Current Research
My current research revolves around the impact of popular culture in the classroom, with a deeper focus in two specific areas of research: new literacies and comics in the classroom. My interest in focusing my work in these spaces is to understand how future generations of English educators have the ability to move literacy into new and exciting directions that allow the work we do with students in the classroom to reflect their literacy practices outside of school.
My dissertation, Teachers Who “Tech” and the Connected Classroom: An Actor Network Filmic Ethnography, relates to the new literacies strand of my research agenda. This study attempts to gain a deeper understanding of the new literacies practices of teachers who use technology as a way of understanding how teacher preparation programs in English education can support and encourage pre-service and in-service teachers to integrate technology into their classes. This stems from previous scholarship within the field of English education that discusses the need for ELA teachers who read and write, arguing that they are better positioned pedagogically to teach students similar practices. But, what about teachers who “tech”? In understanding technology as a literacy, I think that it is critical that secondary English teachers recognize that teaching with/through technology is no longer a way to enhance English content; it is a requisite skill for the present-day English teacher. As such, my dissertation study serves as a way to support my teaching by helping me better understand the dispositions and beliefs of teachers who use technology in effective ways in the classroom. This will reframe my approach to teaching English methods courses that support pre-service teachers and their ability to effectively engage with technologies, both with their students and outside of school.
My dissertation study uses qualitative research methods, specifically video ethnography, in order to develop rich filmic stories of each teacher participant. In addition to using new literacies studies to ground my thinking, I will also be employing Bruno Latour’s Actor Network Theory in order to consider both human and non-human actants that play a role in and out of the classroom. This theory is particularly useful for my study because it allows me to decenter the teachers and students in order to take seriously the impact and role of digital tools in classroom spaces. In addition, I am able to use my experience as an NVivo certified expert during the analysis process. I will be coding my video data to identify themes that are present throughout my interviews and observations of teachers, much of which will be facilitated through qualitative data analysis software. I will be writing a five-chapter dissertation and producing a short film based on my time in the classroom, both of which will help me respond to my research question. This project is personally rewarding for me and it is indicative of the types of methods, theories, and lines of inquiry that will continue to impact future scholarship.
Future Research Pursuits
I intend on continuing to focus my research on pop culture in English education, as I think it is going to become increasingly more important in understanding how to create relevant curriculum and pedagogy for secondary English students. With regard to methodology, I am currently focused on using video ethnographic approaches, typically used in anthropology and sociology, and applying them to classroom settings. For me, it is important to use methods that are most appropriate given the research questions I am pursuing. In my opinion, the best way to survey educational learning ecologies and to study embodiment is to show rather than tell what is happening in these dynamic spaces. I intend on continuing to use video in order to help expand my work to broader audiences who may feel as if academic writing is less accessible. I understand that video is not considered the gold standard of research in the same way that the written, peer-reviewed article is. However, I will continue publishing and using my work with video data to produce written articles in top tier academic journals in English education, and the field of education writ large.
In addition, I intend on continuing to work with theories that I think help provide unique perspectives on literacies. I am currently working with thinkers and philosophers from poststructural paradigms, focusing on new materialism and affect theory. Based on my experience at professional gatherings such as the Literacy Research Association annual conference and the American Educational Research Association annual meeting, it appears as though these theoretical frameworks are being employed in useful ways for researchers to better understand the happenings in school spaces. I look forward to continuing the work that I have started here at the University of Georgia in order to think deeply with theory.
Funding
In addition, I intend on using my platform as a researcher to write grants with regard to technology in education. I have worked on a grant with Dr. Sara Kajder as part of The University of Georgia’s Center for Teaching and Learning and I believe that I will be able to build on some of our nascent work with pre-service teachers and local classrooms. I would be interested in pursuing funding for projects in collaboration with other colleagues at Oklahoma State University. I intend on applying for a Small Spencer Grant and partnering with Apple to study the embodiment involved with using iPads in classrooms. Moreover, I am interested in branching out and doing work that is cross-disciplinary, providing me with a chance to work with scholars outside of English education. I am curious about how other content areas view the role of technology in schools and I think that there would be some significant opportunities for funding such a project.