Taji Gibson is a research associate with the Center on Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL) at the Indiana institute on Disability and Community, Bloomington. Gibson is currently a doctoral student in the Education Leadership program at Indiana University with a certification in Education Law.
Gibson’s doctoral studies center around how school administrators support students of color, particularly Black girls, in the school setting. Gibson joined CELL in June 2016 after almost 20 years of classroom teaching. She is a project coordinator for ICTQ grant, which supports teachers in the work of Universal Design for Learning, Educational Neuroscience, Classroom Management, and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies. She also has extensive training and experience in Co-Teaching/Collaboration and Restorative Practices.
Degrees
Gibson holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary English Education from Indiana University (1997) and a Master’s in Education from Indiana Wesleyan (2009).
Personal Statement
Teaching and learning is an ongoing process, and I have loved being in education my whole life. I believe that education is a table we all sit at for understanding one another, for inquiry, for debate, and for empathy and compassion. Leadership is key to walking colleagues through the process of understanding, and listening is the staple of the process of leadership. I believe that my experience as an educator and now my experience as a coach and change agent in schools has helped me to become a better leader.
As I finish up my doctorate degree in Education Leadership at Indiana University, I hope to continue to grow, to be empathetic, and also to never stop learning even in the final stages of my terminal degree. Family is important as well, and I love living life with my husband and author Shane, and our two beautiful children, Tanner and Sawyer. I fully embrace Dr. Suess’s philosophy about caring a whole awful lot—because nothing will ever get better. It’s not.