Sydney Merz

Sydney Merz brings over 20 years of experience working in leadership and talent development. She spent the first part of her career working in collegiate athletics, transitioned into education and nonprofits, and pivoted into the corporate HR environment when she moved to the Cleveland area.

Merz has taken an interdisciplinary approach to her career as she has been a teacher, learning and development trainer and facilitator, and coach in array of industries both domestically and internationally in over 15 countries. She enjoys the challenge of getting people of all ages and cultures excited about new things or rejuvenating others to engage in new processes. She served two tours in the U.S. Peace Corps, speaks Cebuano and Armenian, and is from Nebraska.

Area of Expertise

Intercultural understanding

Courses

Graduate

MGT 613 Staffing and Development

Scholarly Activities

Most Recent Publications

Merz, S. A., & Fox, R. K. (2016). An international education perspective study of teachers in the central United States. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 20(10), 1-19.

Merz, S. A. (2016). Teacher educators’ reflections on interculturalizing their university coursework. Teaching & Learning: The Journal of Natural Inquiry & Reflective Practice.

Baily, S., & Merz, S. A. (2015). Conducting fluid and timely research in youth activism – Understanding lessons from India. In S. Bastien and H.B. Holmarsdottir, Youth at the margins: Experiences from engaging youth in research world, (pp. 175-194). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publications B.V.

Merz, S.A. (2015). Intercultural understanding of teacher educators. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. (3706645).

Peters-Burton, E. E., Merz, S. A., Ramirez, E. M., & Saroughi, M. (2015). The effect of cognitive apprenticeship-based professional development on teacher self-efficacy of science teaching, motivation, knowledge calibration, and perceptions of inquiry teaching. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 26(6), 525-548.

Shaklee, B., and Merz, S. A. (2012). Intercultural communication competency for international educators.  International Schools Journal, 32(1), 13-20.

Book Chapters

Merz, S. A. (2014, October 20). [Review of the book Internationalizing teacher education for social justice: Theory, research and practice, by S. Sharma, J. Phillion, J. Rahatzad, a& H.L. Sasser (eds)].

External Research Grants, Consulting, Contracts and Awards

George Mason University

Data Collector.  (2013, March-June).  Fairfax County Advanced Academic Program Review.  Funded by Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia.  L. Bland and B. Shaklee as principal investigators.

Project Assistant. (2012, July-October). Project SPARK:  Igniting Innovation, planning grant funded by Virginia Governor’s Office, Secretary of Education ($147,500).  L. Hall as principal investigator.

Graduate Research Assistant. (2012-2014, September).  U.S.-Georgia English Language Teaching and Learning Program (ELTLP).  International teacher professional development grant (two years) submitted to U.S. Department of State, Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia. ($1,036,965.00).  E. Gouleta and R. K. Fox as Co-Co-Principal Investigators. [Submitted 31, August 2012].

Program Manager. (2012-2015, September). U.S. – Pakistan Teacher Education University Partnership in English Language Teaching (TEUPELT).  University Partnership in English Linguistics, Literature, and English Teaching with the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan (3 years) submitted to o U.S. Department of State, Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. ($999,448.00).  E. Gouleta and R. K. Fox as Co-Co-Principal Investigators. [Submitted 7, September 2012].

Graduate Research Assistant.  (2012, June).  Women’s Leadership Program in Armenia.  University Partnership with Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia (three years) submitted to USAID, Higher Education for Development ($1,300,000.00). S. Baily and F. Shahrokhi as Co-Co-Principal Investigators. [Submitted 19, June 2012].