Muffet Trout is an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education in the School of Education. Muffet started at the University of St. Thomas in 2012 and brings with her more than 25 years of teaching experience spanning pre-school through doctoral level classrooms in urban, suburban and rural settings. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2010 in Curriculum and Instruction in Social Studies and Teacher Education. Muffet is a Fellow at the Minnesota Institute for Trauma-Informed Education, and she specializes in care theory and effective teaching practices that cultivate relationships. At the University of St. Thomas, she teaches Psychology for Teaching and Learning, Diverse Learners and Families, and Curriculum and Instruction in Social Studies courses. Her writing has focused on relational pedagogies and their effects on teaching and learning and methods for promoting deliberation in K-12 students. Her current work compares teacher candidates in residency programs with those in traditional programs and how they enact cultural relevance, and she is exploring differing narratives used in environmental education and racial narratives used in history education. Muffet grew up near Chicago and has a BA in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College and an MA in Education from Stanford University.
- Trout, M. & Sambs, J. (2020). A teaching strategy to strengthen habits of deliberation: The evidence on the “U” graphic. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 33(1), 17-21.
- Basford, L., Lewis, J. & Trout, M. (2020). It can be done: How one charter school combats the school-to-prison pipeline. The Urban Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-020-00583-x
- Trout, M. (2018). Embodying Care: Igniting a Critical Turn in a Teacher Educator’s Relational Practice. Studying Teacher Education, 14(1), 39-55. doi: 10.1080/17425964.2017.1404976
- Trout, M. & Basford, L. (2016). Preventing the shut-down: Embodied critical care in a teacher educator’s practice. Action in Teacher Education, 38(4), 358-370. doi:10.1080/01626620.2016.1226204
- Trout, M. (2012). Making the moment matter: Care theory for teacher learning. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Making the Moment Matter
- Trout, M. (2012). Care theory: Cohesive powers for practice. In A. Cuenca (Ed.) Supervising Student Teachers: Issues, Perspectives, and Directions for Field-Based Teacher Education (pp. 63-76). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
- Trout, M. (2010). Social skills in action: An ethic of care in social studies student teaching supervision. In A. Crowe (Ed.) Advancing social studies education through self-study methodology: The power, promise, and use of self-study in social studies education. Dordrecht: Springer.
- Trout, M. (2008). The supervision dance: Learning to lead and follow a student teacher. The New Educator, 4(3), p. 252-265.
- Original member of the Women in Social Studies Education group representing female social science educators in Minnesota.
- Muffet was featured in the 2016 edition of Exemplars a publication from the Grants and Research Office that highlights faculty and graduate-level research at the University of St. Thomas.
- Outstanding Teacher Award, Glenwood City School District. Recognized by staff and administration for her efforts in designing and implementing field-based learning activities.