Kelvin Griffin - Teacher at Georgia Piedmont Technical College

Kelvin Griffin uses his experience in Atlanta-area schools in his teaching as an adjunct professor at Georgia Piedmont Technical College to help train a part of the next generation of teachers in the American educational system. He is a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership with almost 20 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in the Atlanta Public School system. As an adjunct professor, he can teach students and work in high levels of local education systems. He was once the Director of Instruction for Chicago Public Schools as well. Dr. Griffin hopes that he can continue to inspire students wanting to go into the education system and become teachers and administrators themselves with his work at Piedmont.

Kelvin Griffin teaches Education courses at Georgia Piedmont Technical College, which houses technical and academic courses and programs for over 120 different occupations. About 17,000 students in all kinds of programs attend the college. About 8,000 of those are enrolled in credit programs, with the other 9,000 students enrolled in adult education and continuing education classes. Dr. Kelvin Griffin loves to teach at Georgia Piedmont because he admires the institution’s ability to provide better job opportunities for a four-county area in the Atlanta metro area.

Kelvin Griffin started teaching at Georgia Piedmont in 2015 and has seen the institution grow and take in more students from the surrounding area who wouldn’t otherwise have such an opportunity. Dr. Griffin believes in opportunity for success for all students. He tries to give his students a chance to help the educational system in the United States.

Kelvin Griffin - Three Pillars of Education in the Future

Kelvin Griffin thinks that he knows what students, teachers, and administrators will need in the education system of the future. His nearly 20 years in schools as a teacher and administrator have taught him several irrefutable facts about the education system and the way children and teens learn. Dr. Griffin, who earned his doctorate degree in Philosophy in Educational Leadership at Mercer University, has identified three critical beliefs about education he has formulated over the years:

• Students can be lifelong learners. Kelvin Griffin has seen many students grow and embrace learning as a lifelong endeavor over his many years in schools. If students are engaged with material that is relevant to their lives and their experiences, they will respond with dedication.
• Students are individuals. While data can be useful in some school administrative functions, Kelvin Griffin has seen how students respond when their teachers differentiate their instruction to meet students’ learning needs. This can be especially effective in small class sizes.
• Community engagement is a cornerstone. The community around each school should play an important role in the development of school culture. By working with community leaders, schools can tap into another valuable resource for better engagement with the students.

Kelvin Griffin is a principal in the Atlanta area who once ran the Department of Instruction for Chicago Public Schools. Dr. Griffin continues to advocate for the adoption of a few of his educational beliefs based on his experiences in Atlanta and elsewhere as both a teacher and an administrator.

Kelvin Griffin - How to Work as a Principal

Kelvin Griffin worked as a principal of an Atlanta middle school for over two years before he became the Director of Instruction for Chicago Public Schools. Griffin was in charge of all school administrative duties and charged with changing the culture of the school he worked at, making community involvement and communication a top priority. Here’s how you can become a principal like Griffin and enact your own vision of what education should be like at a particular school:

• Earn a Bachelor’s degree. While you don’t necessarily have to major in Education at the undergraduate level to become a principal, studying Education like Kelvin Griffin can give you the tools to jump into teaching as soon as you’re eligible and start building experience you’ll need as an administrator.
• Obtain a teacher’s certificate. Gain some experience teaching in public schools by getting your teacher’s certificate. Most state licensing boards require all applicants to have a Bachelor’s degree and to complete some kind of supervised teaching internship.
• Gain work experience. Once you have your teacher’s certificate, get in the classroom.
• Complete a graduate degree. Most states require all applicants to the state principal certification system hold a graduate degree and earn several years of classroom experience.
• Obtain a specialist license. Almost all states require all principals to be licensed with the state. Kelvin Griffin earned his license with the state of Georgia before he became principal by passing an exam and meeting all requirements.

Kelvin Griffin now has the opportunity to create positive change from a leadership position in one of the United States’ largest school districts.