Jodi Tamosunas

There is no better teacher than experience, and having a strong connection between practice and scholarship is particularly critical in education. It is this connection that brought UC Davis School of Education Power of 10 Scholarship recipient Jodi Tamosunas to UC Davis.

Tamosunas is in her fourth year of the School’s CANDEL program (an EdD program run jointly by Sonoma State). Her area of research is in teacher expectations, with a focus on expectancy theory applied to students of color. Within the next year-and-a-half, Tamosunas hopes to graduate with her doctorate and work to ensure socially disadvantaged students and students of color are educated equally to all others so they can “become successful regardless of the path they choose for themselves.”

As a dedicated teacher, Tamosunas found completing the program to take longer than anticipated and was faced with choosing whether or not to increase her student debt. Receiving the Power of 10 Scholarship relieved that anxiety. “This scholarship is meaningful in that I am able to be confident in my decision to continue my education through CANDEL,” says Tamosunas.

“This program is very important to the future of our system of education,” says Tamosunas. “All too often our leaders in education have practical experience, which is important, but do not have scholarship regarding their practice.” Tamosunas credits the CANDEL program for the knowledge she would have never gained by relying exclusively on experience.

“Supporting the School of Education will encourage more educators to gain more scholarship in their field of practice.” says Tamosunas, “It is a bit ironic that those who encourage learning from others often don’t continue learning of their own.”