Francine Jennings

Adjunct Professor

M. Francine Jennings, a former public school teacher in special education and ESOL, serves as adjunct faculty in the Creative Arts and Learning and PhD in Educational Studies programs. With experience as a performing artist and teaching artist, she trains teachers across disciplines to integrate the arts into their classrooms and to conduct arts-based research. Over the years, she has worked in several positions of leadership, including curriculum developer, special education supervisor, ESL coordinator, and community theater director. She has taught courses in special education, educational leadership, ESOL, diversity, curriculum and instruction, and arts integration. Dr. Jennings has been traveling around the country portraying Harriet Tubman for over 20 years.

Education: BS, Virginia Union University; M.Ed., Virginia Commonwealth University; Ed.D., Virginia Tech University (Educational Leadership)

Selected Publications

Jennings, M.F. (2015). Confronting social justice issues through the lens of arts integration. (2015). In L. Drakeford, (Series Ed.), The race controversy in American education. Racism in American Institutions Series: Vol.2. Answers inside the Arts and the extracurriculum (pp. 77-103).
Finding Your Purpose: An Arts Integrated Approach to Discovering Personal Authenticity, United Negro College Fund National Leadership Conference, Charlotte, NC, February, 2015.
The Yellow Brick Road: Reflective Inquiry through Metaphorical Elements from the Wizard of Oz, HETL Annual Conference, Miami, FL, June, 2014.
Soul Train Meets Common Core, Connectivity 13: A National Virtual Research Conference, July, 2013, Nationwide.
Jennings, M.F. Teachable moments: Reflections of conversations on race and culture with White students. In S. Cochrane. (Ed.). Telling our stories. Manuscript in preparation.