William Boerman-Cornell

assistant professor of education

on faculty since 2005

Phone: 708.293.4932
Fax: 708.597.5858
E-mail: bill.boerman-cornell@trnty.edu      

Education

M.Ed., Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, 2004
M.F.A., Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois, 1994
B.A., Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1988

Professional and Personal Interests

The casual observer would never guess that assistant professor of education William Boerman-Cornell is an active member of the IRA, NRC, and the ASCD. After a few minutes of conversation, however, it becomes clear where Boerman-Cornell’s main focus lies: teaching, writing, literacy, and curriculum development. He is a member of each of the aforementioned affiliations: the International Reading Association, National Reading Conference, and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Boerman-Cornell joined Trinity’s faculty full time in 2005 after spending ten years at Illiana Christian High School in Lansing, Illinois, teaching literature and creative writing, directing drama productions, and advising both the mock trial team and the improv team. A long-time student himself, Boerman-Cornell holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Calvin College, an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Columbia College in Illinois, and a master’s in education from Dordt College. He is currently a doctoral candidate in education at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

After a brief stint as a writer for Encyclopedia Britannica, he served as an editor for a grant-funded sociological research project co-sponsored by McCormick Seminary and the Chicago Theological Seminary. He launched his teaching career at Illiana following graduate school.

Although he misses teaching high school, he “absolutely loves” teaching future teachers. He cites three distinct aspects of Trinity’s education department that he believes are essential in preparing and equipping the next generation of teachers: the faculty are former teachers with significant experience in the classroom; the department involves students early on as participants, not interested observers, in the discussion about best teaching practices through exposure to a variety of classroom environments; and faculty and students approach the process from a shared philosophical perspective based on the awareness that “the world is broken, and, out of gratitude for all that God has given us, we are called to an important task.”

A highlight of his course on fine arts in education came about through a semester-long project in which his students became so engrossed in what they were doing that he ended up changing the class requirements.

“One year, we took on the problem of educational challenges in Uganda, and tried to [determine] whether art in the classroom could be helpful.  The [students] spearheaded an effort to raise funds for art supplies, which they sent to struggling schools, and also wrote letters to national and international officials to encourage them to [become involved] in the situation,” said Boerman-Cornell. “I was terrifically proud of them.”

That flexibility and responsiveness is part of Boerman-Cornell’s teaching philosophy. He believes that “students have amazing capabilities. My job is to equip them with what they need, to challenge them to pursue that knowledge, to guide them along the way, and to know when to get out of the way and let them run with it.”

Boerman-Cornell and his wife, Amy, live in South Holland, Illinois, with their two daughters, Kathryn and Frances. The family attends Hope Christian Reformed Church in Oak Forest, Illinois.  In addition to his enjoyment of reading, Boerman-Cornell finds time for snowshoeing, biking, hiking, camping, and traveling. During the summer, he and a group of friends compete in—and often win—sand sculpture contests.

Courses Taught

• Educational Psychology
• Fine Arts in Education
• Teaching English in Grades 6-12
• Teaching Reading in the Content Areas
• Topics in English and American Literature

Professional Society Membership

• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
• International Reading Association
• National Reading Conference

Papers Published and/or Presented

• “Everybody Gets a Part: The Body of Christ in a High School Drama Program.” Christian Educators’ Journal. 46:2. December 2006.
  
  
• “Reconciling Opposing Visions: Understanding Verbal and Visual Grammar in Graphic Novels.” Education and the Public Good Yearbook. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago. 2006.
  
  
• “Preparing Future Teachers to be Culturally Competent: An Innovative Program for Educators.” Success in High-Need Schools: The Online Journal of ACI’s Center for Success in High-Need School. 2:3. October 2006. With Laura Zumdahl, Mackenzi Huyser, Rose Malinowski, Don Woo, and Trina Vallone.
  
  
• “It’s elementary-Graphic novels for the K-6 classroom.” Book Links. 17:5. May 2008. With Teale, W.H., Kim, and J.