Dr. Linda Addo, Ed.D, retired as an Associate Professor of History/Social Studies and Education, and Coordinator of History/Social Studies Education Programs in the Department of History at NC A. and T. State University in 2004.

Teaching Philosophy

My philosophy is eclectic consisting of the following philosophies, Direct Instruction, Behaviorism, Constructivism and recent technological advances including developments in computer technology.

I must not only transmit knowledge, but I must also arrange the environment for learning. Arranging the environment for learning includes designing and structuring teaching and learning strategies, and activities which motivate and encourage students to construct knowledge for themselves.

Students are not to simply imitate and memorize, but they must always be actively building relationships between old and new knowledge. But before students can construct knowledge and begin inquiry for themselves they must have a knowledge base and an introduction to the concepts that are germane to the specific topic.

The teacher in this role must instruct directly using the Lecture-Socratic method. The Socratic Method is the focus of Direct Instruction. The teacher must carefully structure questions which take students from the lowest level of Bloom's Taxonomy to the highest levels. Students move from facts, to comprehension, to application, to analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

I begin where students are and lead them by asking the right questions to the discovery and application of new knowledge. As a behaviorist my goal is to make sure that what I do in the classroom will change students' behavior in some way that can be measured or observed. The learning process should be organized from simple to the complex.

However, my task is not complete unless I also infuse my teaching with insights from Constructivism. Students must construct their own meaning. I must not only transmit knowledge and encourage the mastery of facts and concepts, but this must be matched with authentic activities where students can construct their own meaning. I make sure that all my teaching and learning presentations and activities are planned to provide students with many stimuli motivating students to construct knowledge for themselves. Thus, I am constantly making adaptations in order to motivate and encourage all students to actively engage in any history or social studies course I teach.

Academic Achievements

Dr. Linda Addo's academic degrees include an Doctorate in Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1988 -Curriculum and Teaching; M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1966 - History Woodrow Wilson Scholar; and a B. A. from Bennett College 1964 - History/Social Science Education.

Before joining the faculty at NC NC A. and T. State University she was the Diirector, Division of Social Sciences and the Chairman, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Bennett College, Greensboro, NC.

Her honors and awards began with her being the1960 Valedictorian, Dillard High School, Goldsboro, North Carolina. In 1964 she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bennett College, Greensboro, NC.

Her most recent awards include

• 2000, Elected Secretary/Historian, NC University Professors of Social Studies
• 1996-1999 Member of Executive Committee, NC Association of Teacher Educators
• 1998, Outstanding Teacher, Department of History
• 1998 Faculty Merit Award, College of Arts and Sciences
• 1996 Special Salary Provisions Rewarding Excellence in Teaching
• 1993 Induction, Beta Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International Honorary Society of Women Educators

Dr. Addo taught courses in world civilizations, U. S. history, American constitutional history, social studies methods, and issues and trends in social studies education. Dr. Addo also served as the Coordinator of History/Social Studies Education Programs and University Supervisor of Social Studies Student Teachers at NC A&T, and had many committee assignments as well.

Dr. Addo's recent publications and presentations include

• "The Merging of Learning and the Community: The Penn School, 1862-1915," February 21, 1997, the annual meeting of the Southern Conference on Afro-American Studies at Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA.
• "Septima Clark: Educator and Social Activist" and Sarah Mapps Douglas: Educator and Abolitionist" in Women Educators in the United States, edited by Maxine Sellers, Greenwood Press, 1994.
• "Vignettes of Black Methodism in North Carolina, 1867-1968," September 11, 1993, at the Fall meeting of the Western NC Conference Historical Society of the United Methodist Church, Advance, NC.

She also participates in many educational activities with both public and private schools.