Dr. Robert Isherwood

Tell me about yourself. What is your educational background and where have you worked previously?

I graduated from SRU in 1990 in special education and elementary education on Saturday, December 12 and was employed two days after on December 14. My first job included working for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit where I was responsible for second grade emotional and behavioral support in the Elizabeth Forward SD. I then taught special education at Highlands School District. I immediately began working on a Master’s Degree at the University of Pittsburgh from 1992-1994 in Special Education and Principal’s Certification from 1994-1996. 1996-2003 was spent working on my Doctorate in Administration and Policy Studies. Between Slippery Rock University and the University of Pittsburgh I spent 17 years in school.  

What attracted you to Slippery Rock University, and in particular, the education department?

I was a first-generation college graduate; nobody else in my family had a college degree. SRU opened many doors for me. I didn’t grow up around people with college degrees, and I did not understand the significance of a college education until I had one. Furthermore, SRU is my home, and I am extremely fond of the campus. I remember my first days on this campus like it was yesterday.  The first person I met was Eliott Baker who is now the Director of Academic Records.  Eliott made such a great impression on my family and I.   He was a big reason I chose SRU for my undergraduate education.

When I came back to SRU in 2004, I started as a one-year temporary faculty member and got to teach with many people who were my mentors when I was a college student. This was an amazing experience and made me want to stay here.  

What type of research are you interested in and what research projects are you currently working on?

I do a lot of work with school administration: consultation of special education law, strategic planning, and inclusion. I work as much in the field as much as I do at the college, and I do workshops everywhere. It is my obligation to be well-versed in the field so that I can give my students the most accurate information in the classroom.

My research passion is child psychiatric disorders. My hope is to write a book on emotional and behavioral issues that impact children and adolescents before I retire.   

What classes are you teaching this semester?

High Incidence Disabilities, Instructional Education for Supervisors (Online), and Advanced Studies for Learning Disabilities (Online).

What is your favorite course to teach? Why?

Psychiatric Disorders of Childhood and Adolescents, a doctoral class which is taught online. The content is so fascinating. These disorders are impacting children at an alarming rate today and educators need to be more aware of these chronic mental illnesses.

What has been your most rewarding experience as a teacher/professor? If you cannot narrow it to one, describe one rewarding experience.

Earlier in my career, my most rewarding experiences were receiving accolades for my research and presentations. It is a part of getting promoted and is something expected as a professor.  But as I have gotten older, what is considered “rewarding” has changed. For me, the most important thing is knowing that one of my students has successfully landed a job, or is doing well professionally. Seeing my students do well and develop professionally and personally has gotten more important as time has gone on. I would rather see my students become successful more than anything else. I want to produce the most confident, knowledgeable people because they are working with kids, and there is nothing more precious than our children.

I had the opportunity to coach high school football for 13 years as part of my career.  As a high school head coach, I was always obsessed with winning. It was such a part of my competitive nature. If I could go back and change my philosophy to what it is now, I could have been a better leader of young men. Less worried about winning and more worried about the impact I was having as a mentor on my players.  Nobody will remember the awards and wins years later. They remember how you acted toward them and treated them.  Coaching is nothing more than teaching on a different type of classroom.   It was one of the most important things I have done as an educator.   I only wish I could go back sometimes and really spend time enjoying the players and students.  

What were you like as a college student?

I was a solid student, but by no means a scholar. I was here to accumulate credits, get my degree and leave. On a different level, I formed some of my best friendships here and I still talk to some of those people. The comradery that I had with others gave me some of the fondest memories of my life. I never had to worry about anything except for academics; the experience was easy and challenging in different respects for me.

What do you know now that you wish you would have known as a college student?

This experience (college/becoming educated) is a marathon not a sprint. Take time to enjoy the process of learning and take time to celebrate the accomplishments. I didn’t attend the ceremonies for my high school, undergraduate, or graduate degrees. The first graduation I attended in my life was for my doctoral degree at the University of Pittsburgh. I was always in this race to get the next degree, job, or opportunity and didn’t realize that the process was the most important thing during the entire experience. Celebrate the accomplishments. Enjoy the process, the campus, and the day. There is no place better to be than on this campus on a beautiful day. Slow it down. This is a great life.

I get up in the morning and don’t even feel like I am going to work. When you have that experience and feeling, it never gets old. There has not been a day when I have not wanted to come to campus. Enjoy the experience in front of you. Slippery Rock University is a great place!

What advice would you give to students who are entering or are currently in the teacher preparation program?

The job field is very competitive. Teaching is also a profession that is taken very seriously by the public, so you better be knowledgeable and prepared. Regardless of whatever field you’re in, if you are good at what you do, you will find a job; “you can’t keep a good man down.” You cannot be a mediocre student or half-heartedly embrace this service. Teaching is a profession and requires competency, and it is serious business. People rightfully expect a lot out of public servants. Future teachers need to take that seriously.

What is one way that Slippery Rock University has positively influenced your life and/or professional career?

As a first-generation college student, SRU instilled in me a passion for learning. I walked out of here looking for my next opportunity. My experience at SRU as an undergraduate was the first stepping stone  to a successful career. It opened my eyes to the possibilities -- what my life could be. The people here instilled a sense of what you could be if you became educated. Becky Badgett taught me that, and she was one of the five most influential people in my life. I almost quit college 2 times, and she would not let me. She gave me so many pep talks. Without Becky, I wouldn’t be where I am. People like Becky and Dr. Dennis Fair and Mr. Fred Livingston, all my professors, were great influences on my life.  I owe them and SRU so much!

