Members of the Decatur Change Effort

John Keller, Ph.D.
Past member of Support Team

Although I've lived in Indiana since 1990, the rest of my large family lives in Maine. I was born in Pennsylvania and lived there until I was nine years old. Soon after my family moved to Maine, my parents decided to try home schooling. This was a very positive experience for me. I think that part of my love for learning came from the learning experiences that I had as a home schooler. Interestingly, I decided to go to college to become an elementary school teacher. I taught in the public schools of Warsaw, IN for six years. For the first three years, I taught 6th grade. For the second three years, I taught a class of 5th and 6th graders who were in the district's gifted and talented program.I loved teaching and continue to enjoy it, but sometime during my 5th year of teaching I began to think about my career future. I thought that perhaps I could have a broader influence in the field of education if I got an advanced degree and so I applied to Indiana University. Eventually, I was accepted to the IST program here at I.U. and have enjoyed the last three years immensely. I've enjoyed the classes, the opportunities for extra-curricular involvement through my role as the president of the student association
(GIST) <http://www.iub.edu/~gist/>. I've also enjoyed the opportunities for research and involvement in service opportunities that were part of my membership on the Systemic Change Support Team where I served for two years.My dissertation title is "A Systems View of Professional Development in a K-12 School District". I'm hoping for a position in a K-12 school district or at a university where a large portion of my time involves direct work with teachers or pre-service teachers in a role focused on improving pedagogy.Education:

• Ph.D.Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University 2003M.S. Education, Indiana University, Purdue University Fort Wayne 1996
• B.S. Elementary Education, Grace College 1994

If you'd like to know more about me and my interests, take a look at my web site at http://php.indiana.edu/~jbkeller