The work that Fellows engage in within the Knowles community—practitioner inquiry, professional development, opening and critiquing each other’s practice—is built on a shared understanding that teaching is important and intellectually challenging work.”

Roseanne’s Story

Roseanne Rostock began her teaching career in the Boston Public Schools, teaching high school physics and mentoring a student engineering club. She later taught math and physics at a small charter high school in Philadelphia, where she introduced a physics-first model and developed a math SAT-prep program. At both schools, Roseanne acted as a school-wide teacher leader for instruction and school restructuring.

While working as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, Roseanne drew on her classroom and leadership experience to support science and English teachers from six high schools and 23 elementary schools in Naga City. Her work focused on helping Filipino teachers to improve their science content knowledge and English fluency, and to develop critical thinking in students.

Roseanne holds a BS in physics from Lehigh University, an MAT from Boston University, and an EdD in Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctoral research explored how early career teachers participate with their colleagues in various communities and discourses to build their own professional identity — determining the “kind of teacher” they want to become. Roseanne’s areas of interest include practitioner inquiry, teacher communities, critical friends groups, and teacher leadership, and she has presented research from the Knowles Teaching Fellowship at various conferences including the American Educational Research Association, the International Teacher Leadership Conference, and the Ethnography in Education Research Forum. 

She lives outside of Philadelphia and enjoys gardening, hiking, and spending time with her husband and two young sons.

Email: roseanne.rostock@knowlesteachers.org

Curriculum Vitae