College of Education faculty and alumni honored at 2017 AERA meeting
Several alumni and faculty members in the College of Education were recently recognized by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for their significant contributions to the field of education.
AERA is a national research society that strives to advance knowledge about education, encourage scholarly inquiry, promote the use of research to improve education and most importantly, to serve the public good. All awards were conferred during the 2017 AERA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Among those honored include:
Lindy Johnson (2017 AERA Writing and Literacies SIG Steve Cahir Early Career Award for Research in Writing): An assistant professor of English education and co-director of the Center for Innovation in Learning Design at the William and Mary School of Education, Johnson's research draws on sociocultural theories of mediated action and social semiotic theories of multimodality. She is particularly interested in examining the kinds of instructional supports both teachers and adolescents need to comprehend and create complex multimodal texts.
Stephanie Jones (2017 AERA Qualitative Research SIG Outstanding Qualitative Research Book Award and The Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award): A professor of early childhood education in the department of educational theory and practice, Jones' book "On Mutant Pedagogies: Seeking Justice and Drawing Change in Teacher Education" has been honored for taking the reader on a journey that offers compelling and critical ways to engage with both qualitative research and teacher education. She is involved as director or co-director of several projects that combine research and teaching in both local and national contexts.
Jaye Johnson Thiel (2017 AERA Critical Perspectives on Early Childhood Education SIG Emerging Scholar Award): A visiting research scholar at the University of Georgia, as well as an educational consultant, teacher educator and former elementary school teacher, Thiel has authored multiple articles and book chapters focused on cultivating practices that are more responsive to working-class lives and families living in poverty and creating more equitable learning environments. Her research commitments include social class-sensitive pedagogies, educational equity, children's literacies and justice-oriented teacher education.
Mariana Souto-Manning (2017 AERA Division K (Teacher and Teacher Education) Mid-Career Award): An associate professor and program coordinator of the early childhood education program at Teachers College, Columbia University, Souto-Manning believes that knowledge and diversification can enhance traditional curriculums while maintaining traditional measures of literacy achievement. From a critical perspective, her research examines the sociocultural and historical foundations of early childhood teacher education, early schooling, language development and literacy practices in pluralistic settings.
The AERA community, which consists of education researchers and graduate students, provides a forum for academic institutions, departments, non-university-based research institutions and professional associations to share information about federal education research issues, people and events, as well as to engage in shaping policy.