Scholarship/Research
In my very large family, I have been the only one to attend college. The idea of being a professor seemed so distant and abstract. Research and scholarship were not part of my lived experience until my doctoral program, which was less than ideal. So, scholarship is an area where I feel I am just now finding my way. However, over the past few years, I have begun to see it's true value and the contribution that I can make to the field. I have had to find my niche and realize where I can really make an impact. Thus, I have constructed a research agenda that very much "fits" me. My research, my teaching, and my service are all very much interconnected and related. Below, I briefly summarize the main areas of my research.
Case Study Research - I began case study research when I was in my doctoral program and my dissertation was a case study of four preservice teachers and their conceptions of diversity. I have continued doing case study research, mainly focused on how individual students conceptualize and respond to issues of diversity in their classrooms. A sample article that demonstrates case study methodology is The Professional Educator article, "Critically reflective thinking in urban teacher education: A comparative case study of two participants' experiences as content specialists" (in press). The study follows two teacher candidates, Tanya and Donna, who differ greatly in their ability to reflect upon student diversity in their content area classes and create curriculum and instruction that meets the needs of those students. Case study research is a methodology that allows my research colleagues and me to delve deeply into the experiences and thoughts of individual students to improve the education they receive prior to being in a classroom of their own. That depth of understanding, while naturally limited, allows us to draw conclusions about our programs and practices in order to better meet the needs of our own students.
Self-Study Research - Self-study of teacher education practices (S-STEP) is a growing methodology internationally. It began in the mid-1990s with a small group of individuals in Arizona, appropriately called The Arizona Group, and has grown greatly with the help of teacher scholars in Australia, Canada, and Europe. I accompanied a friend to the S-STEP business meeting at the American Educational Research Association conference in 2006 and was hooked. It is a research method and philosophy that refuses to allow the dichotomy of pedagogy and scholarship. Rather, they embrace scholarship OF teaching and teaching AS a research practice. This particular type of research has become my major focus and I look forward to its growth over the next few decades. I hope to hold a leadership position in this research interest group soon! While it is still relatively small, it has an international, diverse, and very welcoming group of members. An example of the research I have done that fits this method is the other newly accepted article "Supporting One Another as Beginning Teacher Educators: Forging an Online Community of Critical Inquiry into Practice." This article was published in the ONLY journal of self-study research, Studying Teacher Education. It is a research method that really allows me to use my research to inform my teaching and my teaching as a topic for my research and I plan to continue to use it, as it has greatly impacted my thinking about both pedagogy and scholarship.
Middle Level Education Research - While not a method, middle level education research is something new that I'm very interested in pursuing in the coming years. Upon arriving at ASU, I was fortunate to be able to work under Dr. Ken McEwin, one of the national leaders in the middle school movement. I have learned so much from him and the rest of the middle grades faculty. Even though I was a middle level teacher for 11 years, my research interests were not specific to middle grades. I studied linguistics, diversity, critical discourse analysis, and socio-cultural contexts. Now that I'm in a premier middle level education institution, I have the opportunity to learn and grow in middle level expertise and I feel that I have begun that process already. I have attended multiple middle level conferences at the state, regional, and national levels, putting me in touch with middle grades researchers from all over the US. I have been invited to work with individuals from UNC Charlotte, Western Carolina, and UNC Asheville on a national research project looking at the status of middle schools nationwide. I have attended symposia dedicated to developing mission statements and determining language that will help promote the continuance of middle level education in all states. These opportunities help me return to my roots - middle level education really is where my heart is. Fortunately, the two methodologies I utilize allow me to focus on middle level education as content. An example of this is the case study of a middle level educator grappling with his beliefs about sexuality in terms of his personal and professional life. Published in the North Carolina Middle School Journal, the article discusses how self-awareness improves an awareness of those unlike ourselves and allows us to move toward change and agency in our lives and in our classrooms. Advocacy is at the heart of middle level education, as well as at the core of global responsibility. This article was a short one, in a state journal, and not "top-tier;" however, it has been my favorite article thus far because it was real, relevant, and inspiring. It also was the first article that allowed me to use methods in which I feel competent while discussing topics about which I feel extremely passionate.
