College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

Educator of the year

Foreign language professor honored by state organization.
A long-time high school foreign language teacher, Linda Quinn Allen made the jump a few years ago from secondary education to higher education.

And while she still gets up in front of a classroom virtually every working day, Allen says there are very distinct differences.

"In a college setting, the focus is on content," the assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures said. "You write a syllabus at the beginning of the semester and you stay pretty much on task.

"In high school it's almost like you're a parent helping and guiding the students along. There's so much involved than just the subject you're teaching. I wanted more of an intellectual challenge than teaching in a high school setting could give me."

That's not to say that Allen hasn't maintained her association with secondary education.

First at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and now at Iowa State, Allen not only teaches French, but also teaches foreign language education methodology courses to future secondary instructors. She also supervises foreign language teachers during their student teaching practicum.

"When working with the student teachers I can still identify with the high school foreign language teacher," she said. "It's really neat to go to the different schools and see what their programs are like."

She also enjoys seeing the student teacher grow in the classroom.

"It's such a kick to see a senior college student turn into a teacher," she said. "It's such a great transformation.

"I love teaching methodology," she continued. "But I also love French. I have always identified myself as a French teacher and I guess that is what's so great about my position at Iowa State - I can do both."

Allen's colleagues must think that she’s doing a good job in supervising and instructing future teachers. In October of this year, the Iowa World Language Association (IWLA) named her Outstanding Educator of the Year (college and university level).

She was also recognized for her work with the State Department of Education in orienting teachers from Spain to Iowa foreign language classrooms, giving workshops for the Area Education Agencies, serving as the public university representative to the IWLA, and team-teaching with central Iowa middle school and high school teachers.

A recent paper she published was aawarded the national Stephen A. Freeman Award for Best Published Article on Language Teaching Techniques.

While she has helped college students become better teachers, Allen herself feels that she has come a long way since she started teaching high school in Indiana.

"I have grown as a teacher every year that I've taught," she said. "I think I’m sensitive to suggestions students might have."

Technology has even crept into the teaching of foreign languages. With the addition of the Cargill Digitally Enhanced Foreign Languages Classroom, Allen says she is able to utilize the Internet and other technologies in her methodology courses.