My Journey Through Higher Education
My path through higher education wasn’t a straight line — it was a series of invitations into deeper questions about how people learn, how adults grow, and how education must evolve if it’s going to serve all learners.
In every role I held — from community college classrooms to graduate schools of education — I carried a commitment to practice-informed learning, equity-centered design, and real-world application. Those experiences didn’t just inform what I do today as a consultant and instructional designer — they are woven into the way I think about systems, people, and possibility.
Supporting Teacher Candidates & Coaches
At City Teaching Alliance (formerly Urban Teachers) from 2021 to 2024, I lived in the messy, beautiful space of adult learning. I wasn’t just “teaching teachers” — I was helping emerging educators see themselves as designers of learning, reflective practitioners, and change agents in classrooms and communities.
I designed and facilitated professional learning, coached instructional teams, and helped leaders align instructional routines with equitable outcomes. That work taught me that adults learn best when they’re trusted with real problems and equipped with tools that reflect the complexity of their roles.
Graduate Learning & Program Development
Between 2021 and 2023, I served on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education as a graduate professor. I worked with graduate students and academic teams to bring learning to life beyond theory. This was a place where we interrogated norms, wrestled with research, and tried to bridge intentions with practice.
In 2022–2023, I had the privilege of contributing as a program developer for a new STEM & Social Justice initiative. That project wasn’t about adding another elective to a catalog — it was about reimagining what a program could be when it values equity as deeply as rigor. I helped shape the curriculum, integrate equity frameworks into content, and coordinate across disciplines so that learning could be both cognitively rich and socially grounded.
American University & Curriculum Practice
From 2022 to 2024, I taught and designed learning experiences with the American University School of Education. Working with graduate learners there reminded me constantly that adult learning is a practice of meaning making — and that good design meets people where they are while inviting them into where they could be.
Whether I was facilitating dialogue, shaping assessment practice, or guiding curriculum design, it was always about helping learners connect concepts to practice — not just memorizing ideas, but using them.
Embodied Learning in the Community College Classroom
In 2023–2024, I also taught Intro to Swimming 1 & 2 at Prince George’s Community College. Yes — swimming! That experience reminded me in the most literal way that learning lives in bodies as much as it does in minds. I designed curriculum, coached learners through skill development, and learned firsthand how pedagogy must honor pace, confidence, and trust.
It was a grounding reminder that learning is human — and it doesn’t always look like a PowerPoint or a syllabus. Sometimes it looks like breath control, timing, muscle memory — the mind and body learning together.
How This Shapes What I Do Now
All of this experience — from the classroom to the university to program development — laid the foundation for the work I do today.
As an education consultant and instructional designer, I bring:
- a deep understanding of how adults learn
- experience designing curriculum that centers equity and application
- the ability to translate complex theory into usable frameworks
- a lens that sees systems, people, and possibilities in conversation
- an embodied sense of what learning feels like
That’s what I bring into consulting engagements, design conversations, leadership development, and organizational learning initiatives.
📌 Artifacts & Reflection (Coming Soon)
I will share selected syllabi, session plans, curriculum maps, and program design artifacts from my higher education work. These will live below (or link to) this narrative once curated — or reach out if you want specific examples sooner.
Marla Hunter [Hooper] 