
Lisa Marie Westbrooks
Assistant Professor (Clinical) of Bilingual and Bicultural Education
(313) 577-1742
Office Hours: By Appointment
225 Education Building
Lisa Marie Westbrooks
Degrees and Certifications
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, Candidate
Bilingual/Bicultural Studies
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Educational Specialist in Curriculum and Instruction (2013-2016)
Bilingual/Bicultural Studies
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Master of Art in Teaching, Secondary Education (2007-2012)
Concentration: English
Minor: English as a Second Language
Certifications: Secondary Education
Endorsement: English as a second Language
Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Bachelor of General Studies (2003-2006)
Major: General Studies
Minor: Linguistics
Responsibilities
- Teach and collaborate with program faculty to develop and schedule ESL, BBE and World Language undergraduate and graduate courses, for PK-12 and adult educators
- Serve as the BBE program coordinator and lead continuous improvement and program assessment
- Grow partnerships with school districts for endorsement, cohort teacher initiatives, and/or certification opportunities
- Advise, mentor, and help recruit and retain undergraduates
- Recruit and evaluate part-time faculty teaching in Bilingual/Bicultural Education
- Facilitate Bilingual/Bicultural Education meetings, and participate in TED and College of Education meetings
- Work with program faculty to advance, nurture, and sustain a vision for the program that includes open communication, collaborative decision-making, and transparency
Academic Interests
- Social Justice in Education
- Culture/s
- Culture and Linguistic Identities
- Diversity
- Linguistics (Grammar)
- Language Acquisition
- Equitable Education
Area of Expertise
- Secondary English
- English as a Second Language
- Linguistics
- Bilingual and Bicultural Education
- Curriculum and Instruction
Research Interests
- Culture/s
- Elder Knowledge
- African American Language
- First and second language acquisition
- Cultural and linguistic equities and inequties in education
- Language Policies
- African and African American Storytelling
Awards
- Golden Key International Honour Society
- King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship (2017-2020)
- Rumble Fellowship (2019-2020)
- Graduate Professional Scholarship (2020-2022)
Presentations
- (June, 2017) Understanding the power of language Identity through urban drama. Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed.
- (May 2021). Breaking Westernized academic traditions with African American linguistic story works. Michigan Academy of Science and Letters (MASAL).
- (April, 2023). Revealing haints: Utilizing the black storytelling tradition casting them out with Theatre of the Oppressed. American Education Research Association (AERA).
Publications
Dissertation:
Westbrooks, L. (in progress). Recovering and reclaiming cultural and linguistic identities: revealing haints with Black Storytelling tradition and casting them out with the theatre of the oppressed.
Westbrooks, L. (2018). Skooz be hat’in: My story navigating and negotiating standard American English. Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal, 3(1), 1-25.
Westbrooks, L. (2020). Texts white lies and a videotape: White teachers teaching African American literature. Journal for Multicultural Education, 14(3/4), 239-253.
Courses taught by Lisa Marie Westbrooks
Fall Term 2023 (future)
- BBE6850 - Applied Linguistics: Issues in Bilingual Education
- LED6520 - Teaching English as a Second Language/Foreign Language: Methods I
Spring-Summer Term 2022
- BBE1005 - Multicultural Education in Urban America
- BBE5000 - Multicultural Education in Urban America
- TED6370 - Equity and Inclusion in Diverse Urban Education Settings