Dr. Williams is a Full Professor in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. She is assigned primarily to the Secondary Education Program (SEED) and has been responsible for coursework, research, coordination, and outreach in SEED. Dr. Williams proposed new courses and a new masters degree program in Character Education. Dr. Williams completed her Ed.D. in January, 1991 from Boston University. Her area of study was Educational Leadership: Curriculum, Instruction, and Supervision with a focus on moral/character development, ethics, and leadership in teacher education and policy making.

Dr. Williams' research interests focus on moral and ethical development, student learning, effective teaching and schooling. She has strong interests in middle/secondary education, literacy, diversity, case-based pedagogy, and technology infusion. She has been integrating technology into her teaching since 1979 and has incorporated online distance education as a mode of course delivery since 1998. Dr. Williams currently serves as member of the boards of review for a number of scholarly journals, including: The Journal of Research in Character Education published by Information Age Publishing and The Journal of College and Character at Florida State U. - Tallahassee. She co-founded the International Center for Character Education at the University of San Diego. Dr. Williams is currently a Character Education Consultant for the New Jersey / Rutgers Character Education Project (03-08).  She was the chair of the National Commission on Character Education (95-01) and a member of the Evaluation Advisory Team for the Florida USDOE/FIE Pilot Project in Character Education (01-05).

• Williams, MM (in progress) Character Education in the Classroom. Washington, DC: Peter Lang Primer .

• Williams, MM (in progress) Teaching Content and Building Character in High School Students: Case Studies.

• Williams, MM (Editor) (2002). A Guide for Teaching an Integrated Program in Literature, Social Studies, and Character/Values. A Teachers Guide for District 7. NY City Dept of Education.

• DeRoche, EF and Williams, MM (2001). Character Education: A Primer for Teachers. New Brighton, MN: TREND Enterprises/Argus Communications.

• DeRoche, EF and Williams, MM (2001). Character Education: A Guide for School Administrators. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

• DeRoche, EF and Williams, MM (2001). Educating Hearts and Minds: A Comprehensive Character Education Framework. [2nd Ed] Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

• Williams, MM (2002). “Foreward” in Words of Wisdom from Mahatma Gandhi. By S. Sinha, SKS Publishing.

• Williams, MM (2001). “Guiding Principles for International Leaders to Protect our Future,” Proceedings of Assembly 2001 - The Search for Solutions to Critical Global Problems - Global Crisis and Hope. New York: The Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace.

• Williams, MM (Sept, 2000). “Models of Character Education: Perspectives and Developmental Issues” Journal of Counseling, Humanistic Ed. and Development. 39(1) VA: American Counseling Association.

• Williams, MM (June, 2000). “Leadership in Character Education: A Framework for Teaching Values and Ethics” Education International. 6(2) [3 language editions: English, Spanish, French]

Favorite Links (each opens in a new window)

• http://teachvalues.org/
• http://www.character.org/

Course Websites at http://blackboard.gmu.edu

• EDUC 671: Schools and Culture (taking a futures approach, linking web2.0 + ethical perspective on learning & teaching)
• EDUC 672: Human Development and Learning - Secondary (Educational Psychology)
• EDUC 674: Assessing Learning and Teaching in the Secondary School
• EDUC 675: Research in Secondary Education
• EDCI 667: Advanced Curriculum and Methods of Teaching History/Social Science
• She designed and adapted three graduate courses for an international certificate in character education, and has trained instructors. This three course certificate program is offered through OnLineLearning.net
• Character Education: An Introduction and Frameworks
• Character Education: Curriculum and Teaching
• Character Education: Best Programs and Practices

Personal Interests

sailing, swimming, live theatre, reading

• Graduate School of Education
• Center for International Education
• Secondary Education 6-12

• Advanced Methods of Teaching Social Sciences in the Secondary School (EDCI - 667)
• Assessing Learning and Teaching in the Secondary School Classroom (EDUC - 674)
• Research in Secondary Education (EDUC - 675)

• Schools and Culture (EDUC - 671)
• Human Development and Learning: Secondary Education (EDUC - 672)
• Applied Behavior Analysis: Empirical Bases (EDSE - 621)
• Elementary Reading, Curriculum, and Strategies for Students who Access the General Education Curriculum (EDSE - 628)