Background

Michele Femc-Bagwell is Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education at UConn. She is a former high school English teacher, middle school assistant principal, principal, and holds a Connecticut Superintendent’s certificate. In her 14-year career at UConn she has served as the director of the University of Connecticut Administrator Preparation Program and as the director of the former CommPACT Community Schools Collaborative, a statewide school reform model that was designed to empower community, parents, administrators, children and teachers in school change with a focus on family and community engagement. She also teaches in the teacher preparation programs.

Femc-Bagwell’s research interests are focused on family and community engagement and teacher and leadership wellbeing. She and Dr. Erica Fernandez, her colleague in the Educational Leadership department, recently completed a photo-voice research project. They gave cameras to parents and asked them to take pictures related to how they saw themselves involved in their children’s lives. With these findings they are creating a workbook to be used for teacher professional development.

She is currently collaborating with fellow CSCH steering committee member Dr. Lisa Sanetti on a mixed-methods study designed to apply the Healthy Workplace Participatory Program to address teacher wellbeing. Additionally, she received a Dean’s Research Incentive Award to continue research in the area of teacher stress and wellness.

Involvement with CSCH

What interested her about CSCH was the varied backgrounds and fields of the steering committee members and affiliates. “When I think about people on the CSCH, there is a collaborative approach to addressing the work of the whole child. Collectively we bring our areas of interest, resources, and expertise to the table in an effort to expand our thinking and to develop research projects across disciplines.”

Fun Facts

Femc-Bagwell loves to run; she ran her last marathon in Florence, Italy.