Cohort 1
JM Dawson De Quiroz
EDUCATION • Ed.M. in Teaching and Curriculum Harvard University • B.A. in English Oberlin College
ENROLLED • Cohort 1
LOCATION • Los Angeles, Calif.
Jeanmarie “JM” Dawson De Quiroz recently returned to the high school classroom with the Los Angeles Education Corps in her 27th year of serving in education. Her professional experience is evocative of a satisfying halo-halo: instructional coaching, curriculum development, statewide instructional materials review, credentials in English, mathematics, and biology … among other toppings. One of the experiences that most profoundly shaped her teaching philosophy was coaching high school students across the finish line of the Los Angeles Marathon for 15 years. Her teaching career started in Boston serving young adults with interrupted educational histories. The majority of JM’s work has centered on first generation high school graduates, primarily from immigrant families. Today she has come full circle, which feels particularly meaningful. JM realizes the superbloom of digitized consumption has fundamentally changed how students read, process, and evaluate ideas. Guided by cognitive processing lenses and critical literacy theory, her instructional decisions include intentional use of printed texts and writing by hand. These practices are not nostalgic preferences; they are deliberate efforts to grow critical thinking and lasting learning, particularly for students whose educational experiences have not consistently supported language and literacy development. JM defines literacy as equity because language shapes access to knowledge, opportunity, institutions, and influence. Without explicit instruction that develops literacy, young people are passive consumers especially vulnerable to the current ecosystem of misinformation and disinformation. She believes that literacy instruction through printed text equips them to navigate, question, contribute, and ultimately shape this changing environment. She hopes her students understand that power is not located in volume or volatility, but in the ability to think critically, communicate precisely, and act with purpose. Through this doctoral program, JM looks forward to sharpening her instructional craft while deepening her understanding of cognitive science, language development, and democratic participation. She hopes to create conditions that allow young people to recognize hope and possibility and develop the skills to challenge iniquity thoughtfully, courageously, and when necessary, unapologetically.
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Ed.D. in Language and Literacy
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