Tony L. Talbert, Ed.D.
Professor, Qualitative Research and Social-Cultural Studies Education
Dr. Tony L. Talbert is a professor of social/cultural studies education and qualitative research in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction in the School of Education at Baylor University. Dr. Talbert refers to his field of research and teaching as “Education As Democracy” which integrates social/cultural, diversity, and democracy education into a focused discipline of qualitative and ethnographic inquiry examining school and community stakeholder empowerment through activist engagement in political, economic, and social issues.
Dr. Talbert’s 37 years as an educator have included teaching, research, and service in public schools, universities, and governmental and corporate institutions. Dr. Talbert began his career in education as a public school history and government teacher where he applied his previous training as a stage actor by engaging his students in the exploration of the human story by integrating the students’ own lived experiences with the historic drama and comedy that encompassed the lives of the characters and events being studied.
As a high school history/government teacher, Dr. Talbert earned a master of arts degree in American studies at Baylor University. While a public school teacher he became a popular invited speaker at several national conferences where he showcased such creative teaching seminars as He Ain’t Crazy Mama He’s My History Teacher and Thinking Thoughts That Need to Be “Thunk”. After seven years as a high school teacher, Dr. Talbert was asked to serve as an education specialist with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), where he facilitated professional development opportunities for educators statewide and nationally. After two years with the TEA, Dr. Talbert was recruited to serve as the executive director of the Sam Houston State University Center for Professional Development where he was provided the opportunity to collaborate with public school and university educators and students in the exploration and application of cutting-edge digital technology integration into curriculum and pedagogy. During this time Dr. Talbert earned his Doctor of Education degree in cultural/social studies and qualitative research at the University of Houston. Upon earning his Ed.D., Dr. Talbert combined his passion for creative teaching with his highly developed skills as a qualitative researcher and began his career in academia with a commitment to fully integrating the scholarship of discovery with the scholarship of teaching.
During Dr. Talbert’s 28-year career as a university educator, Dr. Talbert has held or holds the position of professor, associate dean, department chair, graduate program director, and assistant department chair at such institutions as Sam Houston State University, Mississippi State University, the University of Houston, and since 2002 Baylor University. Over his career in academia, Dr. Talbert has actively contributed to scholarship in his field through the publication of peer-reviewed books, book chapters, journal articles, grants, editorials, invited research presentations, and keynote addresses.
Dr. Talbert’s academic service to the profession includes holding the positions of associate editor and elected chair of multiple national and international journals, editorial boards, and research organizations. Dr. Talbert’s role as an academic mentor has afforded him the opportunity to serve as the chair and methodologist for over 100 master's and doctoral theses and dissertations. As a respected leader in his fields of social/cultural studies education and qualitative research, he has collaborated with his faculty peers across the nation and around the globe in the development and implementation of multiple academic and professional development enterprises that provide a strong foundation of social/cultural studies and qualitative research and analysis theory and practice for both experienced and emerging scholars.
Dr. Talbert’s numerous teaching and research awards offer further recognition by his faculty peers and students for his contributions to teaching, research, and service in the fields of social/cultural studies education and qualitative research. A sampling of his diverse recognitions and awards include the 2017 Baylor University Honors College Distinguished Faculty Award, an invitation by Baylor University to deliver the 2015 and 2016 First Faculty Lecture and Last Lecture to incoming freshman students, a five-time nominee for the Baylor University Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching, a one-time nominee for the distinguished Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year Award, the recipient of the 2003 Baylor University School of Education Faculty Achievement in Teaching Award, the 2003 Baylor University School of Education Faculty Achievement in Leadership, the 2003 Phi Kappa Chi Light Your World Banquet honoring Most Influential Professors at BU, the 2001 University of Houston New Faculty Research Award, and the 2001 UH Grant to Enhance and Advance Research Award. In addition to these awards and recognitions, Dr. Talbert holds the honor of being selected as a member of the 2011 inaugural class of Baylor University Fellows who are committed to promoting excellence in the integration of teaching and research.
