Department of Teaching and Learning

Jennifer M. Hernandez

Assistant Professor

jennher@siue.edu

Phone: (618) 650‑3434             
Office: 1130 Founders Hall

About Dr. Hernandez

Dr. Jennifer Hernandez is a veteran special education teacher of 15 years.  She has primarily taught students with emotional disturbance, mental illness, and incarcerated youth in secondary alternative settings.  In the last three years of her tenure in special education, Dr. Hernandez was a Special Education Administrator in the Ferguson-Florissant School District in Ferguson, MO.  She was a witness and student advocate in the aftermath of the murder of Michael Brown and the community in trauma.  She worked as an ally as the community responded with activism and the creation of Black Lives Matter.  Dr. Hernandez completed her PhD in 2013 from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a minor in Social Justice.  The crux of her doctoral research included the critical analysis of racialized policies that facilitate the school-to-prison nexus.  Dr. Hernandez began teaching pre-candidate teachers as an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Quinnipiac University. She is currently teaching at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL in the Secondary Program for Teaching and Learning.  Dr. Hernandez focuses on anti-bias/anti-racism training for in-service educators and teacher candidates to address racism and all forms of oppression in public education.

Research Profile

Dr. Hernandez’s research focuses on the pervasiveness of whiteness and anti-blackness within P-12 public education. Focusing her research around the Euro-centric and white dominance within the curricula, teaching and assessment practice, teacher-student and other interactions, and policy decisions that empower whiteness and uphold current systemic inequity for Black and Brown students within US public education and society. Dr. Hernandez applies Critical Race Theory and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy to her methods and content courses for teacher candidates in hopes of de-colonizing public education.

Appointments:

• August 2019- Core Council of the DREAM Collective within School of Education, Health and Human Behavior, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
• August 2018 – Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, School of Education,  Health and Human Behavior, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
• June 2016 – Assistant Professor, School of Education, Quinnipiac University
• July 2013-June 2016 Special Education Administrator, Ferguson-Florissant School District, Ferguson, Missouri

Education: 

• Ph.D., 2013, University of Missouri - St. Louis  
• M.A., 2005, University of Missouri –   St. Louis
• B.S., 2000 – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Publications:

• Hernandez, J. (2020) Teachers as Colonizers: A Study of Disruption. (in publication process)
• Hernandez, J. (2020) The Urgency of Now: Critical Race Theory & Public Educators (in publication process)
• Hernandez, J. (2019) Ferguson Teacher of the Year 2018, Understanding and Dismantling Privilege Journal. Vol. 10
• Hernandez, J. (2019) Trauma’s Impact on Urban School Districts: An Action Plan for Educators. Book Chapter. The Handbook of Trauma-Informed Practice, editors; Drs. Brianne Kramer & Dr. Jennifer McKenzie.
• Brown, Sheandra, Matthew Davis, Jennifer Hernandez, Miranda Ming (2019)  Dehumanization of children of color: Schooling and the recent, rapid rise in Black children’s suicide rates.Planning and Changing, Illinois State University.  
• Teaching Tolerance (August, 2014 & August, 2018) : School-to Prison Pipeline/ School Push Out Lesson Plan in collaboration with Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
• UMSL Blog Essay (February, 2009) Educators’ and Lawmakers’ Collusion over the Expanding School to Prison Pipeline
• UMSL Blog Essay (Spring, 2009) Urban School Security: Student Safety or Abuse of Power?
• Mid-Western Educational Research Organization (October, 2009): Educational Inequality in St. Louis: Teacher perspectives.
• Critical Questions in Education Conference (October, 2009): Racial Barriers:Relationships between students and teachers inside and across the color line. Paper presentation.
• Critical Questions in Education Conference (October, 2009): The Road to Nowhere.Paper presentation.