Philip Bernhardt

Professor of Secondary Education

Secondary, K-12 and Educational Technology

Bio

Dr. Philip E. Bernhardt is a Professor of Secondary Education, Associate Director of the Honors Program, and Co-Director of the Teaching Assistant Program. From July 2013 - August 2017 he served as the founding Chair of the Department of Secondary and K-12 Education and Educational Technology. Dr. Bernhardt has spent almost three decades working in public schools, including almost 10 years as a secondary social studies teacher working in co-taught classrooms. He also has experience as an AVID teacher and coached varsity sports at a number of high schools in the Washington, DC Metro area. Dr. Bernhardt has presented on topics that include co-taught classrooms, the barriers to higher education, academic tracking, teacher professional development, curriculum design and assessment, teacher education program design and teacher preparation, induction, and mentoring.

Dr. Bernhardt has published articles in numerous journals including The Journal of Educational Research and Practice, American Secondary Education, The Community School Journal, Current Issues in Education, The Qualitative Report, The Field Experience Journal, Educational Leadership, and the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council . He has chapters published in a number of texts including Teaching Social Studies: A Methods Book for Methods Teachers, What Really Works with Universal Design for Learning, and The Handbook of Research on Critical Thinking Strategies in Pre-Service Learning Environments. Dr. Bernhardt recently had three chapters published in the Encyclopedia of Psychology in the Real World: Education (Routledge).

Dr. Bernhardt co-authored Digital Citizenship: Promoting Wellness for Thriving in a Connected World, a textbook designed to help secondary students better understand and address the unintended consequences of the habitual use of the internet and social media. He also co-edited two different texts on preparing mentor teachers and university-based educators to effectively support teacher candidate learning. Both of these texts were published in late 2020 through Rowman and Littlefield. Dr. Bernhardt also recently published three texts focusing on the systematic ways in which childhood trauma and resiliency development are being addressed in the preparation of teachers. These texts are published through Emerald Publishing) (formerly Information Age Press (IAP). These texts are all part a book series Dr. Bernhardt helped to establish entitled, Contemporary Perspectives on Developing Trauma-Informed Teachers.

Two of these texts were nominated for the Gloria Ladson Billing Outstanding Book Award, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and in 2026 the 3rd book in the series, Developing Trauma-Informed Teachers Intentional Partnerships to Create Classrooms That Foster Equity, Resiliency, and Asset-Based Approaches, was awarded the Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. A fourth book in this series is currently in works and will be published in winter 2026

Dr. Bernhardt earned his M.A.T in Social Studies Education from Boston University and received his Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Degree

EdD in Curriculum and Instruction

The George Washington University, Graduate School of Education and Human Development

MA in Social Studies Education

Boston University School of Education

BA in Communications Studies

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill College of Arts and Sciences

