This teaching portfolio is not just a record of who I am as a teacher—it is an active document that helps me improve my effectiveness as a teacher.

Student learning pathways are multifaceted and nonlinear. Encouraging an appreciation for individual exploration and persistence emphasizes the diversity and the impact each contributes to both our classroom, and our society. My goal is to demonstrate the positive impact of these values to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility on not only future designers, but future world citizens.

————————————————————————————-

I earned my BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. After moving to New York, I studied critical theory at New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science. This background in both design and critical theory informs my practice.

I began my career working at Malcolm Grear Designers where I gained experience in the development and design of publications and design identity. I have worked as a designer and art director for design and marketing firms in Chicago and New York, and as creative director in New York for New York University and The Rockefeller University. Through my firm, P Childers Design, I work collaboratively with publishing houses and non-profit organizations including Penguin Books, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Columbia University.

Educator

I began my teaching career as a teaching assistant for Malcolm Grear at RISD. I now teach graphic design, typography, and design theory at the New York City College of Technology (Citytech,) The Pratt Institute, and The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT.)

My background in design and theory affect my approach to education. Enriching students’ worldview through the study of design increases their understanding of the value of their profession. Through analysis, they expand on form resolution to explore its social implications.

I provide leadership as both an educator and as a professional. I lecture on design and typography and co-leads workshops on typography and letterpress printing.

Service

In 2022 I joined the steering committee of the Design Educators Community of the AIGA which promotes activities that foster design education.
I remain active as a designer and educator & continue to provide consulting services to the profession.

AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) Steering Committee
2022-2025

Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education
Annual High School Graphics Competition Judge, 2017-19, 2021-22
Citywide Graphic Arts Competition
Media Technology and Design, New York City Department of Education

Communication Design Department. Citytech, 2016-2023
Communication Design Department BFA Exhibit, judge
Open access advising/tutoring on-line during Covid shutdown.
Senior Portfolio Review, participate in the reviews senior portfolios.

RISD, 2015-17
Pre-College Portfolio Review, Javits Center

Courses Taught

Graphic Design, Typography, Graphic Design Theory

Classroom

My classes provide spaces where communities of learners engage in the purposeful authorship of meaningful artifacts. Here, learners are situated as designers in constructionist learning environments that place making at the heart of learning. Focus is not on the acquisition of knowledge, but the construction of meaning. These environments facilitate the growth of reflective, critical learners. My goal is to empower students to direct their work beyond explicit directives to pursue meaningful and exciting goals.

Although methodologies and learning objectives vary to adapt to the subject, assignment are scaffolded and conclude with a “Process Book” that documents each student’s journey. These constructed artifacts mirror the construction of meaning that has occurred throughout the semester. These tangible tools of embodied cognition provide a visual manifestation of their process, and a record of their methodologies and exploration.

Course Structure

A learning environment informed by collaborative learning, engagement, motivation, and metacognitive strategies fosters Bloom’s critical thinking skills with best practices for digital natives.
•   Remembering
•   Understanding
•   Applying
•   Analyzing
•   Evaluating
•   Creating

Course design implements collaborative problem-based student-directed learning.
Course outcome designed to fit into the overall curriculum.
Course format is based on inclusive interdisciplinary pedagogy that shares knowledge and innovation.
Course environment is informed by collaborative learning, engagement, motivation, and metacognitive strategies. Skills are reinforced through the the collaborative construction of artifacts
Each course uses a digital environment that contains assignments and agendas.
- Each new agenda is posted before each class begins to set the stage for class.
- Readings and videos provide an atmosphere that sets the stage for new material.
- Weekly prompts for reflective and metacognitive activities.
One-on-One student check-ins.

Course Syllabus

Graphic Design Principles 2 course syllabus

Class Agendas
Each course uses a digital environment that contains assignments and agendas.

