ABOUT THE TEACHER AZURE DEE SMILEY

My upbringing took place in a rural part of central Indiana. While attending Clark Pleasant Community School Corporation, I was an average student who loved being involved in athletics. My summers as a child were spent vacationing with my family at various beaches along the east coast and Canada. It was through the combined experiences provided to me through school, athletics, travel, and my family at this time that I began to develop my enthusiasm and devotion for multiculturalism and education.

After graduating from Whiteland Community High School I went on to Marian College located in Indianapolis. While at Marian I was able to not only be a college athlete, but also begin the development of my passion for education, specifically special education. Under the tutelage of several amazing mentors I began my master's degree while embarking on my first year of teaching. The eighth grade students with special needs at rural Plainfield Community Middle School were my first teaching assignment. While completing my Master's of Science degree at Butler University located in Indianapolis, I transferred schools to the small urban corporation, The School Town of Speedway. Over the next four years at Speedway my job consisted of two years of elementary resource teaching and two years of high school resource teaching, as well as two varsity coaching appointments for the entire four years. It was during this time that I also began my college teaching career. I currently act as an adjunct professor at Marian College, Butler University and Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis while completing my doctorate in Special Education at Indiana University Bloomington.

In the future I look forward to doing research focused on multicultural and family issues with special education contexts. Utilizing my experiences as a curriculum developer in India, as a public school teacher of varying age groups and ability levels, and as professor of education, I plan to continue my quest for research based answers to questions within the field of special education. I envision making academic contributions that will continue to facilitate the growth of more authentic connections between school faculties and families of different races, genders, economic status, and ethnicities.