Published Works

Bernhardt, E. P., Schepers, C. O., Brennan, M., Young, S. K. . A Practical Guide for Developing Trauma-Informed Elementary Classrooms: Innovative Activities, Strategies, and Practices for Creating Classrooms that Foster Equity, Resiliency, and Asset-Based Approaches. Emerald Publishing ,
Bernhardt, E. P., Forgash, R., Hernandez-Julian, R., Hughes, M. . Can We Really Admit Students with a 2.0 GPA into the Honors Program? Findings, Conclusions, and Programmatic Implications from a Year-Long Study. (in press). Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (JNCHC).
Forgash, R., Bernhardt, E. P. (2025). Biannual Executive Summaries, 2021-present: Mixed Methods Research on the Impact of the 海角社区 Teaching Assistant Program on Student Satisfaction, Performance, and Rentention. ,
Bernhardt, E. P., Schepers, C. O., Brennan, M. (2025). Developing Trauma-Informed Teachers: Intentional Partnerships to Create Classrooms that Foster Equity, Resiliency, and Asset-Based Approaches . (). Information Age Press (IAP).
Bernhardt, E. P., Brennan, M., . (2023). Developing Trauma-Informed Teachers: Creating Classrooms that Foster Equity, Resiliency, and Asset-Based Approaches: Implementation of Curricula and Programs in Teacher Preparation. (). Information Age Publishing.
Bernhardt, E. P., Schepers, O., Brennan, M. (2022). Developing Trauma-Informed Teachers: Creating Classrooms that Foster Equity, Resiliency, and Asset-Based Approaches: Research Findings from Teacher Preparation. (). Information Age Publishing.
Bernhardt, E. P., Schepers, C. O., Brennan, M. (2022). Series Editor - Contemporary Perspectives on Developing Trauma-Informed Teachers. Information Age Press (Information Age Press). Information Age Publishing,
Bernhardt, E. P., Bohanan, B. (2022). Mentoring Matters: Resources for Mentor Teachers to Support Teacher Candidates. Open Educationl Resource,
Bernhardt, E. P. (2022). Clinical Practice: Definition, Contextual Elements, and Impact. (). .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2022). Hidden Curriculum: Definitions and Examples. (). .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2022). Outcomes and Placement Criteria: Two Important Dimensions of Academic Tracking. (). .
Bernhardt, E. P., Richmond, A. (2021). Enhancing critical thinking through the use of student-generated case studies.. (). IGI Global.
Bernhardt, E. P., Richardson, G., Thomas, C. (2020). Engaged Clinical Practice: Preparing Mentor Teachers and University-Based Educators to Support Teacher Candidate Learning. (). Rowman & Littlefield / Association of Teacher Education (ATE).
Bernhardt, E. P. (2020). Performance-based assessments in a virtual environment. CSUN Center for Teaching and Learning,
Bernhardt, E. P., Conway, T. T., Richardson, G. (2020). Collaborative Models for Clinical Practice: Reflections from the Field. (). .
Bernhardt, E. P., Porter, A. (2019). Digital Citizenship: Promoting Wellness for Thriving in a Connected World . ,
Bernhardt, E. P. (2019). UDL & Social Studies: A Relationship Enhanced Through Project-Based Learning. (). Corwin Press.
Bernhardt, E. P., Richmond, S. A. (2019). Promoting Critical Thinking Through the Use of Student- Generated Case Studies. (pp 438-447). IGI Global.
Bernhardt, E. P. (2018). Teacher decision-making: Using hypothetical vignettes to examine the course recommendation process. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 8(1). .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2018). Navigating a life of theory: An autobiography of privilege, place and teaching. The Qualitative Report.
Sell, R. C., Bernhardt, E. P. (2017). Teachers鈥� as decision makers: Using document-based activity structure (DBAS) to create social studies curriculum. (pp 193-198). Information Age Publishing.
Bernhardt, E. P., Murawski, W. (2015). Five steps to instituting successful co-teaching: An administrator鈥檚 guide. Educational Leasdership,
Bernhardt, E. P. (2015). Northfield HS: The school reform that needs our attention and support. , www.aplusdenver.org
Bernhardt, E. P., Koester, I. M. (2015). Preparing mentors: Professional development to support clinical practice. . The Field Experience Journal, 15(1), 37-57. .
Bernhardt, E. P., . (2015). 21st Century Learning: Professional development in practice. The Qualitative Report, 20(1), 1-19. .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2014). Opening up classroom space: Student voice, autobiography, & the curriculum (reprint).. ,
Bernhardt, E. P. (2014). Academic Placement: Creating Transparency, Equity, and Well-Defined Practices . , avidcollegeready.org/college-career-readiness/2014/11/7/academic-placement-creating-transparency-equity-and-well-def.html
Bernhardt, E. P. (2014). Course placement: Why do we need to understand the process?. , avidcollegeready.org/college-career-readiness/2014/5/1/course-placement-why-do-we-need-to-understand-the-process.html
Bernhardt, E. P. (2014). Making decisions about academic trajectories: An examination of social studies teachers鈥� course recommendation practices . American Secondary Education, 42(2), 33-50. .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2014). How do I get in? Criteria shaping the high school course recommendation process.. Current Issues in Education, 17(1). .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2013). The Advancement Via Individual Determination program: Providing cultural capital and college access to low-income students. The Community School Journal, 23(1), 203-222. .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2012). Two teachers in dialogue: Understanding the commitment to teach. The Qualitative Report, 17(Art. 104). www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR17/bernhardt.pdf .
Bernhardt, E. P., Clark, M. (2010). Exploring 21st century skills: A literature review. The Washington International School (WIS),
Bernhardt, E. P., Burns, J., Lombard, M., Steeves, K. (2009). Transforming the American Educational Identity After Sputnik. American Educational History Journal, 36(1), 71-88. .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2009). Opening up classroom space: Student voice, autobiography & the curriculum. The High School Journal, 92(3), 61-67. .
Bernhardt, E. P. (2008). Moving Every Child Ahead. Education Review: A Journal of Book Reviews,
Bernhardt, E. P., Blumenthal, S., Burns, J., Clark, M. (2008). Reflecting back, Looking Forward. American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies Newsletter,

Research Interests

Co-teaching; curricular design; new teacher mentoring and induction; teacher preparation; new teacher development; and academic tracking - specifically how middle and high schools establish course placement norms to help students access advanced-level coursework

Teaching Interests

Each of my experiences as an educator, learner, and researcher has been influenced by my beliefs about teaching. First, I am guided by a belief in the importance of education. I am a lifelong learner who believes research, experience and interaction with others are fundamental to the educational process. My goal is to help students learn by exposing them to new ideas, encouraging them to continuously seek out new knowledge and pushing them to critically examine the information they encounter each day.

Second, my philosophy is shaped by how I understand the teaching process. Teaching is an extremely challenging profession that requires a tremendous amount of time, commitment, energy, flexibility and planning. Critically examining my own teaching strengths and challenges has inspired me to experiment with different pedagogical strategies and seek out advice from more experienced educators. For me, an effective teacher is one who is respectful, reflective, demanding, approachable, supportive and open to change.

My understanding of the learning process is the third component of my teaching philosophy. Learning is a lifelong endeavor and each day we have multiple opportunities to access knowledge and pursue different ways of thinking. I believe we learn by example and through discovery. As a beginning teacher I quickly learned the power of modeling and the importance of encouraging students to try new things. This perspective can be summarized by an ancient Chinese proverb: 鈥淭ell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me I understand.鈥� Because we are influenced by our surroundings, I believe learning is also a result of the interaction between and among personal experience, relationships with others and the various social, historical and temporal contexts in which we are embedded.

Finally, I believe we learn from our mistakes. Some of my most important learning experiences resulted from mistakes.