College of Education and Human Development

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Jeff Henning-Smith

  • Pronouns: he, him, his

  • Senior Lecturer

  • Office Hours

    Let me know when you would like to meet and I will make it work! Happy to communicate via email or talk over the phone.

  • Curriculum and Instruction
    125 Peik Hall
    159 Pillsbury Drive SE
    Minneapolis, MN 55455

  • henni143@umn.edu
Jeff Henning-Smith

Areas of interest

elementary education, social studies education, equity and social justice oriented classrooms, literacy education, teacher education and training, teacher identity, mentoring and teacher support, critical classroom discourse studies, inquiry-based pedagogy, community engagement with schools and educational philosophies

Degrees

PhD, Elementary Education, University of Minnesota
MA, Elementary Education, University of Michigan
BA, History and Government, Claremont McKenna College

Biography

Jeff Henning-Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the Elementary Education and Social Studies program areas.  Jeff is entering his tenth year teaching in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and previously taught elementary and middle grades for thirteen years. Jeff has led professional development for teachers, mentored pre-and in-service teachers, and developed and facilitated training for mentor teachers working with beginning teachers. He has been responsible for coordinating school-wide academic intervention programs and assessment programs and has experience in PK-8 classrooms, PK-8 administration, pre-and in-service teacher mentoring, educational leadership roles, and in collaborating in the coordination of a clinical field experience program for beginning teachers. 

Dr. Henning-Smith is currently working in partnership with Minnesota school districts to support elementary social studies instruction and integration. He is also currently coordinating a multi-year elementary social studies curriculum writing project in collaboration with the Institute of Global Studies, focusing on such topics as 1). youth activism around the world, 2). "The Forgotten worker” and the global economic network of producer-product-consumer, 3). the role of immigration and its impact on children and schooling, and 4) fighting injustice locally and globally.

Courses Taught:

  • CI 1001 - Introduction to the Elementary School
  • CI 3211 - Introduction to Elementary Teaching
  • CI 5211, 5212, 5214, 5215 - Elementary Education Content and Pedagogy I, II, III, and IV (Social Studies)
  • CI 5702 - Social Studies Instruction: Elementary Grades
  • CI 5287 - Capstone Project: Improvement of Teaching in Elementary and Pre-Kindergarten Schools (edTPA)
  • CI 5980 - Clinical Experiences for K-12 Teaching
  • CI 5611 - Principles of Linguistics
  • CI 5286 - Student Teaching Seminar
  • CI 8147 - Critical Discourse Analysis in Educational Research

News Stories

Henning-Smith, J. (2023). Interviewed by Cathy Wurzer. Morning Edition. Minnesota Public Radio. 7 December. Available at: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/12/06/minnesota-schools-ethnic-studies-what-that-might-look-like

Publications

Gradually Increasing Individuality: Suggestions for Improving Alternative Teacher Education Programs (2018). Journal of the National Association for Alternative Certification, 13(1), 15-25.

Presentations

Henning-Smith, J., Dusbabek, A., Kennedy, C., Moore, N., Peterson, L., Peterson, M. (2023) Making Connections Near and Far: Re-Building a Partnership. Delivered at the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Brainerd, MN.

Henning-Smith, J., (2021). Globalized Curriculum for Elementary Social Studies: Youth Activism. Delivered at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, Minneapolis, MN

Henning-Smith, J., Lobello Miller, J. (2019). Embracing Dilemmas: Proactive and Responsive Measures When the Unthinkable Happens. Delivered at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Henning-Smith, J. (2019). Inquiring into the Unknown: Reconstructing Classroom Contexts through Mediated Discourse Analysis. Delivered at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) Annual Meeting, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Henning-Smith, J. (2019). The Power of Being Remembered on a Teacher's Pedagogical Development. Delivered at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada

Henning-Smith, J. (2018). The Elephant in the Room: The Unbalanced Use of Reflection in Teacher Education. Delivered at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) Annual Meeting, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

Henning-Smith, J. (2018). Gradually Increasing Individuality: Suggestions for Improving Teacher Preparatory Programs. Delivered at the Annual Midwest Sociological Society Conference (MSS), Minneapolis, MN

Vagle, M., Henning-Smith, J., Christensen, L., Gast, K. & Leitl, T. (2016). Making and Un­Making Phenomena in Post­Intentional Phenomenology. Delivered at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Coffino, K., Henning-Smith, J., Gast, K. Stolpestad, A. (2016). Multiple Ways to Coach: Program Support for Mentors and Teachers. Delivered at the National Association for Alternative Certification (NAAC) Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Vagle, M., Henning-Smith, J., Christensen, L., Gast, K. & Leitl, T. (2015). Thinking with Theory in Post-Intentional Phenomenology Panel Presentation. Delivered at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) Annual Meeting, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.