Shannon Whalen Gifford
Shannon Whalen Gifford
- Doctor of Education, Columbia University Teacher's College, New York, N.Y., 1999
- Master of Science, Columbia University Teacher's College, New York, N.Y., 1998
- Master of Arts, New York University, New York, N.Y., 1995
- Bachelor of Science, University of Delaware, Newark, Del., 1992
Shannon Whalen Gifford has been a professor in the Department of Physical Education and Health Education at Springfield College for more than 20 years. She also held faculty positions and taught health education, physical education, and athletic training courses at Adelphi University, The College of Mount Saint Vincent, and John Jay College, CUNY. Prior to working in higher education, Gifford worked as a health teacher in the Clarkstown Central School District and the Yonkers Public School System in New York. She has spent much of her recent time developing the curriculum for the online graduate programs in Health Promotion and Health Equity, and frequently presents workshops and webinars at the local, state, and national level. Her areas of expertise are student engagement, online teaching strategies, health equity and social justice, women’s health issues, social-emotional health, psychosocial health issues, and violence and bullying prevention. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her family, kayaking, walking, hiking, and is an avid reader and audiobook listener.
- Health Equity and Social Justice
- Curriculum Development
- Positive Mental Health
- Behavior-Based Instructional Strategies
- Cultural Humility, Student Engagement
- HLTH 360: Violence and Bullying Prevention and Intervention
- HLTH 365: Psychosocial Health Issues
- HLTH 545 Trauma-Informed Educational Practices
- HLTH 602: Determinants of Health Equity
- HLTH 607: Assessing Power and Privilege in Health
- HLTH 615: Advocacy and Leadership in Health Education
- HLTH 617: Social & Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents
- HLTH 619: Advanced Instructional Strategies in Health Education
Selected Works
Presentations
- Clark, O., Gifford, S. Sziszak, G. & Whalen-Sylver, B. (2025, Feb). Practice what you teach; Fostering positive mental-health among pre-service teachers. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. Long Beach, CA.
- Gifford, S., Clark, O. & Sziszak, G. (2025, Jan). What does equitable and culturally responsive teaching look like? Webinar presented for the American School Health Association.
- Gifford, S., Clark, O. (2024, Nov). Theater skits assignments as health promotion and health education tools in the classroom and beyond. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American School Health Association conference. Pittsburgh, PA
- Gifford, S., Clark, O., Sziszak, G. & Whalen-Sylver, B. (2024, Oct.). Advancing positive mental health among children and adolescents; learning experiences designed to promote health and reduce risk. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American School Health Association. Pittsburg, PA.
- Clark O. & Gifford S. (2024, May). Promoting Health Equity and Educational Excellence in Rural Communities. Poster presented at the National Rural Health Association’s Health Equity Conference, New Orleans, LA.
- Gifford, S. (2022, July). Teaching skills to foster social emotional competencies among young people, in the K-12 classroom and beyond. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American School Health Association. Albuquerque, NM.
- Gifford, S. (2022, July). Integrating discussions about social justice and health equity into the school health curriculum; we can do more than one-and-done. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American School Health Association. Albuquerque, NM.
