Zoë Breen Wood is an associate professor with over 40 years� experience as a practitioner, researcher, educator and consultant in the fields of social work practice, policy and education.
Her research focuses on factors that contribute to positive adoption outcomes for children placed through the child welfare system.
In addition to her extensive child welfare background, Wood has worked for much of her career on the implementation and evaluation of competency based education, and provided consultation and training in leadership development.
Biosketch | Curriculum Vitae |
Why I Teach
Teaching is about learning, about creating an environment that allows us to ask questions, seek solutions, make mistakes and boldly learn some more. It is about the co-creation of new knowledge and building relationships in the classroom that are models for the relationships we have with the people and communities we serve. As bell hooks has said, “The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.� After over 30 years of teaching, I continue to be humbled and inspired by the students I meet, the relationships we form and the possibilities we create together.
Why I Chose This Profession
When I was growing up, my father always said that we are put on this earth to make it a better place for all living things. As I began to explore career options, I discovered social work and never looked back. Our profession gives us a chance to work from a systems perspective to understand the multiple factors contributing to social issues and to intervene at a number of levels, building on strengths. No other helping profession has the flexibility and creativity to allow each of us to pursue our desire to change the world, while continuing to learn and transform ourselves.