Dr. Darlene Russell

NJCTE’s English Teacher of the Year

Dr. Darlene Russell is a Professor and Fulbright Scholar in the College of Education at William Paterson University. She teaches undergraduate and graduate English methods, literacy and educational foundation courses. Her teaching philosophy rests on three critical pillars: love, hope and social justice. Dr. Russell is the founder of the Nurturing Culturally Responsive Equity Teachers (NCRET) Research Project, which focuses on implementing a culturally responsive and pro-social justice curriculum in secondary classrooms. Darlene Russell and NCRET scholars have presented at national conferences in over fifteen states. She is also the founder of My Sisters’ Nest, a mentoring group for female college students from underrepresented groups. Her research agenda orbits around critical literacy, critical race theory, and culturally responsive pedagogy.

Dr. Darlene Russell was the recipient of the William Paterson University’s Woman of Vision 2015 Award. She is the textbook author of Seeing the Invisible: Reading Literature through Critical Lenses; and she has co-authored two books with students. Her third collaborative book with students, Bearing Witness: Humanizing Narratives of Seeing Self and Others, will be released this month. Professor Russell is the author of several journal articles, book chapters and book reviews. She has presented her research at laudable professional organizations like the American Educational Research Association (AERA), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), to name a few. Darlene serves as a board member for Literacy Solutions, Research on Women and Education (RWE), and Sister to Sister, International (STSI). The field of education is undoubtedly her calling. With each academic year, Dr. Russell becomes more committed to and ebullient about learning and teaching.