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January 2005
Michael Seth Mott

by Jeffrey Stanley

Michael Seth Mott ’82 is Assistant Professor of Literacy and Early Childhood Education at Purdue University Calumet. After attending BFS for four years he went on to earn a BS in political science from SUNY Stony Brook, an MS in early childhood education from Bank Street College, and a PhD in curriculum and instruction from Mississippi State University.

“I’m a professor of early childhood education and literacy. I teach and conduct research in education,” said Mott. His forthcoming book, Hypermedia for Education (Purdue University Press), explores methodologies that reading and writing teachers can use to incorporate technology into their curricula.

Mott grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, “prior to the current era
of gentrification,” he pointed out. In those days it was racially and ethnically diverse, and “a very vibrant New York City neighborhood.”

Today he lives in the Chicago, IL suburb of Flossmoor with his wife Cyrana, a professor of criminal justice and a former Brooklyn District Attorney. “We have a beautiful son, Michael Wallace Mott, a vibrant six-year-old.”

Mott entered BFS in the 9th grade. “My first impression was that this is a caring place where people get to know you, the individual.” In particular he recalled English teacher Pat Ellis, who “helped me to realize that the teaching and learning process is about intelligent conversations between students and teachers and student to student. In her class we read all of Eugene O’Neill’s plays. To this day, I understand deeply the major artistic brilliance of O’Neill. When I teach adults I reflect back on how Pat engaged in the process.”

Teacher and librarian Lawrence Gibson also had a major impact on Mott. “He spent two weeks reading his autobiographical play on growing up with a dad who was a member of the KKK. Talk about learning about Civil Rights! Unbelievable. From a Shakespearian trained actor no less. Words do an injustice to the experience.”

Then there was math teacher Charles Green, whose teaching style was clear and direct. “He made you learn math. You had no choice.”

As someone who went into education himself and now teaches others how to be educators, the influence of his BFS teachers was particularly important to Mott’s professional development. “I learned that teaching and learning is about understanding individuals and facilitating their growth versus filling up an empty can with information.” Mott describes himself as an experientially-based constructivist educator, and attributes that approach to having been a learner at BFS.

His advice to the current crop of BFS learners is in keeping with this passion for an open teacher-student relationship in the classroom: “talk more to your teachers. I would encourage students to raise their hands and let a steady stream of consciousness flow. Because when you leave, most educators [outside of BFS] won’t support that.”

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