Grinell Smith, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
Associate Professor of Elementary Education, San José State University
Location
Grinnell Smith is an Associate Professor in the department of Elementary Education at San José State University. There, he teaches a range of courses on topics such as school curriculum theory, classroom management, research methods, educational psychology, technology integration, and science methods. His scholarly activities seek to redefine the purpose of education away from current mainstream conceptions of schools primarily as economic resources governed by market mechanisms and that view children merely as consumers and future wage-earners, and toward a conception of schools as places that strive for the Jeffersonian ideal of producing an informed citizenry of critical thinkers and that help children become happy, healthy, well-adjusted, and fulfilled people who understand how to live balanced lives in the context of their families, communities, cultures, and ecosystems. Grinell believes that paying attention to the fundamental purpose of schooling is foundational to this sort of education and subsumes this view in all the courses he teaches at SJSU. He elucidates these views further in some of his recent publications, including Modern education: a tragedy of the commons (Journal of Curriculum Studies), Teaching care ethics: conceptual understandings and stories for learning (Journal of Moral Education), The way we educate (Schools: Studies in Education), and Stories from five decades (Action in Teacher Education).
At the University of New England, Grinell teaches doctoral-level courses on research methods.
Credentials
Education
Research
Selected publications
Grinell, S. & Rabin, C. (2013). Modern education: A tragedy of the commons. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(6), 748-767.
Rabin, C. & Smith, G. (2013). Teaching care ethics: conceptual understandings and stories for learning. Journal of Moral Education, 42(2), 164-176.
Rabin, C. & Smith, G. (2012). Stories from five decades: how one teacher’s theatricality, courage, and creativity shaped a life’s work. Action in Teacher Education. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/01626620.2012.712744
Smith, G. (2012). The way we educate: twenty million miles for some, a twenty minute walk for others. Schools: Studies in Education, 9(1), 63-72.
Smith, G. (2011). Developing a sustainability plan at a large U.S. college of education. The Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 13(2), 5-16.
Smith, G. (2010). Introducing STEM majors to the teaching profession through authentic experiences as tutors. Current Issues in Education, 13(4).
Smith, G. (2010). A critical look at the role of technology as a transformative agent. Technology, Humanities, Education, and Narrative, 8.
Invited plenary presentation
Rabin, C. & Smith G. (2014). “Without Hermeneutics I’m Stuck in my Own Thinking”: Pre-service Teachers Adopt a Hermeneutical Stance toward Action Research. American Educational Research Association (AERA) National Conference, April 4 - 8, Philadephia, PA.
Smith, G. & Rabin, C. (2013). Elementary science teaching: a path toward content mastery, confidence, and competence. National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) Conference, October 24-26, Portland, OR.
Rabin, C. & Smith G. (2013). Social studies and care ethics: one novice teacher learns to teach social studies with an end-in-view towards care. American Educational Research Association (AERA) National Conference, April 27-
May 1, San Francisco, CA.
Smith, G., Metzger, E., Schmidt, C. & Cordero, E. (2012). Improving 6th grade climate literacy using new media (CLINM) and teacher professional development. American Geophysical Union (AGU) National Conference,
December 3-7, San Francisco, CA.
Metzger, E., Smith, G., Cordero, E, & Santone, S. (2012). The California Alliance for Sustainability: A Collaborative Pilot Project to Build Regional Advocacy and Leadership for Sustainability Education. American Geophysical Union
(AGU) National Conference, December 3-7, San Francisco, CA.
Rabin, C. & Smith, G. (2012). Beyond sitting and listening: when theory shapes classroom management. California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE), October 11-13, San Diego, CA.
Smith, G. & Rabin, C. (2012). Understanding resistance to standardization in education: the tragedy of the commons as a theoretical framework. American Educational Research Association (AERA) National Conference, April 13-17, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Rabin, C. & Smith, G. (2012). Theory into practice in classroom management. American Educational Research Association (AERA) National Conference, April 13-17, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Smith, G. (2011). Infusing sustainability into teacher preparation programs at a large state university. National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) Conference, December 7-10, Seattle, WA.
Smith, G. & Rabin, C. (2011). Sustainability as a core concept in elementary science education. National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) Conference, December 7-10, Seattle, WA.
Smith, G. & Rabin, C. (2011). Making connections between science and equity: a motivation to teach science in elementary grades. American Educational Research Association (AERA) National Conference, April 8-12, New
Orleans, LA.
Rabin, C. & Smith, G. (2011). What one teacher’s stories illuminate about what makes a ‘good’ teacher: Theatricality, courage, and creativity. American Educational Research Association (AERA) National Conference, April 8-12, New Orleans, LA.
Smith, G. (2011). Overcoming content knowledge barriers to teaching K-8 science through informal learning using new media technologies. National Science Teacher’s Association (NSTA) National Conference, March 10-13,
San Francisco, CA.
Smith, G. & Rabin, C. (2011). Science instruction in elementary school as an ethical responsibility. National Science Teacher’s Association (NSTA) National Conference, March 10-13, San Francisco, CA.
Smith, G. (2010). Using video and hypertext media to improve K8 science teacher content knowledge. Society for the Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference (SITTE), March 29 – April 2, San Diego, CA.