October 15, 2025 • 22 mins
What happens when educators pursue advanced degrees? For Dr. Jenifer Jasinski Schneider, it sparked a remarkable journey from classroom teacher to interim dean of the College of Education at the University of South Florida.
"When you train your brain in research modes and analyze situations from different perspectives, it fundamentally changes how you think," Dr. Schneider explains. This cognitive shift doesn't just make you a better practitioner—it reshapes your entire approach to education. Graduate education also surrounds you with a community of passionate scholars exploring similar questions through multiple lenses.
For those considering graduate school, Dr. Schneider offers straightforward advice: "There's never a perfect time—you're never going to have enough money or be at the right place at the right time—so just go for it." The investment transforms not just your practice but your entire self. Approach graduate education as an opportunity for deep personal growth, not just assignments to complete.
Applications for a Spring 2026 start in USF graduate programs are due TODAY on Oct. 15. Learn more here: https://hubs.li/Q03J88bv0
Connect with Classroom Caffeine at www.classroomcaffeine.com or on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lindsay Persohn (00:09):
In recent years , we've seen a strong and steady
increase in graduate educationfor teachers and school leaders.
Nationally, more than about 40%of practicing educators now
hold a graduate degree, andthose who do often report
expanded career opportunities,higher salaries and deeper
professional enjoyment.
Even as some other graduatedisciplines have declined in
(00:32):
enrollment, colleges ofeducation continue to see
educators invest in advancedstudy to strengthen their
practice and broaden theirimpact.
Welcome to this special seriesof Classroom Caffeine where
we're talking with friends, oldand new, about their journey to
and through graduate school.
I'm your host, Lindsay Persohn.
This special series, produced incollaboration with the
(00:54):
University of South Florida'sLiteracy Studies Program in the
College of Education and USF'sInnovative Education, explores
the question what is the valueof graduate education for
educators?
In each episode, we hear fromfaculty and teacher leaders who
share how advanced study andeducation shape their thinking,
(01:14):
their work and theirprofessional lives.
Whether you're consideringgraduate school or guiding
others on that path, this serieswill help give you insight,
encouragement and real storiesfrom the field.
Dr.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider is aprofessor and the interim dean
in the College of Education atthe University of South Florida.
(01:36):
Her research focuses onchildren's composing processes
and arts-based approaches toliteracy education, in which
aspects of process drama andchildren's literature support
students' symbolic developmentof meaning-making strategies.
She also examines the ways inwhich digital tools affect
literate practices.
Dr.
(01:58):
Schneider, thanks so much fortalking with me for a few
minutes today about your journeyin higher education.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (02:04):
I'm very glad to be here.
Thank you for asking me.
Lindsay Persohn (02:07):
Yeah, thanks.
So could you tell us about yourpath through higher ed?
Where did you study?
What led you to pursue graduatework, those kinds of things?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (02:16):
Well , I started off with my
undergraduate degree inelementary education.
I went to the University ofSouth Florida and had that
degree in elementary educationand I started teaching.
Both of my parents wereteachers, so I was very familiar
with the job.
But then doing it for myselfand learning about it in a
different way, that reallyhelped me to understand teaching
(02:37):
.
So going to school to become ateacher, you learn about the
profession from a very differentperspective.
And when I was done I finishedin the middle of the year, in
the middle of the school year,and I started in February.
But I didn't have a job.
So I left my undergraduatedegree and immediately started a
master's.
So in the spring semester whenI started, I had started a
(02:59):
master's degree and then got myvery first job and just tried my
very best to get through theend of that year.
But I started the master'sbecause I really love learning
and I just felt I wanted tocontinue and understand what I
was studying in a deeper level.
And so in the master's degreethat's where I really felt
(03:23):
everything come together in myteaching, where I really looked
at it.
I was reading research for thefirst time and understanding
things and studying my ownpractice in a way that I hadn't
done as an undergraduate, and Ijust I really love that.
So as I was coasting along,teaching, then getting my
master's at the same time, andthen I was done and I, first
(03:45):
time in my life not being inschool, I thought, well, now,
what am I going to do?
I really love teaching, Ireally did so.
But I had a friend who'sgetting a PhD in special
education and I was talking tohim about it and I just thought
I don't know if I could do that.
That seems like really out ofmy league and I don't know why.
I thought that because I wasalways really good at school.
(04:06):
So, but you know, it'ssomething foreign and you don't,
you don't really know it, and Ithought he was encouraging me
to do it.
And so I started looking aroundand I wanted to go somewhere
else.
I had both of my degrees fromUSF and I wanted to try
something different.
And so I was looking around andI talked to my professor about
a good place to study children'sliterature.
(04:28):
I was really interested in thatand my master's was in
elementary with a concentrationin language arts.
