ORATE

Oregon Association of Teacher Educators (ORATE) is a Northwest regional professional organization of teacher educators. We are part of the national Association of Teacher Educators (ATE), which is devoted solely to the improvement of teacher education both for school-based and post secondary teacher educators. ORATE organizes an annual conference in the Northwest of the US for teacher educators, education researchers, teacher practitioners, and college students focused on Education. We welcome innovative ideas surrounding curriculum, pedagogy, policy, and practice. We focus on issues of equity and inclusion, and we also embrace instructional technologies that promote student learning. We hope to see you at our next conference!

• Proposals: Notification emails will be sent to the session organizer (primary presenter) via email by January 15, 2025.  All selected presenters must accept the invitation and register for the conference.
• To Submit a Proposal. Complete the online proposal submission form linked here. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
• Conference Theme: Advocacy: Advancing, Transforming, and Energizing our Commitments to Education
• Conference Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
• Conference Location: University of Portland, Portland, Oregon
• Cost for Attendance (includes all sessions and lunch): $75 early bird registration (on or before February 1st)/ $90 regular registration (after February 1st) / $10 for students

2024 Keynote Speaker – Katherine C. Rodela, Ph.D.

ORATE was thrilled to welcome Dr. Katherine Rodela as our 2024 Keynote Speaker. Dr. Rodela is the Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Sport Management at Washington State University, Vancouver Campus. She teaches courses related to equity, social justice leadership, and inclusion of diverse communities, families, and students in K-12 schools, in WSU’s Administrative Credential, Masters, and Doctoral Programs.

Katherine’s research agenda centers around the concept of leadership for equity and justice. As third-generation Mexican American and first-generation college student, she is committed to being a community-engaged scholar, whose work advances educational equity and culturally responsive education for marginalized communities, particularly low-income communities of color across the educational PK-20 pipeline. Her focus on leadership for equity and diversity inspires three lines of qualitative research: (1) diversifying the educational leadership pathways in PK-12 education, (2) developing equity-focused school and district leaders, and (3) uplifting and centering the leadership of marginalized families and communities.

Dr. Rodela is a graduate of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. She received a BA in Philosophy and History at Seattle University. She is a former Fulbright Scholar and worked on a research project studying the civic engagement and leadership impacts of a childhood nutrition program in Peru. Before earning my Ph.D., Dr. Rodela taught Spanish and Service Learning at an urban high school in Oregon.

Dr. Rodela’s current research projects include:

Diversifying the educational leadership pathways in PK-12 education

Uplifting and centering the leadership of marginalized families and communities

2023 Conference

Thank you to all those who attended the 26th Annual ORATE Conference at University of Portland on March 10, 2023. We had an amazing professional learning experience!

The conference theme was Our Professional Journeys: Navigating Roles, Research, Relationships, and Responsibilities

Our Keynote Panel on Legislative Considerations for Educator Preparation in Oregon included Senator Lew Frederick and Representative Ricki Ruiz. 

There were over 30 presentations, including paper presentations, joint-sessions, roundtables, and professional posters.

Past Keynote Speakers

ORATE 2022 Keynote Speaker Renee Watson

Read more about our Keynote Speaker on her website: https://www.reneewatson.net/

ORATE 2021 Keynote Speaker Dr. Wayne Au

ORATE was honored to welcome Dr. Wayne Au as the 2021 Keynote Speaker for our virtual conference. A former public high school teacher, Wayne Au is a Professor in the School of Educational Studies and is currently serving as the Dean of Diversity & Equity for the University of Washington Bothell. He is a long-time editor for the social justice teaching magazine, Rethinking Schools, and his work focuses on both academic and public scholarship about high-stakes testing, charter schools, teaching for social justice, and anti-racist education. Recently, Dr. Au has been working in the Seattle area to support Black Lives Matter and Ethnic Studies in Seattle Schools and surrounding districts. His recent books include Rethinking Ethnic Studies (co-edited with Tolteka Cuahatin, Miguel Zavala, & Christine Sleeter, Rethinking Schools, 2019), Teaching for Black Lives (co-edited with Dyan Watson and Jesse Hagopian, Rethinking Schools, 2018), A Marxist Education (Haymarket, 2018) and Reclaiming the Multicultural Roots of the U.S. Curriculum (co-authored with Anthony Brown and Dolores Calderon, TC Press, 2016). He was honored with the UWB Distinguished Teaching Award in 2015, given the William H. Watkins award for scholar activism from the Society of Professors of Education in 2017, and was honored with the Distinguished K-12 Educational Leader Award from the Evergreen State College MiT program in 2019.

ORATE 2020 Keynote Speaker

We were thrilled and honored to have Dr. Geneva Gay as our Keynote Speaker for last year’s conference. Dr. Gay is a Professor of Education at the University of Washington-Seattle and is a world-renowned researcher in multicultural education. Dr. Geneva Gay has been a tireless advocate for teachers and multicultural education throughout her career. Dr. Gay began her teaching career as a high school social studies teacher in an urban school system in Akron, Ohio. She is now nationally and internationally known for her scholarship in multicultural education, particularly as it relates to curriculum design, staff development, classroom instruction, and intersections of culture, race, ethnicity, teaching, and learning. She seeks to bring awareness of cultural diversity to local, national, and international audiences, most recently in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.