Penny Bishop, Adolescent Development Scholar, Appointed New Dean of Wheelock (2024)

Q&A

with Penny Bishop

BU Today: How did your own school experience shape the work you would eventually do as an adult?

Bishop: I grew up in Vermont. In fact, I’m a ninth-generation Vermonter, and I attended public schools K–12. Something that was critical in my own upbringing was a move that I made from a classroom with only 12 students in the fourth and fifth grade to an open concept classroom of about 50 students. I found myself awash in uncertainty at that moment. I reflect on that now, thinking about how a lot of my research has been on students’ development of a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging at that age, and I think oh yeah, there are a lot of interesting connections there.

BU Today: You were a first-generation college student. What was that experience like for you?

Bishop: I had a very circuitous route through university life. In fact, I went through four different institutions to get my first degree. It’s not an uncommon story for first-generation students to find themselves in a variety of circ*mstances, often financially related. So, it was a bit of a bumpy road at the beginning, but then I really found myself loving teaching, loving writing, and I found myself on the higher ed path quite unexpectedly.

BU Today: When did teaching become a passion for you?

Bishop: I was not someone who grew up always wanting to be the third grade teacher or always wanting to teach 10th grade biology. Coming from a working-class background, I was thinking about [it practically]: If I go to college, I need to get a job, and I need to move on from there and support myself. It wasn’t until I got into the classroom that I became passionate about teaching. It wasn’t until I actually got into my middle school classroom and really started to teach that I realized what a creative act teaching is. No one had ever mentioned that part to me or told me aboutthe inspiring roles that you play, especially for middle school students. Because they are in the midst of identity development. They’re in the midst of figuring out who they are and who they are becoming—who they want to be or don’t want to be. And I just really loved that age group and loved teaching.

BU Today: Talk about your transition into higher education leadership.

Bishop: It’s certainly not everyone’s path. In fact, in higher ed, I think one of the best roles is to be a professor: you get to teach, you get to write, it’s fabulous.

Early on, I found myself in leadership positions without necessarily seeking them out. That does happen, particularly in higher ed, where people would often prefer to be the professor than to be the person solving problems, but I am a problem-solver. It’s what I really love to do. I found myself in a position of directing a program, of working as an associate dean, of directing a research and outreach institute. Gradually, those roles became more comprehensive, more complex, increasing in responsibility. At the root of them all was this idea that there are complex and interesting problems to solve.

The shift to dean was a bit different because it was much more conscious. I think that really stemmed from a desire to strengthen communities. And that’s really, I think, at the heart of what a good dean of a college of education & human development does.

BU Today: What are the top challenges facing young people today?

Bishop: I think our young people are facing some unprecedented challenges, even pre-pandemic. We were seeing a rise in depression, anxiety, and disengagement and a lack of affiliation—all of the pieces that could be the crumbling of our democracy. I think of our public schools as the foundation of a solid democracy, and I can’t imagine a better place to be investing our time and energy than in those places where youth need to grapple with challenging questions and develop skills to have difficult conversations and find a sense of purpose.

BU Today: What drew you to Wheelock?

Bishop: I’m extraordinarily excited about the mission of the college. , are very, very explicit. There’s no denying its overt social justice mission. I’m excited to be part of a community that puts that out front and leads with the mission to disrupt inequity. That’s hard work. It’s daunting work. I also see such a strong community here of scholars and teachers who are already doing that in so many ways. I was also drawn to the opportunity to continue this work post-merger. Under Dean Chard’s leadership, the transition that he led between historic Wheelock and BU helped the college come out stronger after the merger. When I was interviewing for the position, to a person that I spoke with, people felt like it was a stronger unit afterward. That’s a very rare story. When you have a merger of institutions where identity is so central, it’s rare to be able to point to folks who feel like it’s been successful, much less value added. So that’s an amazing time to be able to join a community.

BU Today: What do you like to do when you’re not working?

Bishop: I’m embarrassed to say first of all that work is my hobby. That’s not great, I recognize, but I really love my work. [Marc and I] love to travel, particularly internationally, to surround ourselves with new cultures, hear other languages, and experience new foods.

BU Today: What are you most looking forward to about living in Boston?

Bishop: Parking the car and not using it. Exploring everything that the city has to offer. And there are a lot of amazing museums here, and we’re really excited to explore those and get a sense of the city. Also, we love good food, so this is a good place for that.

BU Today: Anything else that you would want the BU community to know about Penny Bishop?

Bishop: You mean, other than that I won a hula-hoop contest in fourth grade?

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