So I was looking at the bestprograms around the country.
And this is back in the oldendays, before the internet, where
you went to the library andthey had catalogs from all the
universities across the countryand you would look through the
catalog to see what programsthey offered.
So I was looking through andthen you'd pull out a paper,
(04:51):
They'd send it to you, send itoff, and then they send you an
application packet.
And so I found out.
I looked at Ohio State, Ilooked at Penn State, I looked
at Notre Dame.
I talked to my professors.
They said, oh, Ohio Statereally has one of the best
literacy programs in the country.
And then I applied and got myPhD and through that process
(05:14):
that to me was the single bestdecision of my life.
To get my PhD, to go to a placewhere I was fully immersed in
it.
Fortunately I was able to savemoney, go there full time as a
student and to do my PhD in thatway.
So basically, my master'sdegree.
I really felt it helped mebecome a better practitioner but
(05:36):
also exposed me to research.
And then the PhD was more oftotal immersion in research, to
understand and kind of changethe trajectory of education in a
way.
So I loved being a teacher.
I loved being better at it.
Then I found the research sideand I never went with that plan.
(05:56):
But when I was at Ohio State Iwas a graduate assistant and I
started working in teachereducation and I thought, okay, I
can do this.
And then, when I was done there, I applied for the job.
I looked, applying for jobseverywhere.
There was a job at USF and Igot it, which is very rare and
(06:17):
hard thing to do.
But I came back to where Istarted and I've been here ever
since.
So I started here as anassistant professor in literacy
studies.
Lindsay Persohn (06:25):
That's great.
One thing I've really enjoyedabout these conversations is
learning about how everyone'spath has unfolded differently,
and, of course, there are a lotof common threads too, like this
idea that you kind of thoughtyou might know where you're
going, but you didn't reallyknow exactly, and that resonates
with me too.
I was in the exact same boat,as I was working on a master's
(06:46):
degree and a PhD.
Thought well, I don't knowwhere I'm going, but it seems
like it's someplace good.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (06:52):
Yeah , I just really like learning,
and I felt it made me better asa teacher, and everything I did
learning more it made me better,and so that's what drove me.
Lindsay Persohn (07:02):
Yeah, yeah, I can totally echo that.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (07:05):
I did not have a career outcome on
the backside of it I had thelearning was the driving force.
Lindsay Persohn (07:10):
Yes, yeah, same for me, same for me.
So, on that note, in what wayshas graduate study in general
shaped how you think aboutteaching, learning and
leadership?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (07:22):
Well , I think when you train your
brain in the research modes andyou're really looking at and
analyzing situations and tryingto understand different
perspectives, when you'rebringing research lenses to what
you're doing, it ultimatelychanges how you think, and
that's what happened throughgraduate study.
Is I changed the way I think.
(07:43):
I didn't accept things at facevalue.
I didn't just because someonetold me or that's the way it's
always been.
I realized that I needed tounderstand, I needed to
investigate, I needed to know,and when I teach in a class now
or talking about research ingeneral, it's a long
conversation that's beenhappening and you're joining
(08:05):
that conversation at a point intime.
So you have to know what peoplebefore you have said, what they
have understood, what ways ofthinking have they brought to
this event, and then what are wegoing to do now to understand
it further.
That then will direct the future.
It really fundamentally shiftedthe way I think, how I approach
(08:26):
everything in my life.
It also gave me new friends andexperiences that I never would
have had before.
So just graduate school wasreally profoundly groundbreaking
for me and I say that tostudents all the time.
It's not just for yourself, butyour relationships, your
friends, the way that you, thepeople you work with everything
(08:48):
can change in really good andproductive ways when you have
this kind of experience.
Lindsay Persohn (08:54):
I think that the image that keeps coming to
my mind as I'm having theseconversations with you all, my
wonderful colleagues, is that Ifeel like the undergraduate
experience is maybe somethinglike a 300-piece puzzle and
you're just trying to figure outwhat the big picture is and how
it all goes together.
But then you start a master'sprogram and you realize that
maybe it was actually athousand-piece puzzle and you
(09:17):
start to put those piecestogether and then I think if you
keep going, you realize thatthat puzzle is more or less
infinite and that all of thosepieces they fit together in some
sort of way for you personally,in your own journey and in the
way that you think aboutlearning and teaching and the
world at large.
But I think that you know,starting as an undergrad you
(09:39):
just don't know what you don'tknow.
And then your right and thenyour master's degree kind of
shows you that there is a lotmore to know.
But then you take a next stepand you realize, oh wait,
there's this whole big, wideworld out there.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (09:51):
It's not just more about, there's
more to know.
Then, when you move into adoctorate, it's how do you know?
