Dean's Welcome & Call to Action
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela
Welcome to the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s (UMKC) School of Education. Founded in 1954 as a separate academic unit, and the same year as the historic Brown v. Topeka Board of Education decision, the UMKC School of Education is committed to social justice, urban education, and to fulfilling the unfulfilled promises of Brown. Celebrating our 55th Anniversary, the School of Education’s mission is to empower professionals to become reflective practitioners committed to a more just and democratic society. In support of our mission, we strive to prepare educators and mental health professionals who will apply their professional education, leadership skills, and practice, to transform the world of education as we currently know it and ensure that ALL children, families, and communities have access to the tools needed to participate in all aspects of life.
Our society has become more globally diverse, multicultural, and interdependent than ever before so we must equip our students to respond effectively to these demands. Education and mental health professionals must embrace diversity in all of its many forms, be prepared to recognize and eradicate social injustice, and employ democratic, and culturally responsive values, strategies, and techniques both domestically and abroad. To be clear, gone are the days of excuses, today’s educators must work diligently and successfully to serve ALL children, families, and segments of our society, regardless of their past and current life circumstances.
Join us in this important work of utilizing our spheres of influence to reject the status quo of meritocracy in education and the unfulfilled promises of Brown, while aligning our collective efforts with our mission. This is your call to action! Please consider enrolling in one of our programs and joining our talented students, exceptional faculty and staff, and dedicated community as we provide relevant and socially just solutions to critically important educational issues and concerns in the metropolitan Kansas City area and beyond. We offer undergraduate, post-bachelors, graduate, and doctoral programs across the divisions of Counseling and Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Instructional Leadership, and Urban Leadership and Policy Studies in Education. Collectively, our programs prepare a diverse population of educators across a wide range of professions ranging from teachers to principals and administrators, to counseling psychologists and other mental health professionals for the diverse and changing needs of our society. Your action today has the potential to influence children, families, and communities tomorrow and for generations to come.
Wanda J. Blanchett, Ph.D.
Dean and Ewing Marion Kauffman/Missouri Endowed Chair for Teacher Education