Tracy Rock, an associate professor in the College of Education, is a finalist for the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, one of the University’s most prestigious honors.
Prior to the official awards ceremony on Friday, Sept. 5, Inside UNC Charlotte will profile the remaining finalist Debra Smith, associate professor, Africana studies. Read more about the other finalists featured Anita Blowers, Jonathan Crane and Fumie Kato.
Rock believes at the center of a powerful teaching practice, one will find unwavering commitment. Since joining the Department of Reading and Elementary Education in 2000, Rock has demonstrated that “unwavering commitment” to her students, her profession and her strong belief in critical reflection.
According to Rock, getting to know her students is key to their success. She wants to know: What are students interested in learning? How are their experiences related to the course material? What challenges do they face? She gathers this information at the beginning of every course taught and uses student answers to guide her through the semester. Additionally, by implementing a peer review system in her course, Rock demonstrates that students should take responsibility for their learning and the learning of their peers.
As a teacher, Rock mentors her students and colleagues. A recent graduate attested that Rock “went above and beyond to help students learn, grow and excel in her class. She modeled great teaching practices for us to follow in our own future classrooms. She provided specific and helpful feedback on how to grow as a future educator.”
Drew Polly, a colleague in the Department of Reading and Elementary Education, said Rock “epitomizes rigorous, relevant and engaging instruction. Her social studies methods course provides our students with sound content, effective pedagogies and ideas on integrating a subject that is often ignored in our area school districts.”
Beyond teaching, Rock has proven to be a dedicated leader and an experiential learning advocate. At the departmental level, she led efforts in the elementary education program to revise the structure of the early clinical experiences, such that teacher candidates are now placed in partner schools for a two-week intensive experience in their second semester of the four-semester preparation program. As a result of these efforts, early clinical experiences are now more intentional, structured and integrated with the curriculum.
Rock also championed service-learning, taking a leading role in establishing numerous important initiatives. For example, she co-developed the Citizenship and Education course and the Service-Learning Teaching Methods course for K-12 educators. The Literacy for Democracy grant she helped develop focused on creating curricula that encourage teacher education candidates to improve elementary learners’ literacy.
As president of the North Carolina Professors of Social Studies Education, Rock initiated a research project involving six UNC system institutions to address the marginalization of elementary social studies in the curriculum. She was a named a University Faculty Fellow at the Center for Teaching and Learning for 2013-15; she also was presented the 2007 College of Education Teaching Fellows Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Janice Hinson, another departmental colleague, stated, “It is evident that Dr. Rock’s students respect her, but more importantly, they trust her. As a result, they listen and appreciate the way she challenges them to do their best work.”