What are the ways that you canknow these things.
and that's what gives you a lotof power, is when you start
changing the ability to discoverknowledge on your own and to
really investigate a phenomenonand provide a deeper explanation
(10:13):
of it.
That's really kind of theamazing stuff.
Lindsay Persohn (10:17):
Yeah, yeah, it totally changes.
It's almost like it changes thestructure of your brain because
you think differently.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (10:24):
Well , complete.
Okay, so back to the olden daysreference, when I was going to
school, in addition to having tofind information in catalogs,
the email and the internet werejust becoming more widespread,
and so we had a lot of verysimilar to how AI is going to
change everything.
The conversations about theinternet and email were having
(10:46):
at that time.
How is this going to changecommunication structures?
How are we going to changeknowledge?
And so, yeah, there's just alot of really deep understanding
and thinking.
That happens when you go tograd school and you're
surrounding yourself with otherpeople that want to know deeply
about the same kinds of thingsthat you want to know.
(11:06):
That's the key In your regularlife.
You can have great people inyour regular life, great family,
great friends, but they may notbe thinking about the things
you're thinking about in theways that you think.
So that's another great part ofgraduate school.
Lindsay Persohn (11:23):
That's so true and I think that the friendships
, the partnerships, thecollaborative partnerships that
you form through graduatestudies, it supports that sort
of changing of the structure ofyour thinking, because everybody
is thinking about kind of thesame things but in their own
ways, and it brings a whole newlens.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneide (11:43):
Right , yeah, how do we think we think
with Google?
Now, you know, we just Googleit, we, or chat GPT right there.
It's becoming part of what wedo and how we think.
And and when you change thosetools, when the tools change
your cognition, that's reallypowerful experience.
Lindsay Persohn (12:03):
So what's your current role and how did your
experience in grad schoolinfluence opportunities and
career choices that you've made?
You've said a little bit aboutthis, but, yeah, I'd love to
hear more.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (12:14):
Yeah , so my experience in grad
school led me to my PhD, led meto taking a faculty position at
the university in teacher,education and literacy studies,
and I spent the first part of mycareer doing that kind of work,
working with teachers, master'slevel undergraduate doctoral
students.
In 2006, I took over thedoctoral program and that really
(12:36):
significantly changed my work,because then I was more focused
on the graduate doctoral programand working with all the
amazing students that camethrough our program and deeply
understanding their research andwe have a different kind of
program versus some areas whereyou would work in someone's lab
and you would do the researchthey do.
In our doctoral program a lotof students come with their own
(12:57):
issues.
Sometimes we'll study the samethings, but many times students
will come with their ownprojects and things that they
want to explore and so throughthat it opens your mind.
It's really amazing to be afaculty member working with
doctoral students because youjust learn so much more and see
so many different things thanyou would Anyway.
So I worked as a doctoralprogram coordinator, been a
(13:20):
faculty member and got promotedthrough to a full professor in
literacy studies and as I wasmoving along, there were many
times I took a role in thefaculty Senate where that's our
governance structure for youknow, where faculty interact
with the administration andadvocate for faculty and through
that process I was the vicepresident of the faculty Senate
(13:42):
for four years and then I saidI'll take that job as long as I
don't have to be the president.
And it ended up being fouryears because we had a weird
thing happen where weconsolidated campuses.
So I was two years for Tampaand then two more years for the
consolidated campus, and thenthe time was up and I was
convinced to run for presidentand then I agreed to do it and
(14:03):
became the Senate president.
And that was a very significantchange for me because in being
the Senate president I became amember of the board of trustees
for the University of SouthFlorida and in that role I had a
very high level view of how theuniversity runs, how decisions
are made.
I understood the motivations ofpeople that I and of roles
(14:25):
people in roles that I did notknow previously.
I cannot say that I knew priorto that.
The Senate experience would.
Let me see what does theprovost do, what does the
president do, what do their vicepresidents, vice provosts, do,
and how does that all worktogether to shape the university
?
And then the trustees come andhave their shaping through the
way they set goals for thepresident, the way that the
(14:48):
board of governors operates.
So in seeing that, it reallyopened my eyes to how the
university operates and in thatrole I was done with that role
and came back to faculty.
And that's when the provostasked me that we had a change in
leadership in the college andhe asked me if I would take on
the role of interim dean of thecollege of education and I said
(15:10):
yes because I felt, with theknowledge I had gained from that
experience, that I could helpour college move in a direction
to align ourselves with USF'sstrategies and goals and to
advance the work here.
Because I feel the colleaguesthat we have at USF are just
amazing and the work that we doin the College of Education is
(15:31):
profoundly impactful to thepeople around us, locally and
nationally and globally.
And so I took that on as a wayto advocate for the people I've
been working with for a verylong time and that's what I'm
doing now.
