Shannon Morago

The UC Davis School of Education’s biannual magazine isn’t titled Catalyst for nothing. Power of 10 Scholarship recipient Shannon Morago is grateful that a copy of the Catalyst was given to her by a colleague. 

Morago had read an article in it about math education that described educational settings, research about it, and solutions. “The philosophy and enthusiasm that I read in that magazine made me think that I should look at their doctoral programs” said Morago.

Morago was reluctant to leave the high school science classroom where she had a direct impact on students, but she realized that by working in teacher preparation, she could potentially impact a larger number of K-12 students.

Now in her third year of the School’s CANDEL program (an EdD program run jointly by Sonoma State), Morago is currently working on her dissertation. Her area of educational research focuses on how the perceptions and ideas of pre-service teachers, which have so much impact on their classroom actions, are formed, challenged, and impacted.

Morago’s goal as an educator is, “to make every classroom in California a welcoming, rigorous, and joyful place for all students.” She aspires to achieve this by continuing to teach high school science and working in teacher training by preparing new teachers to meet the need of all students.

“Without the Power of 10 scholarship and a fellowship from the CSU system, I would have never been able to attend the CANDEL program and earn a doctorate,” says Morago. “A gift to the School of Education seems to be an important way to broadly impact education,” says Morago.