Case Study Research - I began case study research when I was in my doctoral program and my dissertation was a case study of four preservice teachers and their conceptions of diversity. I have continued doing case study research, mainly focused on how individual students conceptualize and respond to issues of diversity in their classrooms. A sample article that demonstrates case study methodology is The Professional Educator article, "Critically reflective thinking in urban teacher education: A comparative case study of two participants' experiences as content specialists" (in press). The study follows two teacher candidates, Tanya and Donna, who differ greatly in their ability to reflect upon student diversity in their content area classes and create curriculum and instruction that meets the needs of those students. Case study research is a methodology that allows my research colleagues and me to delve deeply into the experiences and thoughts of individual students to improve the education they receive prior to being in a classroom of their own. That depth of understanding, while naturally limited, allows us to draw conclusions about our programs and practices in order to better meet the needs of our own students.
Self-Study Research - Self-study of teacher education practices (S-STEP) is a growing methodology internationally. It began in the mid-1990s with a small group of individuals in Arizona, appropriately called The Arizona Group, and has grown greatly with the help of teacher scholars in Australia, Canada, and Europe. I accompanied a friend to the S-STEP business meeting at the American Educational Research Association conference in 2006 and was hooked. It is a research method and philosophy that refuses to allow the dichotomy of pedagogy and scholarship. Rather, they embrace scholarship OF teaching and teaching AS a research practice. This particular type of research has become my major focus and I look forward to its growth over the next few decades. I hope to hold a leadership position in this research interest group soon! While it is still relatively small, it has an international, diverse, and very welcoming group of members. An example of the research I have done that fits this method is the other newly accepted article "Supporting One Another as Beginning Teacher Educators: Forging an Online Community of Critical Inquiry into Practice." This article was published in the ONLY journal of self-study research, Studying Teacher Education. It is a research method that really allows me to use my research to inform my teaching and my teaching as a topic for my research and I plan to continue to use it, as it has greatly impacted my thinking about both pedagogy and scholarship.
Middle Level Education Research - While not a method, middle level education research is something new that I'm very interested in pursuing in the coming years. Upon arriving at ASU, I was fortunate to be able to work under Dr. Ken McEwin, one of the national leaders in the middle school movement. I have learned so much from him and the rest of the middle grades faculty. Even though I was a middle level teacher for 11 years, my research interests were not specific to middle grades. I studied linguistics, diversity, critical discourse analysis, and socio-cultural contexts. Now that I'm in a premier middle level education institution, I have the opportunity to learn and grow in middle level expertise and I feel that I have begun that process already. I have attended multiple middle level conferences at the state, regional, and national levels, putting me in touch with middle grades researchers from all over the US. I have been invited to work with individuals from UNC Charlotte, Western Carolina, and UNC Asheville on a national research project looking at the status of middle schools nationwide. I have attended symposia dedicated to developing mission statements and determining language that will help promote the continuance of middle level education in all states. These opportunities help me return to my roots - middle level education really is where my heart is. Fortunately, the two methodologies I utilize allow me to focus on middle level education as content. An example of this is the case study of a middle level educator grappling with his beliefs about sexuality in terms of his personal and professional life. Published in the North Carolina Middle School Journal, the article discusses how self-awareness improves an awareness of those unlike ourselves and allows us to move toward change and agency in our lives and in our classrooms. Advocacy is at the heart of middle level education, as well as at the core of global responsibility. This article was a short one, in a state journal, and not "top-tier;" however, it has been my favorite article thus far because it was real, relevant, and inspiring. It also was the first article that allowed me to use methods in which I feel competent while discussing topics about which I feel extremely passionate.