So I'm the interim dean of theCollege of Education at USF,
where I was an undergraduatestudent many years ago and I
(15:53):
don't know if people are awareof this, but President Law, Rhea
Law was also an undergraduatestudent.
Then she served as the chair ofthe Board of Trustees.
She had a career in law andthen now as the president, and
in graduation she'll tell thatstory.
And I find it so interestingthat when I was an undergraduate
, sitting in that space, would Ihave ever dreamed?
(16:13):
Number one, I'd be a professorup on that stage.
Number two, a dean of thecollege of education that where
I graduated from?
Never in my wildest dreams thatI think that would happen.
So see what education can do.
Lindsay Persohn (16:26):
That's right.
That's right.
You know and I think thatthat's certainly a common thread
in the conversations I've hadfor this special series of the
podcast is that you just neverreally know where those
opportunities will lead you andwhen you, when you keep saying
yes, even if it's reluctantly atfirst, you know, as with Senate
positions and things like that,you never know what it's going
(16:48):
to lead to, and I think thatthat's you know.
To me, that's one of thecoolest things about life is
just how the journey unfolds alittle bit differently for all
of us.
But, yeah, just keep saying yesand you never know what doors
open.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneide (17:03):
Being ready for that opportunity and
again back to my old ways.
I mean, I was in my 20s at thetime.
I just love learning and everytime you go into these roles,
that's really what you're doingYou're learning something new,
trying something else out,You're trying to make a
difference.
I mean, that's what educatorsdo, just inherently.
We're part of that.
So that's my path and that'skind of how I got here.
(17:24):
The nutshell version.
Lindsay Persohn (17:28):
Right right, Not the 20 plus year version,
the 20 minute version.
So what should educatorsconsidering when and if graduate
study is the right path forthem?
What advice would you give?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (17:46):
Well , two things.
When there's never a perfecttime, it's you're never going to
have enough money, you're nevergoing to be at the right place
at the right time, so just gofor it.
That's, that's my answer, forwhen I think right now is a very
exciting time in education withregard to new tools like AI,
there are a lot of challenges.
(18:06):
Alongside of that, there areissues to consider with regard
to ethics, with regard toenvironmental impact, but also
how it's going to changeeducation is a question that I
hear everywhere I go.
Alongside that, there are bigissues to explore with how
students learn, how are weteaching, what are we doing in
(18:28):
our schools and how can wesupport the next generation
being successful in learningthemselves?
So understanding all of theseissues.
Alongside the social impactthat happened with education,
things that are happening,trends in schools, not just in
public, private, charterhomeschool the educational
(18:51):
landscape has shifteddramatically, so there is a lot
that we need to know andunderstand, so I just find that
to be very exciting and verypowerful.
Opportunities are available forpeople that are interested in
learning and also in shapingthat knowledge.
That's the key too.
Lindsay Persohn (19:09):
Right.
So maybe now is the time Iguess now, now is always the
time right To just get started,Just go for it.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (19:18):
Yeah , it's never the perfect time.
Your, your family's never goingto be ready.
Your friends are never going tobe ready.
Your life is never going to beready because it is a game
shifter.
It does really change your life.
Lindsay Persohn (19:30):
Yep.
So one last question for youwhat do you wish you had known
before starting graduate school?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (19:37):
Oh, wow.
So let me go in my twodifferent phases in my master's
and my undergrad.
In my master's degree, I wish Ihad approached it with the
understanding that I needed togo deep and not to treat it like
assignments to do, versus thatI was changing myself.
I don't think I understood.
I knew I was becoming a betterteacher, but I don't think I
(20:00):
viewed it as I was learning moreand becoming a better person.
I wasn't changing myself asmuch as I was changing my
practice.
Right, but in the meantime Iwas changing myself and if I had
known that I would haveapproached it differently.
Everything you read is for yourbetterment.
Everything you know is you know, coming in it really helps you.
So that's the one thing forthere.
(20:21):
In my doctoral program I wish Ihad taken more time in the same
kind of way, but I think I knewabout the investment in myself,
but I was also just very eagerto get going, and sometimes the
deliberation is important.
You know, sometimes sittingwith something and really
thinking about it is important,and so I think those are two
(20:44):
things it is an investment inyourself and give yourself the
time to learn in the ways thatyou need.
So be patient.
Lindsay Persohn (20:52):
Great, great advice.
Well, thank you so much forspending a few minutes with me
today sharing your ideas withthe Classroom Caffeine audience.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneide (21:00):
Thank you, it's great, I love
Classroom Caffeine.
And thank you for all the workthat you're doing.
Really, it's really powerful.
