Beatrice S. Fennimore

Beatrice S. Fennimore is an educator and activist whose career has focused on child advocacy, public school equity, social justice and the practice of anti-bias education. She is the author of multiple books, book chapters, and scholarly articles, all of which are informed by years of experience in K-12 and university settings.  Dr. Fennimore’s publications reflect her passionate interest in real-life strategies that respect diversity and support equitable opportunities for all students.

Her landmark book Talk Matters: Refocusing the Language of Public Schooling explores ways in which educator “talk” about students is a powerful vehicle that can either reinforce institutional racism and bias or restructure an institution-wide effort to build respect for the dignity and potential of every student.  Since the book’s publication in 2000, Dr. Fennimore has continued to offer popular professional development workshops that lead participants in examination of the kinds of descriptive “talk” about students that permeate their institutions and development of a personalized code of language ethics to support a renewed and refocused institutional language environment.

As a professor of teacher education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for over 30 years, Dr. Fennimore has supervised student teachers, principals-in-training, and doctoral interns in a wide variety of rural, urban, and suburban schools. She has taught undergraduate, masters-level, and doctoral courses in teacher preparation, curriculum and instruction, and administration and leadership. Dr. Fennimore concurrently served for many years as an adjunct professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she was a visiting professor in 2008-2009. She has extensive experience in conducting workshops and professional development sessions for educators in a wide variety of school and program settings, and was twice invited by the Soros Foundation of Latvia to conduct workshops on strategies for diversity and equity with teachers in the Open Doors Program.

Dr. Fennimore has also been a citizen advocate for equity and equal educational opportunities for all students in public schools. She is former president of the Pittsburgh Council on Public Education and has served in numerous organizations as a supporter of equity and social justice initiatives for children. All of her experiences as a citizen and professional have shaped her continuing commitment to the rights of all children to respectful educational environments promoting equal and equitable opportunities.