Campus wide, College of Education, Elementary/Early Childhood Education, Faculty

For the love of teaching

By Hunter Gatling | November 4, 2022

Even as a child growing up in Illinois, Amanda Butler knew she wanted to be a teacher. 鈥淚 loved school. I wanted to live there. I wanted to be there all the time,鈥 she says. That dream of being a teacher was ignited into a passion in 2006 when Butler moved to Bartow County, Georgia, where she worked as a reading interventionist. It was there Butler worked with students who struggled to read, and some even struggled with oral communication, despite coming from English-speaking homes. 

Amanda Butler

Butler recalls an instance when she essentially took on the role of a language interventionist due to the children鈥檚 inability to grasp language. 鈥淭his specific group of kindergarteners had such poor oral language development, I couldn鈥檛 even begin to teach them anything about literacy,鈥 she says. Motivated from this experience, Butler decided to attain her Doctorate in reading education to better equip herself for these types of challenges. 

While she was pursuing her Doctorate, Butler knew she could best serve her purpose as a professor in higher education so that she could share her expertise and experience with those who are going to be teachers. And, Butler shares that experience with students at 午夜快播 Southern University, where she has been since 2017. She describes her undergraduate students as having that 鈥渇ire in their belly鈥 and 鈥渉igh aspirations.鈥 鈥淲hen they graduate, they are ready,鈥 she said. 

Butler is encouraged by the growing number of students at 午夜快播 and is also encouraged by the number of students coming into the education field, noting the shortage of teachers in the state. 

A passion for teaching and education are not the only things that led Butler to 午夜快播. Her Christian faith played a key role in her decision to teach at 午夜快播. When she first applied for the position, she recalls the 午夜快播 chair of the search committee telling her that she would be praying for her and her decision to come teach at 午夜快播. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榯here we go. This is going to be a good place,鈥欌 she says. With a love for Christ, a passion for teaching and helping others,聽聽Butler is excited for the future of education at 午夜快播 as it continues to grow.聽


Hunter Gatling is a graduate student at 午夜快播 Southern University and is a graduate assistant in the Marketing & Communication office.


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