Paul Sutton

Associate Professor of Education

photo of Paul Sutton

Phone: 253-535-7285

Email: suttonps@plu.edu

Office Location: Hauge Administration Building

  • Professional
  • Biography

Additional Titles/Roles

  • Director, First Year Experience Program

Education

  • Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction: Teacher Education, University of Washington, 2014
  • M.I.T., Secondary English, Seattle University, 2001
  • M.A., English, University of York, UK, 1997
  • B.A., Portland State University, 1996

Areas of Emphasis or Expertise

  • Secondary Teacher Education
  • Teacher Collaborative Learning
  • Social Foundations of Education
  • History of Education

Selected Articles

  • Jones, S., Sutton, P. S. "Doing equity work while black in a culturally white school district." Phi Delta Kappan 2021: 103(1), 38-42.
  • Sutton, P. S., Shouse, A. W. "Tending to the “deep rules” of teacher collaboration." Commentary found in Teachers College Record 2020:
  • Sutton, P. S., Knuth, R. "How high school departments impact school improvement initiatives." Journal of Curriculum Studies 2020: 52(1), 118-137.
  • Sutton, P. S., Shouse, A. W. "Investigating the role of social status in teacher collaborative groups." Journal of Teacher Education 2019: 70(4), 347-359.
  • Sutton, P. S., Knuth, R. "A schoolwide investment in problem-based learning." Phi Delta Kappan 2017: 99(2), 65-70.
  • Sutton, P. S., Shouse, A. W. "More than a strategy: Building a culture of collaboration in schools." Phi Delta Kappan 2016: 49(7), 69-73.

Accolades

  • 2023 PLU Spirit of Diversity Award

Biography

Paul Sutton teaches sociocultural foundations of education, secondary humanities methods, and secondary literacy courses as well as various seminar courses in the undergrad and graduate-level teacher education programs. He is also the co-chair of the university Common Reading Program and is an active parent and community volunteer in his local school district where he sits on several committees to inform district policy and practice. He maintains an active and diverse publication and scholarship record covering topics of equity and racial equity, project- and problem-based learning, and teacher learning and collaboration.

Before transitioning into his current role, he spent 8 years as a public high school English teacher, worked as an adjunct instructor at several community colleges in the greater Puget Sound region, and worked as a teacher in a language school in Istanbul, Turkey. He is passionate about issues of equity and racial equity in education. In his personal and profession life, he participates in various projects and initiatives to make schools and classrooms more affirming spaces of belonging for students, families, and communities who identify as members of groups of people who have and continue to be marginalized by the school system.