Dr. Vaughn Bicehouse

Tell me about yourself. What is your educational background and where have you worked previously?

In the 1980s, I went to Grove City College and received a degree in social studies education. I didn’t get a job immediately, so I substitute taught and was called in a lot to work with children in special education and fell in love with the field. I then came back to Slippery Rock to get another Bachelor’s degree in special education, started in the field, and spent 20 years teaching. I did emotional, learning, and autistic support before coming back to Slippery Rock for a Master’s Degree and certificate in special education. I then received my doctorate at Duquesne. This is my 9th year of teaching college.

What attracted you to Slippery Rock University, and in particular, the education department? 

Slippery Rock was one of the first colleges in the 1960’s to have a special education program. They were state-of-the-art in that regard. We received a lot of federal grant money to sponsor trips and that was very beneficial to the students. I also had wonderful professors (Badgett, Dinger, and Berner), and I appreciated the “lab school” where students would get exposure to individuals with diverse disabilities and learn about IEPs.

What research projects are you currently working on?

I am very interested in the best teaching practices and studying people on the autistic spectrum. One story that I wrote was about the parents of special education children, which is a perspective that many people do not think about. I contacted a woman who was featured in a story on “60 Minutes” and was the mother of a very low-functioning child. I wrote a story about her. We learn so much about complicated disabilities and the students that it can be easy to forget about the other people who are affected by these disorders.

What classes do you teach?
Low Incidence Disabilities, a class about the Autism Spectrum, Practicum, and Special Education Laws.

What is your favorite course to teach? Why?

I like anything that helps prepare somebody to teach. This includes specific learning strategies to benefit children with disabilities, how students learn, and the best teaching practices.

What has been your most rewarding experience as a teacher/professor? If you cannot narrow it to one, describe one rewarding experience.

I moved to Florida for a year and taught in one of the most socioeconomically-challenged school districts. I learned more that year than I did in all of my other 19 years of education. I was the learning support teacher. The school had 20 year-old textbooks, out-of-date technology, poor environmental factors, housing, and home situations. But the students and I had a genuine connection because they viewed me as a parental figure, and that was very important for them to have because of the home lives that many of them were coming from. Consequently, I learned never to take education for granted and try and instill that passion in every student that crosses my path.

This is one story that stuck out to me:

I was working as emotional support for students, and on the first day, one of my students ripped up my rules the moment that he received it and made it clear that he would not follow any of them! This was very typical of the behavior that I had seen at that school with this population of learners. Several years after however, he ended up being the best man at my wedding. He even told me later, “I would never have gotten my diploma were it not for you.”

Another meaningful experience that I had did not deal directly with teaching. The whole field of special education came to life the first time that I had sat in the parent side of the IEP meeting table and realized how precious my daughter’s future was. Before, I was always the person who created the IEP’s. This new perspective was tremendously powerful and eye-opening for me.


What were you like as a college student?
When I was at Grove City, I did not take it very seriously. My attitude was geared toward being more social and joining every club that I could. Teaching was never on my radar. I majored in political science and intended to go to law school. However, one of my advisers told me during my junior year that I should teach instead of pursue a political science degree! So, he changed my major immediately and scheduled me to begin student teaching just weeks later!


What do you know now that you wish you would have known as a college student?
I would not have taken myself so seriously. Life is really about helping other people. The most I would want others to say about is that “he was a good guy because he helped others.” I always ask my children, “what have you done for somebody else today?”

Also, we should not pity. Rather, we should give people opportunities. With special education, many of our IEP students never have the opportunity to give back and have that unmistakably warm feeling of giving to others, for example. I have dealt with this as a teacher before. In an economics class that I taught, a few of my special education students had won some money from a business simulation, and instead of spending that money on ourselves, we used it to buy Christmas gifts for economically-disadvantaged people in our area. The students loved it because they did something that they rarely had the opportunity to do.


What advice would you give to students who are entering or are currently in the teacher preparation program?
Teaching is about lovingly treating each child as a person of worth who can reach their full potential. The stereotypes that are often imposed on children are very bad, and we need to understand students in a more positive way.

When I taught in Florida, I had 5-10 students who would come to my room to each lunch and talk with me. These experiences were so important because the students had the opportunity to be honest and feel secure outside of the general education classroom environment. I was also able to learn more about the students’ personal lives and give them advice.

It is also important to mention that teachers plant seeds. Teachers often won’t see direct effects immediately, but those seeds eventually blossom. I was messaged one day on LinkedIn by a former student who asked me to meet with him. Whenever we met, he told me how conflicted his life was around the time that I was his teacher, but how important my presence was to him as he grew up. He thanked me for the influence that I had on his life. Teachers might not see their effect on students for years, but it is greater than you might imagine.

As many teachers know, the profession is not about the money; it is about feeling good about what you’re doing and making an impact on other people.

What is one way that Slippery Rock University has positively influenced your life and/or professional career?
Slippery Rock has positively influenced me on both a professional and personal level. My daughter with epilepsy attended multiple programs through the Equestrian center which were so beneficial to her confidence. Slippery Rock also offered adaptive swimming programs which gave her 1-on-1 experience doing activities that she enjoyed.

Slippery Rock has taught me professional skills by helping me see the value of other people. The school has offered me many opportunities that I would not have had otherwise.