Casey Swanson, IB Certificate in Teaching and Learning coordinator, receives Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award
The annual award recognizes excellence in teaching of psychology at the high school level.
Casey Swanson is a teacher at Plymouth High School and coordinator of the International Baccalaureate Certificate (IB) in Teaching and Learning in the SOE’s two secondary teacher education programs. He will receive the 2022 Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award for high school faculty from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Division Two of the American Psychological Association.
Swanson holds a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Eastern Michigan University, and a master’s degree in Humanities from Central Michigan University. At Plymouth High School he teaches psychology and social studies and also serves as the school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Coordinator.
Recognized by his students for his empathy and ability to challenge their thinking, Swanson’s students remark that his approach to teaching encourages them to develop a growth mindset that empowers them to continue learning outside the classroom. Swanson is also passionate about sharing his knowledge of the science of learning and best practices with other teachers. He does so through leading book groups, offering mentorship, and providing feedback on course outlines and syllabi to fellow IB psychology teachers.
Mary Margaret (Margie) Moffett (AM ’75), for whom the award is named, pursued graduate studies at U-M. In her application materials, she wrote the following:
“I want to teach psychology [well] in the public high schools…Why should you accept me? Not because 20 years from now you’ll be able to say, ‘Ah yes, the famous Moffett…studied here.’ High school teachers just don’t make big splashes in the academic world, and I have no illusions about carrying on earth-shaking research while preparing for five classes a day…But after I graduate you will know that at one high school in the country, at least one or two hundred students a year are being exposed to ‘real’ psychology.”