Each new agenda is posted before each class begins to set the stage for class.
Agenda outlines include notes on class preparation, tasks to compete prior to class, class activities with the estimated time for each, reminders for the next class and follow-up notes, technology notes with links to all presentation material.
Readings and videos every week provide background and an atmosphere that sets the stage for new material.
Weekly prompts for reflective and metacognitive activities.

Rubrics & Grading

Rubrics for individual projects are provided with the initial assignment. Criteria includes preparation, process, class contribution and concept.

Then, with students’ input, they are customized to reflect our consensus about meaningful assessment.

To help maintain a focus on each project, self and peer grading occur through each project’s duration:

• evaluation helps students engage in the process
• allows students to discuss the criteria in groups
• reinforces criteria and direction to prevent sidetracking
• group analysis provides a structure for collaborative learning
Example of self-reflection rubric

Once the project is completed, students complete a self-evaluation that asks them anything unexpected that they learned, what they’d do differently next time, and what they learned about themselves.

Student Learning/Work

Effectiveness

Pedagogical Research, Writing, and Presentations

Throughout a career focused on design and critical studies in the educational environment, I have viewed intellectual engagement as a place of possibilities. Current investigations address the notion of voice as a core element of communication and its context’s implicit and explicit role in the shaping of culture.

In addition, I participate in an ongoing exploration of pedagogical methodologies. Over the past 6 years I have participated in pedagogical workshops where I have researched, written, and presented on the practice of innovative pedagogy and Intercultural Knowledge and Competencies.

Academic Development

Living Lab General Education Seminar, Citytech, 2023
Course creation seminar to incorporate Intercultural Knowledge and Competence using place-based learning, open pedagogy and assessment practices.

Equity & Inclusion Workshop Series, FIT, 2023
Five-part workshop exploring the use empathy as a tool. Subjects include discrimination, cultural competencies, microaggressions and how they affect individuals and their relationships with others.

Immersive Instructional Design Workshop, Citytech, 2022
Information literacy skills, discipline-specific research practices and accessible Instructional Design (ID) principles. Production of an openly licensed digital learning object.

Open Educational Resources (O.E.R.), Citytech, 2021
O.E.R. and Open Pedagogy program based on the OER Fellowship program,

Online Teaching Essentials, Citytech, 2020
Special Topics in Innovative Pedagogy

Promoting Mindset-Supportive Practices, Citytech, 2020
Special Topics in Innovative Pedagogy

Intercultural Knowledge and Competence, Citytech, 2019
Living Lab General Education Seminar
Course creation that integrates intercultural knowledge and competence, through an in-depth understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Bridging The Gap: Evidence-Based Teaching/Learning Practice, Citytech, 2018
Hybrid Pedagogy; How learning works: bridging learning, research, and teaching practice.

Teaching for Ethical Reasoning: Revitalizing General Education
for a 21st-Century College of Technology, Citytech, 2017
Living Lab General Education Seminar; Course creation integratating ethical reasoning into design courses using George Kuh’s High Impact Educational Practices

Fellowships

AIGA DEC Design + Writing Fellowship, AIGA 2022
Peer reviewed fellowship, one of 18 selected.
AIGA writing group that focuses on the Visual Essay as communication artifact, to offer an avenue to conduct and disseminate research through making practices.

AIGA Wiki Scholars, AIGA 2022
Increasing the visibility of women and people of color and inspiring the next generation of designers to add design information to Wikipedia.

Academic Leadership

AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) Steering Committee
2022-2025

University Service

Communication Design Department. Citytech, 2021
Communication Design Department BFA Exhibit, judge

The Provost’s Office, Citytech, 2020-23
Open access advising/tutoring on-line during Covid shutdown.

Communication Design Department, Citytech, 2016-2022
Senior Portfolio Review, participate in the reviews senior portfolios.

RISD, 2015-18
Pre-College Portfolio Review, Javits Center

Professional Development

Generative Typography, 2021, 22
Cooper Union,

Type Paris, 2021
Jean François Porchez Workshops: Design de Lettres: Romans and Italics. Using calligraphy as a basis for designing Roman and Italic typefaces.

