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She’s already earned teaching honors from her colleagues at the University and the Graduate School of Social Work. Now, Associate Professor of Social Work Kathleen McInnis-Dittrich has been accorded the same distinction by her professional peers.
McInnis-Dittrich was recently selected for a “Greatest Contribution to Social Work Education” award from the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter (NASWMA), in recognition of her teaching, mentoring, course development and use of instructional technology in the field of older-adult mental health.
“It’s a humbling honor, especially since it comes from my professional colleagues,” said McInnis-Dittrich, who joined the GSSW faculty in 1994. “I think this is the best job in the world. Being able to offer guidance to the next generation of social workers is an honor and a privilege.
“I am also very happy to be part of an educational institution that values and supports good teaching.”
McInnis-Dittrich is chair of the school’s Older Adults and Families concentration. She was the primary developer of a three-course curriculum integrating a clinical and macro-practice approach to social work with older adults.
The winner of a university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award and a similar honor from GSSW, McInnis-Dittrich was appointed in 2006 as the school’s inaugural “teaching chair,” providing mentoring, training and other support to help GSSW faculty improve classroom instruction. She developed a sophisticated Blackboard/Vista site featuring original videos on teaching and writing scholarly publications.
In addition, McInnis-Dittrich developed and teaches a required doctoral course on adult pedagogy, Theories and Methods of Teaching in Professional Education. Through the Hartford Doctoral Fellow Program, she works on a special project on teaching excellence administered through Stanford University.
A NASWMA press release announcing the award praised McInnis-Dittrich as “selfless in her dedication to educating our next generation of social workers, and generous in her training of social workers on the front line of service delivery. Her students have emerged as leaders in their own right in the care of elders, and for this, Katie is deserving of this special recognition.”