In 2013 Dr. Talbert decided that it had been far too long since he had been fully immersed in the real world of teaching. Therefore, he submitted an application to Baylor University for a research sabbatical. He returned after a more than 23-year absence to the high school classroom where he taught world history to 166 10th-grade students. His experiences have been captured in both academic journals and popular press articles and will be the subject of a book in the future. As a result of this research and recognition of his years of contribution to the field of qualitative research, Dr. Talbert was named the recipient of the 2014 McGraw-Hill Distinguished Scholar Award.
Dr. Tony L. Talbert continues to serve as a leader in his field of scholarship, an innovator in learning and teaching best practices, and a mentor to the students, faculty, and community constituencies he serves. He is currently engaged in multiple teaching and research projects with faculty colleagues and students examining the concepts of critically conscious reciprocal mentoring and critically conscious student and teacher empowerment. For further information on Dr. Talbert's teaching and research in the areas of qualitative research design and analysis, social/cultural studies education (e.g., education as democracy), and, public education policy and practice, please contact him via email.
Degrees
B.A.
1986 | Stephen F. Austin State University
M.A.
1991 } Baylor University
Ed.D., Curriculum and Instruction Social/Cultural Studies Education and Qualitative Research
1998 | University of Houston
Research Interests
- Social-Cultural Studies-Education Foundations-Philosophy-Education As Democracy
Dr. Talbert refers to his field of research and teaching as “Education As Democracy,” which integrates social/cultural foundations and philosophies of education, equity, diversity, inclusion, and democracy education into a focused discipline of qualitative and ethnographic inquiry examining school and community stakeholder empowerment through activist engagement in political, economic, and social issues. - Qualitative Research Design
Dr. Talbert is a respected leader and methodologist in the fields of qualitative research and mixed methods research. He has collaborated with his faculty peers across the nation and around the globe in the development and implementation of multiple academic and professional development enterprises that provide a strong foundation of qualitative research and analysis theory and practice for both experienced and emerging scholars. He is currently engaged in multiple teaching and research projects with faculty colleagues and students examining the theoretical and applied ideas of qualitative and mixed methods data as a means to data-driven discourse that informs and engages the public. Critically Conscious Reciprocal Mentoring (CCRM) – A Conceptual Framework
Dr. Talbert, Dr. Kevin R. Magill, and Dr. Brooke E. Blevins (University of Idaho) are engaged in a multi-phased research project that integrates philosophy, theory, and practice into a conceptual framework they’ve titled “Critically Conscious Reciprocal Mentoring” CCRM provides an emerging conceptual framework for persons to form a dialogical and reflexive relationship that explicitly dismantles the power imbalances inherent in transactional mentoring structures that comprise the traditional mentor-to-mentee dichotomy. The multi-phased philosophical, theoretical, practice-based CCRM research is grounded in qualitative methodologies and framed within the seminal and contemporary research literature that incorporates the values of difference, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The ultimate goal of the cutting-edge CCRM research is to move from a conceptual to a theoretical framework that when applied will facilitate the reimagining and renewing of an egalitarian learning community in formal and informal spaces.For further information regarding Critically Conscious Reciprocal Mentoring (CCRM) please contact: Tony_Talbert@baylor.edu
Kevin_Magill@baylor.edu
BBlevins@uidaho.edu and/or https://www.uidaho.edu/ed/ci/faculty/brooke-blevins
Expertise
- Teacher and Student Activism and Empowerment
- Social Studies Education
- Qualitative Research Methods
Select Publications
- Journal on Transforming Professional Practice, Vol. 7, Issue 2, p. 11-18, 2022
"Ageism-Induced Anxiety of Job Seekers Aged 50–83: Preliminary Findings from A Phenomenological Case Study Problem of Practice Dissertation"
with co-authors Dr. Nadine E. Franz, Baylor EdD-LOC graduate writing coordinator in the research and writing development center, and Nicholas R. Werse, director of the Baylor EdD-LOC Research and Writing Development Center. - A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, Vol. 17, 2022
"Learning, course satisfaction, and community in the time of COVID-19: Student perceptions of the switch to emergency remote teaching"
with co-author Christina Iluzada, clinical assistant professor - information systems & business analytics