Faridah Pawan honored by INTESOL as Best of the Best in Higher Education

Faridah Pawan is a leader in her field and an inspiration to those who work to strengthen the effective teaching and learning of English as a Second Language

Monday, March 14, 2016

Associate professor in the Department of Literacy, Culture and Language Education Faridah Pawan is a leader in her field, and an inspiration to those who work to strengthen the effective teaching and learning of English as a Second Language. This year, she was honored by the Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (INTESOL) with the 2015 Best of the Best in Higher Education award.

INTESOL President Trish Morita-Mullaney shared a quote from one of Pawan’s nominators, “Faridah demanded my best consistently and always believed in my capacity to deliver to the English Learner (EL) populations I served. She encouraged me, told me she was proud of my academic and professional work, and made me feel what I was doing was connected to her work in meaningful ways.”

The honor came as a surprise to Dr. Pawan who had just returned from a month long trip to Beijing, Hangzhou and Taipei where she collaborated with colleagues on a national study on the professional development of Chinese Language teachers called the “Fish to Dragon Project.” 

“This award encourages me to continue to persevere along with colleagues in the field of providing teacher professional development and researching the teaching of English as a Second and Foreign Language,” said Dr. Pawan. “The current challenges of the profession in the state of Indiana include finding ways to address rapid changes in EL school enrollments in a context where there are limited state financial allocations, and few certified teachers.” 

Faridah says enrollments are up 53% in some Indiana school districts over the past decade with approximately 900 teachers to 60,000 English Language Learners across the state. INTESOL is a statewide professional association that supports and seeks to inspire those involved in English language teaching, teacher education, administration and management, curriculum and materials design, and research. Pawan said the award motivates her to continue efforts to move forward despite challenges in the profession, using a quote from an old Chinese saying, “Be not afraid of changing slowly, be afraid of standing still.”