Black Design in America:
African Americans and the African Diaspora in Graphic Design, 2021
Silas Munro, Polymode Design history course, 13 sessions.

HMCT Intensive: Design Educator’s Typography: 2021
Generative Typography,
Intensive program on the practice of teaching Generative Typography 1 & 2, Generative Brand, and Generative Narrative at the University Level.

HMCT Intensive: Foundations of Typography, 2021
Practice of teaching the foundations of typography at the university level

Lettering: From Hand to Digital, 2020
Hand to digital lettering with Glyphs design software; Mirko Velimirovic. The Center for Book Arts

Stencil Lettering & Type, 2020
Create a typeface based on the principles of modular type design;
Laura Meseguer; Type Directors Club (TDC)

Augment My Type, Augmented Type Installation, 2019
Create text and image in AR; Sofie Hodara, Martha Rettig, Cooper Union

Python Programming Language, 2019
Develop desktop GUI applications, websites, and web applications with common programming tasks.
Cooper Union, Typographics

Adobe After Effects, 2019
Noble Desktop

Motion Graphics, 2019
Motion graphics using Adobe After Effects
Cooper Union, Typographics

Sketch, 2018
Application for website and mobile design, wireframing, and UI/UX
Noble Desktop

User Experience and Digital Publishing Suite, 2016
Noble Desktop

Professional Presentations

“The Victorian Letterforms of Ethel Reed,” 2022
The Poster House Museum, NY, NY,
https://posterhouse.org/event/the-victorian-letterforms-of-ethel-reed/

“Making Public—Zines,” 2021
Virtual Open Studio Online Design Explorations Graphic design & illustration

“Graphic Design Principles: A History- And Context-Based First-Year Design Textbook. Insight Into the Process of Design Innovation, Influence, and Interpretation,” October, 2020
Design Incubation Colloquium 7.1: Oakland University,

“AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC): Shift Summer Summit”
Session panelist: AIGA, Design Educators Community, August 2020-21

“Mediating Messages, a Paratextual Approach to Design”
VCFA, April 2020, https://novel.vcfa.work/patricia-childers/

“DeKalb Market Hall: Deconstructing Aura Embedded
In The Typographic Communication Of Global Cultures”
Citytech, Living Lab Learning Library, April 2019
See honors and awards

“Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals Review”
Ursula C. Schwerin Library, Citytech, 2018

“Word on the Street; Neighborhood Typography”
Living Lab Learning Library, Citytech; April 2017;
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/l4/category/schools/technology-design/communication-design/

Honors and Awards

AIGA DEC Design + Writing Fellowship, 2022
Peer reviewed fellowship, one of 18 selected.

Nomination: CAA Board of Directors, 2021
Selected as a candidate for election to the CAA Board of Directors.

Living Lab General Education Awards, Citytech, 2019
DeKalb Market Hall: Deconstructing Aura Embedded in the Typographic Communication Of Global Cultures
Commendation for the presentation and design of an activity designed to increase students’ competency and intercultural knowledge. Filed in: The Living Lab Learning Library, virtual resource exchange of teaching practices; https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/l4/2019/05/28/DeKalb-market-hall-deconstructing-aura-embedded-in-the-typographic-communication-of-global-cultures/

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE,) 1996-2005
Circle of Excellence Award, multiple awards

Association of Graphic Communications
Graphic Excellence in the 62nd Annual Graphic Arts Awards Exhibition, 2003

Select Exhibitions

AIGA National Conference DEC Design + Writing Fellowship Exhibition, 2022
“Graphic Annotation; Speaking Truth to Power” poster included in group exhibit of posters created by the Design + Writing Fellowship. Displayed at the AIGA National Conference, The Seattle Pacific University, and The University of Washington. https://educators.aiga.org/design-writing-fellowship/

Citytech, Communication Design Department, 2018
Faculty Process Exhibit

Continuing Goals
Increased student success through:

Pedagogical research of critical issues in design education
Interdisciplinary collaboration

Future research and publications

The role in the graphic voice in shaping culture