Dr. Scott Baker

J. Scott Baker, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Secondary Education in the Department of K-12/Secondary Teacher Preparation, has been at St. Cloud State University since 2021. He earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University and holds teaching licenses in both Texas and Wisconsin in English and Speech Communication (grades 6-12). In 2025, he was named an Educator of the year by the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.

Dr. Baker is the program director at SCSU for the M.S. in Curriculum & Instruction, the Post Baccalaureate Teaching Program, and the Professional Education Sequence for K-12/5-12 licensure. 

Dr. Baker's research focuses on voice and social justice advocacy in education, investigated from a variety of perspectives, namely arts-based inquiry, poetic inquiry, speech and debate education, LGBTIQ+ identities, and undergraduate research. His work also focuses on teacher identity and the formation of identity bases on lived experiences - individual and as a society.

Select Scholarship and Achievements: 

• Video: 2025 MinnState Educator of the Year
• Article Co-Authored with SCSU students: Breaking the status quo: Poetic self-reflections in teacher preparation (forthcoming) 
• Article Co-Authored with SCSU students: Art and crisis: Preservice teachers’ coping amid constantly changing landscapes (2024) 
• Article Co-Authored with SCSU students: Re/defining curriculum: Poetry as a pedagogical tool (2022) 
• Article Co-Authored with a SCSU student: Hope for the Twin Cities: Poetic reflections amid systemic racism