Kathleen Kesson is a tenured Professor of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at LIU-Brooklyn, where she teaches courses in the foundations of education and teacher inquiry and serves as Chair of the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. Prior to her scholarly career, she was a professional dancer, actor, choreographer, teacher, and community activist. She has been involved in the alternative education movement since the early 1970's, when she helped to found an independent University Without Walls center in Oklahoma. In the 1980's, she and her husband "unschooled" their four sons, and kept a daily record of their activities and learning. She obtained her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Oklahoma State University in 1992, and became director of the teacher education program at Goddard College, a progressive liberal arts college in Vermont, for ten years, and directed a research and policy institute (The John Dewey Project on Progressive Education) at the University of Vermont from 1997-2002. Since 2002, she has been at LIU-Brooklyn, where she prepares teachers to work in urban schools. She is currently conducting research on schools that have instituted personalized learning programs, and is documenting the state of Vermont's efforts (supported by legislation) to offer personalized learning options for all students in the state.
