University of North Carolina Charlotte, USA
As North Carolina’s urban research university with a vibrant community of over 24,000 undergraduates, the University of North Carolina Charlotte fosters diversity and inclusion while making a local-to-global impact that transforms lives, communities and industries through access and affordability, exemplary undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, scholarship, creative work, innovation and service. The University was established in 1965 and embraced a bold new version as an emerging top-tier global research university to support the industries and communities in the greater Charlotte region in 2021.
Adriana Medina
Associate Professor for Reading and Elementary Education
Adriana L. Medina is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Reading and Elementary Education at the Cato College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte). Her research interests encompass literacy struggles, teacher education, global learning, and the impact of international study abroad and virtual exchange experiences on preservice teachers. As part of her commitment to global perspectives, she leads study-abroad and international teaching initiatives to broaden horizons for teacher candidates and their future K-12 students. Dr. Medina teaches courses such as Teacher Action Research, Teaching Reading to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners, Mindfulness and Education, Identity through Art, and Comics, Manga & Graphic Novels.
Dr. Erik Jon Byker is an Professor in the Department of Reading and Elementary Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Erik has a Ph.D. Degree in Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy from Michigan State University and holds a M.Ed. Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Virginia. His fields of specialization include curriculum foundations, educational technology integration, global citizenship education, and social studies. Erik’s research agenda is comparative and international in scope as he has conducted ethnographic field studies in Cuba, England, Germany, India, South Africa, South Korea, and across the United States on how social actors in elementary school students use and construct meaning for computer technology.
Sydney Carroll is a PhD. Student in the Curriculum and Instruction, Curriculum and Educator Development program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Sydney is a Graduate Assistant at UNC Charlotte. Her responsibilities include managing undergraduate and graduate students at UNC Charlotte in the North Carolina Teaching Fellows, teaching undergraduate courses such as the seminar course associated with the Teaching Fellows program. Her professional development areas have been in finding ways to conjoin mental health, culturally responsive teaching and secondary evidence based practices as it pertains to literacy.
TBF
Stori Cox is a Ph.D. Candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, specializing in Curriculum and Educator Development. A dedicated high school English teacher for North Carolina public schools, she integrates research on internationalized teacher education with classroom practice. Her work explores global learning, migration and education, service learning, and teacher development. Stori is actively working on her dissertation, “Crossing Borders in Teacher Education: Internationalized Teacher Preparation Programs and the Development of Global Readiness,” reflecting her commitment to advancing global perspectives in education.
Jessica Hawkins (she/her) is a third-year student in the Curriculum and Instruction PhD program, specializing in Urban Education. Prior to committing to full-time doctoral studies, Jessica spent 13 years as an elementary educator in her hometown of St. Louis. Her research interests include liberatory school design and non-traditional instructional methods aimed at disrupting curriculum standardization. She is particularly interested in promoting the inclusion of nature-based learning in predominantly Black urban schools.
Jennifer Merry is the Administrative Support Associate for the Mebane Early Literacy Center. She received her Bachelors in Music Education in ‘04 from UNC Charlotte and her Masters in School Administration from UNC Charlotte in ‘23. Jennifer is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Curriculum and Instruction program focusing on Curriculum and Educator Development and anticipates graduation by 2026. Her disseration project holds the title “Balancing the Chord: Examining the Self-Efficacy of Music Educators and Their Motivation Levels of Retention in North Carolina”.
Ginaya Littlejohn is an engineer, program manager, and third-year doctoral scholar whose work centers on the development, identity formation, and empowerment of Black girls in STEM education, with a particular focus on engineering. A graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a background in chemical and bioengineering, Ginaya bridges the worlds of engineering and education to design culturally responsive learning environments that affirm Black children’s brilliance, creativity, and sense of belonging. Beyond her professional and academic endeavors, she is in the process of launching a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing engineering education initiatives that create spaces for underrepresented children to learn, lead, and thrive.
Her dissertation project holds the title “Exploring Teacher and Student Experiences with Sound Walls in Early Literacy Instruction”.
This website was designed in the BWS plus-project “Geographies of Childhood in Teacher Education“. The project is carried out by the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung as part of the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM programme for university cooperations.