Faculty Directory

Scott Seider

Professor

Photo of Scott Seider

Scott Seider

Ed.D.

Contact

Campion 244

Telephone: 617-552-8432

Email: seider@bc.edu

ORCID

Education

  • Ed.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education
  • Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education
  • A.B., Harvard College

Courses

Adolescent Psychology

Applied Adolescent Development

Qualitative Research Methods

Transformative Teaching & Learning

Social Oppression & Transformation

Research Interests

Identity development, civic development, critical consciousness, cultural socialization, religious socialization

Expertise

  • Equity and Social Justice
  • Formative and Whole Person Education
  • Social & Emotional Development
Curriculum Vitae

Department

CDEP Counseling, Developmental & Educational Psychology

Profile

Scott Seider is an applied developmental psychologist whose research focuses on how parents and educators can support young people鈥檚 identity development and civic development. In one stream of research, Dr. Seider investigates how parents leading mixed race, mixed heritage, and mixed faith families engage their children in cultural and religious socialization. In a second stream of research, Dr. Seider explores how educators can support their students鈥� development of the civic skills, character strengths, and critical consciousness necessary to recognize, analyze, and challenge injustice. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and books including Educating for Justice (2025), Schooling for Critical Consciousness (2020), and Character Compass (2012/2026). At Boston College, Dr. Seider teaches undergraduate and graduate courses focused on adolescent development, transformative teaching and learning, qualitative research methods, and social oppression and transformation. He previously worked as an English teacher in the Boston Public Schools and as a teacher educator at Boston University. Dr. Seider also serves on advisory boards for a number of youth-serving organizations including the Center for Parent and Teen Communication, EL Education, and the Journal of Adolescent Research.

Select Publications

Select Books

  • Seider, S., Clark, S., & Soutter, M. (2026). Character compass 2nd Edition: Four directions for building powerful school culture and student success. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
  • Seider, S., El-Amin, A., & Bott, J. (2025). Educating for justice: Schoolwide strategies to prepare students to recognize, analyze, and challenge inequity. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Select Academic Articles
  • Daza, K. & Seider, S. (in press). How multiethnic-racial emerging adults describe and understand their parents鈥� ethnic-racial socialization practices. Emerging Adulthood.
  • Seider, S., Magri, E., & Snyder, J. (in press). Investigating the associations between parent faith socialization practices and young adult鈥檚 character formation. Journal of Character Education.
  • Alford, B., Edwards, E., Daza, K., Diaz, B., Fogelman, S., Le, T., Huang, M., Dobbs, C., Graves, D., & Seider, S. (in press). Investigating advisory as a space for nurturing early adolescents鈥� civic development and critical consciousness. Research in Middle Level Education.聽
  • Seider, S., Huguley, J., McCobb, E., Titchner, D., Xu, H., Ward, K., & Zheng, Y. (2023). How parents in multiethnic-racial families share cultural assets with their children. Race & Social Problems, 15, 5-18.
  • Seider, S., Edwards, E., Henry, D., Huguley, J., Diaz, B., & Daza, K. (2023). Investigating the relation between youth critical consciousness and academic achievement for adolescents of color and White adolescents. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 29(4), 516-529.聽

Select Practitioner Articles

  • Seider, S., Diaz, B., May, S., & Graves, D. (2022 January 12). Moving beyond stock stories about racism: Three classroom practices that can inspire your antiracist teaching practices and help students uncover concealed stories about racism. Educational Leadership.
  • Seider, S., Carpenter, A., Kang, C., Titchner, D., Xu, H., & Zheng, Y. (2021 November 23). What multicultural families can teach kids about character. Greater Good Magazine.
  • Seider, S., & Graves, D. (2020 January). Making SEL culturally competent: Teaching students about oppression and critical consciousness is a vital component of social-emotional learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/making-sel-culturally-competent.

Select Grants

  • Principal Investigator, 鈥淏uilding communities of practice to foster civic character in crew.鈥� John Templeton Foundation. ($553,102) (2022-2025)
  • Principal Investigator, 鈥淭he development of critical consciousness in adolescents attending no excuses and progressive urban charter high schools.鈥� Spencer Foundation (with Daren Graves, Co-PI) (2016-2020) ($350,000).聽
  • Principal Investigator, 鈥淐ritical consciousness combines civic, intellectual, and performance character virtues to foster positive youth development.鈥� John Templeton Foundation (with Daren Graves, co-PI) (2015-2017) ($421,590).聽
  • Principal Investigator, 鈥淒eveloping curiosity in adolescents through the Question Formulation Technique.鈥� John Templeton Foundation (with Shelby Clark, Co-PI) (2015-2017) ($153,132).聽
  • Principal Investigator, 鈥淭he impact of urban charter schools on the critical consciousness of marginalized youth.鈥� National Academy of Education Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013-2015) ($55,000).聽

Select Appointments & Awards

  • NAEd Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation (2013)聽
  • Moral Development & Education Outstanding Book Award, American Educational Research Association (2013).聽
  • Community Builder Award, Phillips Brooks House Association Summer Urban Program (2013)聽
  • Moral Development & Education Outstanding Book Award, American Educational Research Association (2012)
  • 聽Kuhmerker Dissertation Award, Association for Moral Education (2010)
  • Marquand Award for Exceptional Advising and Counseling, Harvard University (2007)

Professional Activities

Editorial Board, Journal of Adolescent Research; Editorial Board, Journal of Character Education; Research Advisory Board, EL Education, Education Advisory Council, Character.org; Advisory Board, Center for Parent & Teen Communication

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