Education
- Ph.D. 2016 – University of Wisconsin-Madison, Curriculum & Instruction, Languages and Literacies
- M.S. 1995 – Northwestern University, Integrated Marketing Communications and Direct Marketing
- B.A. 1994 – Ohio Wesleyan University, English Literature and Journalism
Areas of Expertise
- Literacy
- Multiliteracies
- Arts Integration
- Emergent Bilingualism
- English Language Learning
- Elementary Education
Background
Dr. Papoi has extensive experience in K-12 teacher education, with foci on elementary literacy, language learning, teacher education, arts integration, and the social context of learning. As the Program Director for the Master of Arts of Teaching (MAT) Program, she is particularly interested in the role of reflective dialogue and writing in pre-service teacher education as well as diversification, capacity-building, and retention of pre-service and beginning in-service teachers. Papoi was a teacher of elementary-aged multilingual learners in southeast Los Angeles. There, she served as Arts Cadre Coordinator and grade level Professional Learning Community team leader. As a district-level consultant, she co-developed and trained teachers district-wide on an award winning integrated Literacy and Social Studies Model Unit of Study for English & Academic Language Development and a District Profile report. Prior to becoming a teacher, she served as Project Director at an arts-based, educational non-profit after eight years in the for-profit world where she managed advertising and communications strategies for the Disney and Smith+Noble catalogs.
Research
Kristin Papoi specializes in qualitative research of literacy and language practices, reflective practices in teacher education, and arts integration for multilingual learners. Her current research focuses on how communities of practices among pre-service and beginning in-service teachers helps build teacher retention and capacity. She also researches the role of pre-service teacher reflection using arts-based practices. Previously, her research of arts integration pedagogies with multilingual learners in urban contexts, with findings that these practices create a valuable, yet often overlooked, pedagogical space that privileges sensemaking through the arts as both learning and assessment tools. Papoi has also researched and published from a 10-year longitudinal study of the literacy practices of children from immigrant families.