Dr. Barker took a Master’s degree in business with an emphasis in organizational behavior and spent some time as an organizational consultant. He did systems design work for Novell Corporation and for Pizza Hut corporate offices. His principal organizational work was in designing and starting private schools.
Dr. Barker was involved in starting and leading multiple alternative and experimental schools, including a high school completion program in Mexico to prepare students for university, a multi-million dollar performing and fine arts school that became the first charter school in the US state of Utah, a private academy for the arts, and, in conjunction with international Montessori leadership, the flagship model for Montessori adolescent education in the United States.
Dr. Barker did his PhD work in Intellectual History in Germany under renowned scholar Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c Winfried Boehm. His research focused on the philosophical and historical ideas shaping educational thought in the West.
Upon returning to the United States, Dr. Barker managed a master’s program and taught as a graduate professor at Ursuline College in Ohio before moving to Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2004, where he became the founding director of the office for faculty development and oversaw faculty development and new faculty training as the university transitioned from a two year to a four-year institution. In this capacity, he trained some 700 newly hired scholars on the best practices literature around university pedagogy.
Five years ago, Dr. Barker returned to the classroom full-time where he teaches courses in World History, Social and Cultural History, Philosophical thought, and Modern Philosophy.