Lindsay Persohn (21:20):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for joining us for thisspecial episode in the special
series of Classroom Caffeine, incollaboration with Literacy
Studies Program at theUniversity of South Florida's
College of Education and USF'sInnovative Education.
If today's conversation sparkedyour curiosity about graduate
education programs, you canlearn more about USF's Reading
Masters and Literacy Studiesprograms, by visiting .
(22:24):
If you haven't alreadysubscribe to the Classroom
Caffeine podcast for moreenergizing conversations with
inspiring educators andeducation researchers, until
next time, stay curious and keeplearning.
In recent years , we've seen a strong and steady
increase in graduate educationfor teachers and school leaders.
Nationally, more than about 40%of practicing educators now
hold a graduate degree, andthose who do often report
expanded career opportunities,higher salaries and deeper
professional enjoyment.
Even as some other graduatedisciplines have declined in
(00:32):
enrollment, colleges ofeducation continue to see
educators invest in advancedstudy to strengthen their
practice and broaden theirimpact.
Welcome to this special seriesof Classroom Caffeine where
we're talking with friends, oldand new, about their journey to
and through graduate school.
I'm your host, Lindsay Persohn.
This special series, produced incollaboration with the
(00:54):
University of South Florida'sLiteracy Studies Program in the
College of Education and USF'sInnovative Education, explores
the question what is the valueof graduate education for
educators?
In each episode, we hear fromfaculty and teacher leaders who
share how advanced study andeducation shape their thinking,
(01:14):
their work and theirprofessional lives.
Whether you're consideringgraduate school or guiding
others on that path, this serieswill help give you insight,
encouragement and real storiesfrom the field.
Dr.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider is aprofessor and the interim dean
in the College of Education atthe University of South Florida.
(01:36):
Her research focuses onchildren's composing processes
and arts-based approaches toliteracy education, in which
aspects of process drama andchildren's literature support
students' symbolic developmentof meaning-making strategies.
She also examines the ways inwhich digital tools affect
literate practices.
Dr.
(01:58):
Schneider, thanks so much fortalking with me for a few
minutes today about your journeyin higher education.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (02:04):
I'm very glad to be here.
Thank you for asking me.
Lindsay Persohn (02:07):
Yeah, thanks.
So could you tell us about yourpath through higher ed?
Where did you study?
What led you to pursue graduatework, those kinds of things?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (02:16):
Well , I started off with my
undergraduate degree inelementary education.
I went to the University ofSouth Florida and had that
degree in elementary educationand I started teaching.
Both of my parents wereteachers, so I was very familiar
with the job.
But then doing it for myselfand learning about it in a
different way, that reallyhelped me to understand teaching
(02:37):
.
So going to school to become ateacher, you learn about the
profession from a very differentperspective.
And when I was done I finishedin the middle of the year, in
the middle of the school year,and I started in February.
But I didn't have a job.
So I left my undergraduatedegree and immediately started a
master's.
So in the spring semester whenI started, I had started a
(02:59):
master's degree and then got myvery first job and just tried my
very best to get through theend of that year.
But I started the master'sbecause I really love learning
and I just felt I wanted tocontinue and understand what I
was studying in a deeper level.
And so in the master's degreethat's where I really felt
(03:23):
everything come together in myteaching, where I really looked
at it.
I was reading research for thefirst time and understanding
things and studying my ownpractice in a way that I hadn't
done as an undergraduate, and Ijust I really love that.
So as I was coasting along,teaching, then getting my
master's at the same time, andthen I was done and I, first
(03:45):
time in my life not being inschool, I thought, well, now,
what am I going to do?
I really love teaching, Ireally did so.
But I had a friend who'sgetting a PhD in special
education and I was talking tohim about it and I just thought
I don't know if I could do that.
That seems like really out ofmy league and I don't know why.
I thought that because I wasalways really good at school.
(04:06):
So, but you know, it'ssomething foreign and you don't,
you don't really know it, and Ithought he was encouraging me
to do it.
And so I started looking aroundand I wanted to go somewhere
else.
I had both of my degrees fromUSF and I wanted to try
something different.
And so I was looking around andI talked to my professor about
a good place to study children'sliterature.
(04:28):
I was really interested in thatand my master's was in
elementary with a concentrationin language arts.
So I was looking at the bestprograms around the country.
And this is back in the oldendays, before the internet, where
you went to the library andthey had catalogs from all the
universities across the countryand you would look through the
catalog to see what programsthey offered.
So I was looking through andthen you'd pull out a paper,
(04:51):
They'd send it to you, send itoff, and then they send you an
application packet.
And so I found out.
I looked at Ohio State, Ilooked at Penn State, I looked
at Notre Dame.
I talked to my professors.
They said, oh, Ohio Statereally has one of the best
literacy programs in the country.
