Jan Westrick

Jan-Westrick

Jan Westrick Senior Research Professor jan.westrick@valpo.edu

Education

  • B.A. Secondary Education/German/French, Concordia University
  • MA, German Language & Literature, Northwestern University
  • Ed.D. in Educational Policy & Administration, University of Minnesota

Biography

Jan Westrick earned her Ed.D. from the University of Minnesota (2002) in Educational Policy and Administration and currently serves as Chair and Associate Professor of Education at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, USA. Her seventeen years of international administrative experience span elementary and secondary levels of education as well as central, schoolwide leadership, including the roles of High School Assistant Principal for Academics, Coordinator of Curriculum and Staff Development, Special Assistant to the Head (Superintendent) for Strategic Planning, Upper Primary Principal, and Deputy Head of School (Associate Superintendent) at the Hong Kong International School. She has written extensively and led numerous workshops on international education, accreditation, leading educational change, the school as a learning organization, principals as leaders of learning, professional development, intercultural sensitivity, and service-learning. She is an associate with Miske Witt & Associates and has worked on UNICEF and UNESCO projects for Thailand, Macedonia, and Africa. She has trained secondary principals in Oman through the U.S. State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative.

Certifications

  • Illinois Certification in K-12 Administration and Supervision
  • Illinois Certification in 6-12 Teaching

Areas of Specialization

  • Educational Policy and Administration
  • International Education
  • Intercultural Education
  • Assessment

Research Interests

  • Intercultural Sensitivity
  • International Education
  • Service-learning
  • Principal Identity

Publications and Contributions

  • Westrick, J.M. (2007). The intercultural sensitivity of secondary teachers in Hong Kong: A comparative study with implications for professional development. Intercultural Education.
  • Westrick, J.M. (2005). Phenomenology and meaning-making: Student voices and understandings of cultural difference. Journal of Studies in International Education.
  • Westrick, J.M. (2008). Living and Learning Heart to heart – Intercultural Learning Experiences to Build Positive Relationships in a Multicultural World.
  • Westrick, J. M. & Morris, G. (2015). Teacher education pedagogy: Disrupting the apprenticeship of observation. Teacher Education, 27Development of Child-Friendly Schools in Oman: UNICEF and the Ministry of Education of the Sultanate of Oman, 2013-2016
  • Westrick, J.M. (2014). The influence of service-learning on the development of intercultural sensitivity at an international school. In I. Silova & D. Hobson (Eds.), Globalizing minds: Rhetoric & reality in international schools