Instructor of Education
schantzb@wittenberg.edu
Blair Hall 211
(937) 327-6414
schantzb@wittenberg.edu
Braedan Schantz, Instructor of Education, joined the Department of Education at Wittenberg in 2024. She is a proud Wittenberg alum and is excited to engage with Wittenberg and the surrounding community in her new role. She is committed to providing responsive, contingent teaching to meet the needs of diverse learners. Braedan teaches several courses including Philosophical Perspectives in Education, Elementary Literature and Language Arts, Assessing and Diagnosing Reading Difficulties, and Elementary Science Content and Methods.
Braedan taught in early elementary classrooms for several years as a kindergarten teacher and reading intervention teacher. She worked in higher education for ten years prior to joining Wittenberg, developing and teaching numerous undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood education and literacy. Braedan also developed and led literacy professional learning for in-service teachers across Ohio and Indiana. She has presented at local and national conferences, school districts, and educational consortiums on a variety of topics for preservice teachers, in-service teachers, instructional coaches, and school administrators.
Braedan’s research agenda is informed by her early experiences as a preservice teacher in Springfield, where she first realized that access to high quality literacy instruction is a critical issue, especially for multilingual students and students from marginalized populations. Her research interests include literacy, coaching, curriculum, and teacher leadership. Braedan ascribes to a strengths-based leadership model, and is keenly interested in practices that support agentic teaching and learning. Her master’s thesis focused on student agency in family and school conferences.
Braedan earned her B.A. in Elementary Education from Wittenberg University in 2004, and her M.S. in Education from the University of Dayton in 2010. Currently, she is a student in the Doctor of Organizational Studies program at Wright State University. Braedan has lived in the Springfield community for more than 20 years with her husband Doug (Clark State), and their three children: Cole, Evan, and Katelyn. Braedan enjoys listening to live music, spending time with friends and family, kayaking, and hiking. Her family is active in the community and can often be spotted at local events including the Summer Arts Festival, Rotary Food Truck Rally, Clark State Performing Arts Center, Champion City Kings’ baseball games, and Culture Fest.