And then I applied and got myPhD and through that process
(05:14):
that to me was the single bestdecision of my life.
To get my PhD, to go to a placewhere I was fully immersed in
it.
Fortunately I was able to savemoney, go there full time as a
student and to do my PhD in thatway.
So basically, my master'sdegree.
I really felt it helped mebecome a better practitioner but
(05:36):
also exposed me to research.
And then the PhD was more oftotal immersion in research, to
understand and kind of changethe trajectory of education in a
way.
So I loved being a teacher.
I loved being better at it.
Then I found the research sideand I never went with that plan.
(05:56):
But when I was at Ohio State Iwas a graduate assistant and I
started working in teachereducation and I thought, okay, I
can do this.
And then, when I was done there, I applied for the job.
I looked, applying for jobseverywhere.
There was a job at USF and Igot it, which is very rare and
(06:17):
hard thing to do.
But I came back to where Istarted and I've been here ever
since.
So I started here as anassistant professor in literacy
studies.
Lindsay Persohn (06:25):
That's great.
One thing I've really enjoyedabout these conversations is
learning about how everyone'spath has unfolded differently,
and, of course, there are a lotof common threads too, like this
idea that you kind of thoughtyou might know where you're
going, but you didn't reallyknow exactly, and that resonates
with me too.
I was in the exact same boat,as I was working on a master's
(06:46):
degree and a PhD.
Thought well, I don't knowwhere I'm going, but it seems
like it's someplace good.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (06:52):
Yeah , I just really like learning,
and I felt it made me better asa teacher, and everything I did
learning more it made me better,and so that's what drove me.
Lindsay Persohn (07:02):
Yeah, yeah, I can totally echo that.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (07:05):
I did not have a career outcome on
the backside of it I had thelearning was the driving force.
Lindsay Persohn (07:10):
Yes, yeah, same for me, same for me.
So, on that note, in what wayshas graduate study in general
shaped how you think aboutteaching, learning and
leadership?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (07:22):
Well , I think when you train your
brain in the research modes andyou're really looking at and
analyzing situations and tryingto understand different
perspectives, when you'rebringing research lenses to what
you're doing, it ultimatelychanges how you think, and
that's what happened throughgraduate study.
Is I changed the way I think.
(07:43):
I didn't accept things at facevalue.
I didn't just because someonetold me or that's the way it's
always been.
I realized that I needed tounderstand, I needed to
investigate, I needed to know,and when I teach in a class now
or talking about research ingeneral, it's a long
conversation that's beenhappening and you're joining
(08:05):
that conversation at a point intime.
So you have to know what peoplebefore you have said, what they
have understood, what ways ofthinking have they brought to
this event, and then what are wegoing to do now to understand
it further.
That then will direct the future.
It really fundamentally shiftedthe way I think, how I approach
(08:26):
everything in my life.
It also gave me new friends andexperiences that I never would
have had before.
So just graduate school wasreally profoundly groundbreaking
for me and I say that tostudents all the time.
It's not just for yourself, butyour relationships, your
friends, the way that you, thepeople you work with everything
(08:48):
can change in really good andproductive ways when you have
this kind of experience.
Lindsay Persohn (08:54):
I think that the image that keeps coming to
my mind as I'm having theseconversations with you all, my
wonderful colleagues, is that Ifeel like the undergraduate
experience is maybe somethinglike a 300-piece puzzle and
you're just trying to figure outwhat the big picture is and how
it all goes together.
But then you start a master'sprogram and you realize that
maybe it was actually athousand-piece puzzle and you
(09:17):
start to put those piecestogether and then I think if you
keep going, you realize thatthat puzzle is more or less
infinite and that all of thosepieces they fit together in some
sort of way for you personally,in your own journey and in the
way that you think aboutlearning and teaching and the
world at large.
But I think that you know,starting as an undergrad you
(09:39):
just don't know what you don'tknow.
And then your right and thenyour master's degree kind of
shows you that there is a lotmore to know.
But then you take a next stepand you realize, oh wait,
there's this whole big, wideworld out there.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (09:51):
It's not just more about, there's
more to know.
Then, when you move into adoctorate, it's how do you know?
What are the ways that you canknow these things.
and that's what gives you a lotof power, is when you start
changing the ability to discoverknowledge on your own and to
really investigate a phenomenonand provide a deeper explanation
(10:13):
of it.
That's really kind of theamazing stuff.
Lindsay Persohn (10:17):
Yeah, yeah, it totally changes.
It's almost like it changes thestructure of your brain because
you think differently.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (10:24):
Well , complete.
Okay, so back to the olden daysreference, when I was going to
school, in addition to having tofind information in catalogs,
the email and the internet werejust becoming more widespread,
and so we had a lot of verysimilar to how AI is going to
change everything.
