Susan Schwartz Bio

Dr. Susan Schwartz is continuing to provide employment and interview coaching for aspiring teachers and leaders (check out her BLOG). She is also supporting writers with editing and self-publishing and will be available in the spring of 2023. She is currently helping her daughters, Marnie and Rena Schwartz, with their transformational nonfiction self-help memoir What's Your ViBE?

Susan was a teacher educator/course instructor in the 2-year Master of Teaching Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research and doctoral work focused on portfolios, reflective practice, and leadership. She taught Additional Qualification courses at York and Queen’s Universities, including Teaching Writing, Primary/Junior Education, Primary Basic, and Reading, and when she was in the principal role, she was part of a group of ten administrators and faculty at York University who re-conceptualized the Principal’s Qualification Program (PQP). She co-taught the PQP for a number of years, as well as piloted a partial online PQP program.

Along with her experience as a primary and junior classroom teacher, an Integrated French teacher, convener (in-school leader), school board consultant, and school administrator in both the elementary and secondary panels in the Toronto District School Board, Susan also worked as a consultant for a number of private schools, and was a workshop presenter across Canada and the United States.

During her career, Susan was the recipient of the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Teaching, OISE, UT, a co-recipient of the Jennie Mitchell Literacy Award from the International Reading Association and the Ontario Reading Association, and a two-time winner of the Writer’s Award, Federation of Women Teachers’ of Ontario.

Along with being the co-author, with Mindy Pollishuke, of the newly released edition of CREATING THE DYNAMIC CLASSROOM: 5 Must-Haves for Teachers, 4^th Edition (2020), her previous writing included:

CREATING THE DYNAMIC CLASSROOM: A Handbook for Teachers, 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd Editions (with accompanying website), with Mindy Pollishuke (Pearson Canada)
Retelling, Relating, Reflecting: Beyond the 3 R’s, with Maxine Bone
Creating the Child-centred Classroom, with Mindy Pollishuke
All Write: A Teacher’s Guide to Writing

Susan has co-authored a number of research articles, as well as authored a number of chapters in the following books:

Principals as role models, in The literacy principal: Leading, supporting, and assessing reading and writing initiatives (2^nd ed.), (Pembroke Publishing), pp.104-108.
Leadership Voices, in The literacy principal: Leading, supporting, and assessing reading and writing initiatives, (Pembroke Publishing), pp. 117-119.

She is continuing her consulting work in education (strategies, employment, the interview process), and in writing (framing your story, organizing, editing, formatting, and self-publishing).