reached at Cope Administration Building 116, 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132; Christy.Sigler@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2185. The MTSU policy on non-discrimination can be found at mtsu.edu/iec.
###
-
Read more: Announcing the Final Projects for the Digital Seed Grants 2020-2021The Digital Seed Grant (dsi.mtsu.edu/dsgrant) had impressive applications for its fourth year (award period 2020-2021), which initially launched in 2016 for the award period of 2017-2018. The Digital Seed Grant Review Committee and Library Dean decided to award two grants for the 2020-2021 academic year and extended this into 2022 to help projects impacted by…
-
Read more: We’re Hiring: Digital Publishing Manager applications due 7/29/22We have re-posted a new position! Consider the position of Manager, Digital Publishing at MTSU’s Walker Library’s Digital Scholarship Initiatives (DSI) unit. The Digital Publishing Manager (DPM) manages established and forthcoming production services for open access publishing and digital archiving in the library, including e-journal and e-book hosting platforms such as OJS, PressBooks, print-on-demand services,…
-
Read more: CFP Now Open: Digital Seed Grants 2022-2023Announcing the call for Digital Seed Grants The Digital Seed Grant competition for 2022-2023 is now open. Walker Library Digital Scholarship Initiatives invites proposals for seed grants to support individual or collaborative digital scholarship projects in research, teaching, or public outreach from any discipline or area at MTSU. The call for proposals (CFP) is open…
-
Read more: Call for Proposals—Book Chapters–deadline extended to Feb 7!Working book title: Privacy and Safety in Remote Learning Environments Proposal submission deadline extended: February 7, 2022 Interdisciplinary perspectives are highly encouraged Overview Online education is not a new phenomenon, but the Covid-19 pandemic caused a sudden and widespread shift online for many K-12 schools and higher education institutions that had little prior experience with it. Even…
-
Read more: We’re Hiring: Graduate Assistant for spring 2022MTSU Walker Library is hiring a graduate assistant (GA) for spring 2022. The GA will be able to expand their own knowledge of technology and library services and gain on-the-job training in the design, digitization and/or management of digital projects. Specific projects vary by semester (see the Job Description for details). The position comes with…
-
Read more: New Journal Issues PublishedScholarly journals hosted with MTSU’s Walker Library have newly published volumes for spring and summer 2020. The following journal issues are now available online: Volume 5, Issue 1 of the International Journal of the Whole Child was published on April 24, 2020. The journal is edited by Dr. Tiffany Wilson (Middle Tennessee State University)…
-
Read more: Publication: Digital Scholarship Initiatives Highlights 20/21Announcing the recently published Digital Scholarship Initiatives Highlights 2020-2021: A Digital Scholarship Center Assessment The 7th annual DSI Highlights brochure summarizes the past year’s development (2020-2021). The brochure highlights initiatives lead by the MTSU Walker Library for the creation, access, dissemination, and preservation of digital and scholarly initiatives. Digital Scholarship Initiatives (DSI) Programs include…
-
Read more: Digital Seed Grants 2021-2022 AwardedOver summer 2021, the Digital Seed Grant Committee received applications for its fifth year of awarding Digital Seed Grants. The proposals received were of high quality despite the impact of Covid-19, Walker Library is committed to keeping the library’s charge of accelerating teaching and research with digital technologies and methodologies. One way the library does…
-
Read more: Digital Seed Grants 2020-2021 AwardedDigital Seed Grants 2020-2021 Awarded Earlier in spring-summer 2020, the Digital Seed Grant Committee was excited to receive applications for its fourth year of awarding Digital Seed Grants. The proposals received were of high quality despite the turn of events with COVID-19 and although these challenges continue, the Walker Library is committed to keeping the…
-
Read more: Student Job Opportunity: Project AssistantA recent Digital Seed Grant recipient is looking to fill a vacant position to help with project research. Please see the position description below, and contact the primary investigator, Cindi Brown, with questions and interest by June 17, 2021. Position Project Assistant: Revisiting the Thematic Apperception Test with Computerized Linguistic Analysis Project Description The Thematic…