Download Micosoft Word version of résumé here:

 James Burwell Resume 2011.docx (131,4 kB)

Professional Goals

• To serve as high school or middle school administator, or secondary English and/or social studies teacher, of an international school looking for an instructional leader with experience in the United States and internationally.
• To bring innovative thinking and best practices to a learning community.
• To bring together school faculty, administration, community, and students to create a collaborative learning community for the ultimate purpose of high standards of student learning

Degrees and Certification

Master of Arts in K-12 Educational Administration: August 2009
Michigan State University
#1 School in Primary and Secondary Education  Graduate Studies for 17 years running*

Bachelor of Arts in Education: June, 1983
Western Washington University

Washington State Teaching Certification for Grades 6-12 with endorsements in Social Studies and English

* According to the U.S. News & World Report ranking of education graduate programs. 

Awards and Grants

• Innovative Teacher of the Year Award, Country Day High School, 2010-2011 School Year
• Best Character of the Year Award, awarded by NHS Students at Colegio Interamericano, 2007-2008 School Year
• Recipient of Teacher Leadership Project grant from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, including 15 credits of training for the integration of technology in the classroom and $10,000 worth of technology equipment for the classroom, 2000-2001, 2001-2002 School Years
• National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for experiential instuctional strategies concerning holocaust studies, 2002-2003 school year
• National Consortium for Asian Studies Grant for training and resources for the purpose of integrating East Asian topics into humanities curriculums

Related Experience

Philosophy of Education: Being a Lifelong learner

Andres came up to me after class in order to tell me that the current unit we were studying on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (which included a viewing of the film The Matrix), and in particular the lesson that we had had the previous day, made him think like he never had before, and that he could not stop thinking about the lesson. I think the phrase he used was that “it made my head hurt”. These are the moments that every teacher lives for. This level of engagement, and the subsequent desire to explore and learn more, is why we are in the profession of learning. And on those occasions that we can transmit this love of learning to our students, it results in a satisfaction which makes the many difficulties encountered along the way absolutely worth it. While the enthusiasm and love of learning possessed by a teacher is perhaps inherent to their being, their overall effectiveness is not. It is a skill which must be learned and practiced.

A caring attitude, individualized instruction, targeting instruction to specific outcomes, and effective evaluation are all essential components to a classroom where learning is #1.  Each of these aspects is as necessary as the other, and an educator, no matter how experienced, must constantly be evaluating and renewing his or her own practice in order to remain relevant and effective.

As a teacher I have made the effort to remain on the cutting edge of best practices. In the late 1990’s, I became familiar with the research and writings of Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe, and Rick Stiggins, and the concept of backwards design. This revolutionized my teaching as my teaching objectives became more targeted and the assessment applied became more constant and relevant. In a similar fashion, the work of Carol Ann Tomlinson with differentiated instruction has demonstrated to me the importance of a systematic evaluation of student needs in order to best meet those individualized needs. The studies of the brain and learning, in particular the writings of Robert Marzano, Daniel Amen, and John Medina, have provided me with effective strategies for ensuring that the students are engaged and actively learning.

 As I transitioned from being a teacher in the classroom to a High School principal, it became apparent to me that the same principles apply to administration. As an instructional leader, my new role remained that of a teacher, and as such, the respect which came naturally to me as a teacher and was a corner stone of my classroom would also become my guiding light as a principal. Teachers treated as professionals, with a desire to improve and to have an ever greater impact, will respond to evaluation and opportunities for professional learning offered in a systematic and predictable manner. Learning practices pertaining to adult learners, based on brain research and the same principles of differentiation used in the classroom, make effective guideposts in assessing the needs of teachers and providing them with individualized guidance in attaining their professional goals. Perhaps most importantly, by modeling the principles of learning with teachers these same practices are then (organically, automatically) transferred in to the classroom on a school-wide basis.

Luis is a high school technology teachers, who told me as I was leaving the school where we both had worked that as an administrator I had revolutionized his teaching. He explained that learning about cutting edge pedagogical research in conjunction with the use of technology had enabled him to take his teaching to new levels.

This is what an educator lives for.