The conversations about theinternet and email were having
(10:46):
at that time.
How is this going to changecommunication structures?
How are we going to changeknowledge?
And so, yeah, there's just alot of really deep understanding
and thinking.
That happens when you go tograd school and you're
surrounding yourself with otherpeople that want to know deeply
about the same kinds of thingsthat you want to know.
(11:06):
That's the key In your regularlife.
You can have great people inyour regular life, great family,
great friends, but they may notbe thinking about the things
you're thinking about in theways that you think.
So that's another great part ofgraduate school.
Lindsay Persohn (11:23):
That's so true and I think that the friendships
, the partnerships, thecollaborative partnerships that
you form through graduatestudies, it supports that sort
of changing of the structure ofyour thinking, because everybody
is thinking about kind of thesame things but in their own
ways, and it brings a whole newlens.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneide (11:43):
Right , yeah, how do we think we think
with Google?
Now, you know, we just Googleit, we, or chat GPT right there.
It's becoming part of what wedo and how we think.
And and when you change thosetools, when the tools change
your cognition, that's reallypowerful experience.
Lindsay Persohn (12:03):
So what's your current role and how did your
experience in grad schoolinfluence opportunities and
career choices that you've made?
You've said a little bit aboutthis, but, yeah, I'd love to
hear more.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (12:14):
Yeah , so my experience in grad
school led me to my PhD, led meto taking a faculty position at
the university in teacher,education and literacy studies,
and I spent the first part of mycareer doing that kind of work,
working with teachers, master'slevel undergraduate doctoral
students.
In 2006, I took over thedoctoral program and that really
(12:36):
significantly changed my work,because then I was more focused
on the graduate doctoral programand working with all the
amazing students that camethrough our program and deeply
understanding their research andwe have a different kind of
program versus some areas whereyou would work in someone's lab
and you would do the researchthey do.
In our doctoral program a lotof students come with their own
(12:57):
issues.
Sometimes we'll study the samethings, but many times students
will come with their ownprojects and things that they
want to explore and so throughthat it opens your mind.
It's really amazing to be afaculty member working with
doctoral students because youjust learn so much more and see
so many different things thanyou would Anyway.
So I worked as a doctoralprogram coordinator, been a
(13:20):
faculty member and got promotedthrough to a full professor in
literacy studies and as I wasmoving along, there were many
times I took a role in thefaculty Senate where that's our
governance structure for youknow, where faculty interact
with the administration andadvocate for faculty and through
that process I was the vicepresident of the faculty Senate
(13:42):
for four years and then I saidI'll take that job as long as I
don't have to be the president.
And it ended up being fouryears because we had a weird
thing happen where weconsolidated campuses.
So I was two years for Tampaand then two more years for the
consolidated campus, and thenthe time was up and I was
convinced to run for presidentand then I agreed to do it and
(14:03):
became the Senate president.
And that was a very significantchange for me because in being
the Senate president I became amember of the board of trustees
for the University of SouthFlorida and in that role I had a
very high level view of how theuniversity runs, how decisions
are made.
I understood the motivations ofpeople that I and of roles
(14:25):
people in roles that I did notknow previously.
I cannot say that I knew priorto that.
The Senate experience would.
Let me see what does theprovost do, what does the
president do, what do their vicepresidents, vice provosts, do,
and how does that all worktogether to shape the university
?
And then the trustees come andhave their shaping through the
way they set goals for thepresident, the way that the
(14:48):
board of governors operates.
So in seeing that, it reallyopened my eyes to how the
university operates and in thatrole I was done with that role
and came back to faculty.
And that's when the provostasked me that we had a change in
leadership in the college andhe asked me if I would take on
the role of interim dean of thecollege of education and I said
(15:10):
yes because I felt, with theknowledge I had gained from that
experience, that I could helpour college move in a direction
to align ourselves with USF'sstrategies and goals and to
advance the work here.
Because I feel the colleaguesthat we have at USF are just
amazing and the work that we doin the College of Education is
(15:31):
profoundly impactful to thepeople around us, locally and
nationally and globally.
And so I took that on as a wayto advocate for the people I've
been working with for a verylong time and that's what I'm
doing now.
So I'm the interim dean of theCollege of Education at USF,
where I was an undergraduatestudent many years ago and I
(15:53):
don't know if people are awareof this, but President Law, Rhea
Law was also an undergraduatestudent.
Then she served as the chair ofthe Board of Trustees.
She had a career in law andthen now as the president, and
in graduation she'll tell thatstory.
And I find it so interestingthat when I was an undergraduate
, sitting in that space, would Ihave ever dreamed?
(16:13):
Number one, I'd be a professorup on that stage.
