Director of Professional Practice and Community Partnerships
Queens College of City University of New York
Maysaa Bazna, Ed.D., is an avid advocate for equity and inclusion in education. Her mission is to support learning programs where children have a voice in their education and to help cultivate children‘s intrinsic humanity and wisdom for a more just and harmonious world.
She directs the Office of Professional Practice and Community Partnerships at the School of Education of Queens College, CUNY, where equity, excellence, and ethics are the core values that guide the experiences of future teachers. Working closely with Queens College faculty, she facilitates and supports the process of co-designing with local schools and school districts professional experiences that allow teacher candidates to participate in project-based and community-engaged clinical experiences that support their development toward fostering equitable and socially-just environments for all learners. Her work also involves continuous communication with community partners to support their needs and at the same time support Queens College teacher candidates' journey into the profession of teaching.
She runs Friends of Pono, a not-for-profit organization that advances learner-centered environmental education programs in NYC public schools. She founded Pono, a pioneer democratic outdoor urban learning center in New York City, and directed it for 12 years. Prior to that, she was a Professor in teacher education programs at Columbia University’s Teachers College and the City University of New York. She has taught in the areas of learning disabilities, disability studies, and inclusive education.
She has published numerous articles on the development of special and inclusive education programs in the United States and abroad as well as the intersection of spirituality, postcoloniality, and inclusion. Her most recent research has focused on democratic and outdoor education, and as a leader in the alternative education movement, she is regularly invited to speak at national and international alternative education conferences. She holds a B.A. in English literature from Damascus University, an M.A. in learning disabilities, an M.S. in reading and learning disabilities, and an Ed.D. in curriculum and teaching. All of her graduate studies were at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Sunday, February 18, 2024
10:15 AM – 11:15 AM MST