Heather Dwyer Sadlier, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Heather Dwyer Sadlier is an Associate Professor and Diversity Educator. She teaches the following courses: Diversity & Social Justice in the Classroom, Controversial Issues in Education, Causes & Costs of Inequity, Literacy for Diverse Learners, and Social Studies Methods. Dr. Sadlier also works with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity and contributed to the development of the University of New England's Diversity Leadership Certificate program. She teaches two of the DLC program's required workshops: Implicit Bias & Stereotypes and Socioeconomic Class-Classism.
Prior to earning her doctorate in Educational Leadership in 2005, Dr. Sadlier worked in K-12 education as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, and gifted and talented teacher/program coordinator. Together with her husband, she wrote four regional hiking guides, illustrated with her photographs. In addition to photography and hiking, she enjoys sea kayaking, tennis, and volleyball.
The following two quotes express her life and work philosophy:
"In all my work, what I try to say is that as human beings, we are more alike than we are unalike. Equal rights, fair play, and justice are all like the air: we all have it -- or none of us have it."
-Maya Angelou
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
-Dalai Lama
Credentials
Education
Research
Selected publications
Sadlier, H. (under review). Building Understanding, Respect, & Relationships: Evolving from "Us & Them" to "We": proposed chapter for the text: Racial incidents and the public schools: What should educators do? Academy for Educational Studies.
Sadlier, H. (2016, September 25). "Strategies for Addressing Bullying: Advice from Educators." Biddeford Journal Tribune ~ Health and Wellness.
Sadlier, H. (current research). Standing up for the other: who, why, and how. For her current research, Sadlier interviews individuals who choose to humanize "others" by standing up and/or speaking out for individuals or groups who would not be seen as members of their own tribe. She probes for the impactful factors that lead to these decisions to be "allies for others."
Sadlier, H. (2010). Creating and maintaining safe and respectful school climates: The principal's role. International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations. 10(6): pp.183-198.
Sadlier, H. (2010). Homework: What's the point? The International Journal of Learning. 17(10): pp. 155-164.
Sadlier, H. (2009). Teaching controversial issues: Educational inequities. In Heilman, E., Fruja, R. & Missias, M. (Eds.), Social studies and Diversity Education: What We Do and Why We Do It. Atlanta, GA: Routledge. pp. 93-96.
Sadlier, H. (2009). College classroom climate: The professor's pivotal role. International Journal of the Humanities. 6(9): pp. 47-52.
Sadlier, H. (2009). A School Leader's Conversations: Perceived Impacts on Relationships and School Climate. Saarbrucken, Germany: VDM Publishing House.
Invited plenary presentation
~Presentation: The Power of After School Literacy Programs to Build Reading Interest & Skills. Rotary Club, Lake Arrowhead, California. June 2018.
~Diversity Leadership Certificate Workshops: Bias & Stereotypes and Socio-Economic Class & Classism. Office of Multicultural Affairs, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine - September 2012 to present.
~Panel Member: University of New England Community Conversation: MLK: Our Long Road to Racial Justice - January 2017.
~ Presentation: Allies for Others: Challenging Biases and Stereotypes. Rivier University, Nashua, New Hampshire October 2016.
~Panel member: University of New England Constitution Day: Free Speech/Hate Speech in the United States September 2015.
-Faculty & Student Workshop Facilitator: Addressing Issues Related to Implicit Biases & Stereotypes. California Maritime Academy. Valejo, California. October 2012.
~Conference Workshop Presentation: Standing Up for the Other: Who, Why, and How. Twelfth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities, & Nations. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada - June 2012.
~Diversity Lecture Series Presentation/Workshop: Exploring Our Diversity. Office of Multicultural Affairs. University of New England, Biddeford, Maine - Fall 2012.