Number two, a dean of thecollege of education that where
I graduated from?
Never in my wildest dreams thatI think that would happen.
So see what education can do.
Lindsay Persohn (16:26):
That's right.
That's right.
You know and I think thatthat's certainly a common thread
in the conversations I've hadfor this special series of the
podcast is that you just neverreally know where those
opportunities will lead you andwhen you, when you keep saying
yes, even if it's reluctantly atfirst, you know, as with Senate
positions and things like that,you never know what it's going
(16:48):
to lead to, and I think thatthat's you know.
To me, that's one of thecoolest things about life is
just how the journey unfolds alittle bit differently for all
of us.
But, yeah, just keep saying yesand you never know what doors
open.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneide (17:03):
Being ready for that opportunity and
again back to my old ways.
I mean, I was in my 20s at thetime.
I just love learning and everytime you go into these roles,
that's really what you're doingYou're learning something new,
trying something else out,You're trying to make a
difference.
I mean, that's what educatorsdo, just inherently.
We're part of that.
So that's my path and that'skind of how I got here.
(17:24):
The nutshell version.
Lindsay Persohn (17:28):
Right right, Not the 20 plus year version,
the 20 minute version.
So what should educatorsconsidering when and if graduate
study is the right path forthem?
What advice would you give?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (17:46):
Well , two things.
When there's never a perfecttime, it's you're never going to
have enough money, you're nevergoing to be at the right place
at the right time, so just gofor it.
That's, that's my answer, forwhen I think right now is a very
exciting time in education withregard to new tools like AI,
there are a lot of challenges.
(18:06):
Alongside of that, there areissues to consider with regard
to ethics, with regard toenvironmental impact, but also
how it's going to changeeducation is a question that I
hear everywhere I go.
Alongside that, there are bigissues to explore with how
students learn, how are weteaching, what are we doing in
(18:28):
our schools and how can wesupport the next generation
being successful in learningthemselves?
So understanding all of theseissues.
Alongside the social impactthat happened with education,
things that are happening,trends in schools, not just in
public, private, charterhomeschool the educational
(18:51):
landscape has shifteddramatically, so there is a lot
that we need to know andunderstand, so I just find that
to be very exciting and verypowerful.
Opportunities are available forpeople that are interested in
learning and also in shapingthat knowledge.
That's the key too.
Lindsay Persohn (19:09):
Right.
So maybe now is the time Iguess now, now is always the
time right To just get started,Just go for it.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (19:18):
Yeah , it's never the perfect time.
Your, your family's never goingto be ready.
Your friends are never going tobe ready.
Your life is never going to beready because it is a game
shifter.
It does really change your life.
Lindsay Persohn (19:30):
Yep.
So one last question for youwhat do you wish you had known
before starting graduate school?
Jenifer Jasinski Schneider (19:37):
Oh, wow.
So let me go in my twodifferent phases in my master's
and my undergrad.
In my master's degree, I wish Ihad approached it with the
understanding that I needed togo deep and not to treat it like
assignments to do, versus thatI was changing myself.
I don't think I understood.
I knew I was becoming a betterteacher, but I don't think I
(20:00):
viewed it as I was learning moreand becoming a better person.
I wasn't changing myself asmuch as I was changing my
practice.
Right, but in the meantime Iwas changing myself and if I had
known that I would haveapproached it differently.
Everything you read is for yourbetterment.
Everything you know is you know, coming in it really helps you.
So that's the one thing forthere.
(20:21):
In my doctoral program I wish Ihad taken more time in the same
kind of way, but I think I knewabout the investment in myself,
but I was also just very eagerto get going, and sometimes the
deliberation is important.
You know, sometimes sittingwith something and really
thinking about it is important,and so I think those are two
(20:44):
things it is an investment inyourself and give yourself the
time to learn in the ways thatyou need.
So be patient.
Lindsay Persohn (20:52):
Great, great advice.
Well, thank you so much forspending a few minutes with me
today sharing your ideas withthe Classroom Caffeine audience.
Jenifer Jasinski Schneide (21:00):
Thank you, it's great, I love
Classroom Caffeine.
And thank you for all the workthat you're doing.
Really, it's really powerful.
Lindsay Persohn (21:20):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for joining us for thisspecial episode in the special
series of Classroom Caffeine, incollaboration with Literacy
Studies Program at theUniversity of South Florida's
College of Education and USF'sInnovative Education.
If today's conversation sparkedyour curiosity about graduate
education programs, you canlearn more about USF's Reading
Masters and Literacy Studiesprograms, by visiting .
(22:24):
If you haven't alreadysubscribe to the Classroom
Caffeine podcast for moreenergizing conversations with
inspiring educators andeducation researchers, until
next time, stay curious and keeplearning.
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