Biography & Projects
Deborah’s research interests include exploring how prospective teachers acquire the necessary dispositions to meet the needs of all learners. Specifically, Deborah has examined the epistemological nature of dispositions and how teacher education fosters awareness of dispositions to enhance prospective teachers' knowledge, skills, and moral sensibilities. Teachers who are reflective and mindful about their intended aims and how they achieve those aims in their practice, are better prepared to nurture the academic and social-emotional development of their learners. Therefore, Deborah's recent work has strategically focused on mindfulness-based programs designed to enhance teachers’ social-emotional competencies and communication skills.
For more information about Dr. Schussler, click here.
Current Projects
Recent Publications
Evaluating the quality of mindfulness instruction delivered in school settings: Development and validation of a teacher quality observational rating scale
Broderick, P. C., Frank, J. L., Berrena, E., Schussler, D. L., Kohler, K., Mitra, J., Khan, L., Levitan, J., Mahfouz, J., Shields, L., & Greenberg, M. T. (2018). Evaluating the quality of mindfulness instruction delivered in school settings: Development and validation of a teacher quality observational rating scale. Mindfulness. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671...
Using virtual role-play to enhance teacher candidates’ skills in responding to bullying.
Schussler, D. L., Frank, J. L., Lee, T. K. & Mahfouz, J. (2017). Using virtual role-play to enhance teacher candidates’ skills in responding to bullying. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 25(1), 91–120.