Dr. Ellen Skilton-Sylvester
Associate Professor of Education
Coordinator of ESL Programs
Director of Global Connections
sylveste@arcadia.edu
Dr. Skilton-Sylvester’s professional background includes work as a teacher of English to international and immigrant students in university, adult education and K-12 contexts and work in international admissions. Her academic background includes a B.A in French from Earlham College as well as a master’s in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and a Ph.D. in educational linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania.
She considers herself an educational anthropologist who is interested in understanding linguistic diversity in U.S. education. Her research has focused on immigrant and refugee education in the United States (particularly for Cambodians in Philadelphia), biliterate development, global citizenship, the inclusion of English Language Learners and students with disabilities in general education contexts, and service learning in undergraduate and graduate education.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- McTighe-Musil, C., Hovland, K., Jamison, A. & Skilton-Sylvester, E. (in press) "Bringing Global Citizenship Back Home: AAC&U’s General Education for Global Learning Project." In R. Lewin (Ed.) Study abroad and the making of global citizens. New York: Routledge.
- Skilton-Sylvester, E. (2008, June). "Good Practice: Curricular Models for Bridging the Gap" [plenary speaker]. American Council on Education (ACE) Bridging the Gap Symposium. Washington, DC.
- Shultz, J., Skilton-Sylvester, E., & Shultz, N. (2007). "Exploring Global Connections: Dismantling the International/Multicultural Divide." Diversity and Democracy, 10(3):4 – 6.
- Skilton-Sylvester, E. (2007). "Academic biliteracies." In K. Rivera & A. Huerta-Macías (Eds.) Adult biliteracy in the United States: Sociocultural and programmatic responses. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Skilton-Sylvester, E. (November 7-9, 2007). "Designing Interdisciplinary Curricula for Global Learning." [panelist]. NAFSA: Association of International Educators Region VIII conference, "BELIEVE…Globally," Baltimore, Maryland.
- Skilton-Sylvester, E. & Slesaransky-Poe, G. (2007, April). "Educational inclusion, disability and the civil covenant: Theory meets practice." Paper presented as part of a panel: Inclusionary discourses/exclusionary practices: Articulating inequality in an era of none left behind. American Educational Research Association Conference, Chicago.
Recent Support
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Fulbright Hays, Fund for the Improvement of Secondary Education (FIPSE)
