Maia Kling, PhD
Personal Statement
I grew up in a home with no TV. Instead, we were surrounded by innumerable books, creative play, lively conversation, and ongoing adventure. Dad was a scholar -outdoorsman who spoke eight languages and Mother spoke five. She was reared in Brazil and was filled with fun. My older siblings and I were born in Europe and we came to America for grade school. As a teenager I lived in Mexico with my maternal grandparents. There I learned Spanish and came to appreciate for myself the special gifts of international friendships, different languages, and world cultures. Language and culture fascinated me and I couldn’t get enough. I began teaching English at the age of 15 and I’ve been teaching ever since!
Today, the hallmarks of my teaching are exploration and making connections. It is important to explore the content and study at hand, but it is also important to explore who you are as the learner and how you interact with the world and what you are learning. Connecting everything together and making it meaningful and congruent for your profession, family, relationships, and society are equally important. This is what we do in our lessons as student and teacher, one small step at a time. We learn together and grow with each other.
I love people. In my spare time I enjoy art and music, children, reading, beautiful skies, and my friends’ dogs.
Resume
Experience
- Language Tutor and Educational Consultant, VA, FL, GA 1982-Present
- Develop and deliver 1:1 education support services to K-12 students with specific linguistic, academic, and social needs.
- Provide tailored ESL language and cultural competence coaching for visiting university scholars and foreign business professionals.
- Multicultural Education Specialist | Read to Them, VA
- Conducted organization’s biliteracy initiatives with emphasis on cultural competence and bilingualism
- Managed team of staff, volunteers, and public-private partnerships to design, coordinate, and implement ongoing multicultural, K-5 family literacy engagement through tailored initiatives with local Title I schools.
- Program Coordinator, Classroom Teacher | Arlington Public Schools, VA
- Recruited to co-develop and coordinate pilot, state-of-the-art, high-school diploma program for immigrant adult students in highly diverse Metro DC area.
- Conducted ongoing program development, administration, upper-level language teaching, and oversight of site program team.
- Associate Professor (Spanish) | Houghton College and Bluffton University, NY, OH
- Taught beginning and upper-level Spanish, literature, history, culture, linguistics, ESL, and sociolinguistics.
- Developed and taught courses in intercultural communication
Education
- George Mason University PH.D. with distinction, Education in Multicultural Systems, emphases on socio- and psycholinguistics, second language acquisition, and community engagement.
- Harvard University Ed.M., Human Development, emphases on language and culture.
- Smith College A.B., Spanish, Latin American Studies, Art History
Testimonials
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