“Arcadia University proudly participates in the national Professors of the Year Program jointly sponsored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. As part of that program, we are delighted to announce the selection of Dr. Bette Goldstone, Professor of Education, as the 2010 Professor of the Year,” said Dr. Steve O. Michael, Provost and Academic Vice President.

“In bestowing this honor on Professor Goldstone, we recognize her dedication to undergraduate and graduate teaching and to her students; her contributions to pedagogy; and her service to her profession and to Arcadia University,” he said at Commencement.  

Dr. Goldstone has been described as an innovative and a highly creative teacher, who loves to “play with curricular ideas and intertwine cross-curricular, multicultural and international aspects into her teaching.” She has created 12 new courses and graduate certification programs. As an example of her creative teaching, “one year, Dr. Goldstone’s students worked with the Philadelphia Seaport Museum to create teaching materials that are still housed in the museum. The next year, her students were teamed with Hope Lodge and Mather Mill to design instructional games that were sent to historical sites throughout eastern Pennsylvania,” Michael quoted from one of her nominators.

“It was difficult to select among dozens of highly positive comments from her students who enthusiastically supported her nomination for the Professor of the Year Award,” he said. “One student remarked that ‘Dr. Bette Goldstone singlehandedly influenced my decision to remain and pursue my master’s at Arcadia University. Bette has inspired me and countless other students with her enthusiasm, creativity, and overall tenacity for teaching.’ Another student commented that ‘Professor Goldstone is one of the most encouraging and kind people I have ever met. She was truly passionate and genuine toward us and always gave constructive criticism.’ Yet, another student noted that Dr. Goldstone ‘has led by example, in her classroom, with a demeanor I try to emulate daily. Not only has she guided me through the hoops of academia, she has shared her love of the classroom with both her students and mine as well.’”

Goldstone is described as an excellent role model and a scholar. Her scholarship started very early in her career. Her dissertation was selected as a “Dissertation of Note” by the Children’s Literature Association out of Yale University.” She is well-published in top journals and a frequent presenter at national and international academic conferences. She is recognized as the person who named and helped to clarify the new children’s literature genre “Postmodern Picture Books.” She was invited to contribute to Postmodern Picturebooks: Play, Parody, and Self-Referentiality—a compendium of articles by international scholars from Hungary, England, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

“At Arcadia, we pride ourselves on personal attention to our students,” noted Michael. “Many of Dr. Goldstone’s students have published their creative writing and articles on instructional strategies under her watch or as co-authors.”

Her recognition goes beyond Arcadia. She is a recipient of the Lindback Award for Outstanding Teaching, the DVRA/IRA Celebrate Literacy Award, and special recognition for her Australian/U.S. online collaborative project.