Dr. Shannon Wanless is Director of the Office of Child Development, a social-emotional learning and early childhood scholar, and a 2024 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow.
- The Office of Child Development is a large university-community engagement center in the School of Education, that is focused on ensuring that all children and families thrive. For more news about the Office of Child Development, visit the website, like it on Facebook or Instagram, and subscribe to the quarterly newsletter.
- The Ascend Fellowship is an 18-month development journey in a cohort of diverse leaders who are well-connected, well-prepared, and powerfully positioned to build political will, change systems, and drive the policy agenda needed for the prosperity and well-being of all children and families. Dr. Wanless’s leadership project in this fellowship will focus on breaking down silos in child-serving disciplines, and building a community of practice with community members to advance justice, equity, love, and humanity throughout the early childhood ecosystem.
Shannon began her career as a YMCA Summer Camp Director and a Head Start Teacher. She worked in urban and rural settings, and with children whose families showed incredible resilience in the face of the never-ending challenges of being refugees and being undocumented in the U.S. She earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Michigan, a doctoral degree in Human Development and Family Sciences at Oregon State University and was a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching & Learning (CASTL) at the University of Virginia. Shannon was a Fulbright scholar for one year in Taiwan and researched the ways that social-emotional skills and self-regulation develop in a collectivist culture.
Having been in Pittsburgh for over a decade, Shannon continues to focus on building community and social change among adults that are helping young children thrive. She explores ways that children, preservice teachers, and professionals develop future-building skills and how to create classroom, school, and organizational climates that reflect these practices. Shannon currently teaches Attentional Teaching Practices (ATP), PSYED 1004, which is part of the CASE program for early childhood preservice teachers.
PSYED 1004, C.A.S.E. Early Childhood Preservice Teacher Education Program. Learn more
Study Abroad Cross-Cultural Psychology PSYED 2588. Learn more
Cultivating Adult and Child Social Emotional Development and Social Justice & Equity Development
Organizational and School Climates that Promote Learning, Humanity, and Anti-Oppression
Zinsser, K.M. & Wanless, S.B. (2020). Racial disproportionality in the school-to-prison pipeline. In M.C. Stevenson, B.L. Bottoms, & K.C. Burke (Eds.), The legacy of racism for children: Psychology, law, and public policy (pp. 129-150). New York, NY: Oxford.
Wanless, S.B. & Barnes, T.N. (2020, March). The missing link in social emotional learning. Blog posted online in honor of SELday 2020, calling for more focus on social justice and equity in the social emotional learning field. https://www.ocd.pitt.edu/social-emotional-learning
Wanless, S.B., Cornell, D., Davis, D. (2019). Emotional and physical safety. In D. Osher, M. Mayer, T. Osher, R. Jagers, & K. Kendziora (Eds.), Keeping students safe and helping them thrive: A collaborative handbook for education, mental health, child welfare, safety, and justice professionals, families, and communities: Vol. 1. (Chapter 8). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
White, A. & Wanless, S.B. (2019). P.R.I.D.E.: Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education, Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education, 4(2), 73-84.
Miller, J., Wanless, S.B., & Weissberg, R. (2018). Parenting for competence and parenting with competence: Essential connections between parenting and social and emotional learning. The School-Community Journal, 28(2), 9-28.
The Grable Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA The Greater Pittsburgh Education Leaders Academy (PELA): Infusing Educational Ecosystems with Culturally Responsive SEL Leadership (May 2020-April 2021) $40,000 Co-PIs: Tina Raspanti, Shannon Wanless, Michelle King
Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. Early Head Start Home Visiting Program (2019-2020) $4,319,152 PI: Shannon Wanless Team: Family Foundations, Directed by Chris Dunkerley
Remake Learning, Pittsburgh, PA Igniting Racial Equity in Allegheny County’s Out-of-School Literacy Ecosystem (May 2020 – April 2021) $5,000 PI: Meghan Orman* Team: The 3Rs Community Strand of The Pittsburgh Study
Wanless, S.B. (2019). My Racial Journey. Open Access Education Resources Award, $5,000, Provost’s Office, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Wanless, S.B., White, A., Jackson, M, Mulvey, L. (2017-2020). A World of PRIDE (Positive Racial Identity Development in Early education) in Pittsburgh. $1,081,987, Kellogg Foundation.
Awards and Honors:
- Selected Participants for the Transformative Educational Leadership Program. (June 2020 -May 2021). This intensive yearlong program focuses on developing the leadership skills of educational leaders, with a focus on equity, social emotional learning, and mindfulness. https://www.teleadership.org/
- Women in Academic Leadership (WIN-AL) Program Participant (2019 – 2020), University of Pittsburgh, http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/news/provost-s-office-keeps
- Selected Member of the PIOSA (Performance Imperative Organizational Self-Assessment Learning Community (Jan – Dec 2018), Forbes Funds, led by Don Goughler. Mentors: Susanne Cole, CEO Pressley Ridge; Maggie Jensen, CEO YWCA of Pittsburgh
- Outstanding Reviewer for Early Childhood Research Quarterly (2014)
- Council of Graduate Students in Education “Extra Mile” Award (2012), University of Pittsburgh
Chair-Elect and long-time executive committee member of the Social Emotional Learning Special Interest Group of the American Education Research Association.
Advisory Board Member, Child Care Lounge, https://childcarelounge.com/
United for Children Strategic Allocation Committee Member, United Way, Pittsburgh PA.
Steering Committee & Equity and Justice Committee Member, SEL4PA, Statewide Social Emotional Learning Task Force, Housed at CPSEL, Harrisburg, PA.
Co-Lead of the Pittsburgh Study’s K-3rd grade Cohort: The 3Rs (Reading, Racial Equity, & Relationships) with Shallegra Moye.
