Being the Influence

This week's faculty spotlight is Dr. Dana Evans. Teaching literacy courses at the Troy main campus, she recently graduated from The University of Alabama with a doctorate in curriculum and instruction.


Literacy education is what she is passionate about, and loves how much change can come from teaching literacy courses.

Change is what made her want to become an educator to begin with.

"When I was deciding what I wanted to do in my career," she says, "I knew I wanted to do something that would make a difference.

"So I took a couple of intro teaching courses and completely fell in love with it"

This passion, she explains, is something she feels every morning before she goes to work, because she knows each day that she can make a difference for both future teachers and students.

Educating future educators gives her the chance to positively affect as many classrooms as she can.

These positive affects come through her literacy courses.

Literacy education is not only something she teaches though. Dr. Evans is currently researching both current and new teachers' ways of teaching literature in the classroom.

Along with studying how teachers see themselves as literacy teachers based on what they learn in school and in the classroom, she studies early childhood literacy development, focusing on what texts young children are reading, and how that affects them later on in life.

"I would say my teaching philosophy is about creating a nurturing, challenging environment for students," Dr. Evans explains, "where they're not afraid to ask questions, not afraid to explore, and where they feel supported."

Her passion throughout her time in the classroom has been about making teaching itself engaging and fun, as she shares her own love for it.

Her advice to current to students is to invest in their education.

"Stick with it," she says, "go after your masters, and keep going and going. Learn as much as you can about your craft.

"It's one of the best careers out there. It's incredibly engaging and challenging everyday...it's a rewarding career."

Her past students that are years into their careers still reach out, for both questions and just to share about their classrooms. This is her favorite part of teaching.

Along with her education students, previous students she taught at the elementary level now reaching out as they go to college and grow into adults add to what she loves about teaching.

"That to me just makes it worthwhile," she says.