Guzman Foster Selected for National Outstanding Teaching Award

Sandra Guzman Foster, PhD, associate professor in the Graduate Studies Program at the University of the Incarnate Word Dreeben School of Education, has been selected for the Outstanding Teaching Award, Postsecondary by the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME). She will be recognized at the organization’s virtual conference on April 29. Guzman Foster was nominated by two separate parties, a cohort of her students and a group of her peers across the state.

"I am very honored to receive this award," said Guzman Foster. "To be recognized by my colleagues and students in the state of Texas as an educator in higher education who has an impact on multicultural education and issues of equity is both an exciting and proud moment for me. I am very happy to represent and share this award with my students, my colleagues, and the UIW community."

"Dr. Guzman Foster is a remarkable teacher who is genuinely compassionate, enthusiastic, and energetic with a positive attitude and humble spirit that transfers onto her students,” said one nomination letter. “Her passion and love of teaching inspires and challenges her students to become the best version of themselves.”

This award is granted to an individual who advocates for the advancement of multicultural education in their courses and who demonstrates culturally diverse and responsive teaching practices, clearly valuing education for all students. To qualify, the individual must have taught in a Texas postsecondary setting for at least five years.

Guzman Foster, the 2021-2022 Moody Professor, focuses her research on Educational Policy, Social Justice, Historical, Political and Social Contexts of Education, Critical Multicultural Education and more. At UIW, she teaches courses such as Critical Theory in Education, Multicultural Concepts in Education and Culturally Responsive Teaching.

"Dr. Guzman Foster believes it is important that students welcome an expanded worldview that challenges critical thinking by examining multicultural social, political, economic, and educational realities relating to social (in)justices,” added the nomination letter. “Over her decades-long work in a Texas postsecondary setting, Dr. Guzman Foster has advocated and continues to advocate for the advancement of multicultural education in her courses.”

Texas NAME is a regional chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education. It affirms and advances the mission, goals, and objectives of NAME and seeks to recognize individuals in communities across Texas who have had an impact on multicultural education and issues of equity.