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.

  • EDUC 859, Foundations of Inquiry – Qualitative
  • EDUC 615, Schools and Community Collaboration
  • EDUC 628, Teaching English Language Learners
  • EDUC 747, Methods and Materials for Teaching Secondary/K-12 Subjects II
  • EDMX 708, Teacher Researcher I
  • EDUC 699, Teaching the Science of Literacy
  • EDUC 601, Education Workshops
  • EDUC 616, Teaching Early English Language Arts
  • EDUC 793, High-Leveraged Practices in Special Education with a Focus on Literacy Instruction
  • EDUC 593, Internship/Student Teaching
  • EDUC 887, Teacher Education Seminar for MAT Supervisors
  • EDUC 701, Practica Student Internship
  • EDUC 990, Supervised Research
  • EDMX 782, Behavioral Support Techniques
  • EDUC 994, Doctoral Research and Dissertation
  • EDUC 796B, Independent Study Doctoral Level
  • EDUC 688, Teaching Intermediate English Language Arts, Grades 3-6
  • EDUC 865, College Teaching Internship
  • EDUC 503, Leadership Seminar
  • EDUC 493, Practicum

“Enhancing Literacy Assessment Practices for English Language Learners and Multilingual Learners in North Carolina”, Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; Frank Porter Graham Institute. (May 15, 2025 – June 30, 2027).

“COIL Curriculum Development Award – Champion Award”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; Office of the Vice Provost of Global Affairs. (November 26, 2025 – June 30, 2026).

“Diverse & Resilient Educators Advised through Mentorship (DREAM) “, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; Lys, D., Co-Principal Investigator; Glazier, J., Co-Principal Investigator; Ohito, E., Co-Principal Investigator; US Department of Education (DOED), $2,426,834. (October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2025).

“Creating AR-Enhanced Children’s Books to Bring Younger Readers into the Text”, Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; Cherner, T., Lead Principal Investigator, $5,000. (August 1, 2023 – May 1, 2025).

“COIL Partnership Award”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; UNC Global, $4,000. (August 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022).

“COIL Partnership Award”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; UNC Global, $4,000. (January 1, 2022 – June 30, 2022).

“COIL Partnership Award”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; UNC Global, $4,000. (July 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021).

“NEEDS: Nurturing Experimental Development in Schools”, Bolick, C., Lead Principal Investigator; Glzaier, J., Co-Principal Investigator; Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; Gulledge, S., Co-Principal Investigator; UNC-CH Center for Public Service, $5,000. (October 1, 2020 – August 31, 2021).

“COIL Partnership Award”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; UNC Global, $4,500. (January 1, 2021 – June 30, 2021).

“COIL Partnership Award Connecting Classrooms with the World”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; Office of Vice Provost for Global Affairs, $3,000. (August 1, 2020 – May 31, 2021).

“Makerspace Course Development Grant”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; UNC Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) & BeAM Makerspace, $5,000. (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020).

“UNC Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)”, Papoi, K., Lead Principal Investigator; UNC, $5,000. (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020).

“EdPrepLab Seed Inquiry Seed Research Project “, Bolick, C., Co-Principal Investigator; Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; Glazier, J., Co-Principal Investigator; EdPrep Lab , $15,000. (January 1, 2020 – May 31, 2020).

“Carolina Induction Program”, Glazier, J., Co-Principal Investigator; Bolick, C., Co-Principal Investigator; Gulledge, S., Co-Principal Investigator; Papoi, K., Co-Principal Investigator; UNC-CH – School of Education, $10,000. (June 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019).

  • Teaching Excellence Award, School of Education. (August 20, 2025).
  • UNC Office of the Provost Engaged Scholarship Award for Engaged Teaching, UNC Office of the Provost. (March 12, 2024).
  • UNC Center for European Studies Curriculum Development Grant, UNC Center for European Studies. (December 20, 2018).
  • Global Partnership Award, UNC Global. (April 2018).
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award, American Educational Research Association (AERA) Arts & Learning Special Interest Group. (April 2017).
  • EdPrep Lap. (June 2019 – Present).
  • American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (2018 – Present).
  • North Carolina Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators. (2018 – Present).
  • American Educational Research Association. (2013 – Present).

Journal Article

Gibbs, B., & Papoi, K. (2020). Threading the needle: On balancing trauma and critical teaching. Bank Street Occasional Papers. Published.

Gibbs, B., & Papoi, K. (2020). “We are still here.”: (Not) Teaching, disruption, interruption resistance and the creation of change. Making a Spectacle: Examining Curriculum/Pedagogy as Recovery from Political Trauma. Published.

Gibbs, B., & Papoi, K. (2020). Threading the Needle: On Balancing Trauma and Critical Teaching. Occasional Paper Series, 2020(43). https://doi.org/10.58295/2375-3668.1350

Compton-Lilly, C., Papoi, K., Hamman, L., Schwabenbauer, B., & Venegas, P. (2017). Intersectional Identity Negotiation: The Case of Young Immigrant Children. Journal of Literacy Research, 49(1), 115–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X16683421

Compton-Lilly, C., Papoi, K., Shedrow, S., & Hamman, L. (2016). Longitudinal Case Study Research: Understanding Literacy and Identity Practices of Children in Immigrant Families. SAGE Research Methods Case Education. Published.

Book

Compton-Liilly, C., Shedrow, S., Hagerman, D., Hamman, L., Chi, Y., Kim, J., Lee, S., Papoi, K., Quasts, E., Ward, B., & Zheng, B. (2022). Immigrant Children Becoming Literate: The First Five Years–A Window into Identity Construction, Transnationality, and Schooling. Routledge.

Compton-Lilly, C., Shedrow, S., Hagerman, D., Hamman-Ortiz, L., Chi, Y., Kim, J., Lee, S. Y., Papoi, K., Quast, E., Taira, B. W., & Zheng, B. (2022). Children in Immigrant Families Becoming Literate. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003242154

Book Chapter

Horner, M., Glazier, J., Papoi, K., Lys, D., Petty, J., & Joyce, C. (2021). Project pace: Blurring the lines between teacher preparation and induction. In Prentice T. Chandler & Lisa Barron (Eds.), Rethinking school-university partnerships: A new way forward (p. pp.171–pp.190). Information Age Publishers.

Horner, M., Glazier, J., Papoi, K., Lys, D., Petty, J., & Joyce, C. (2021). Project Pace. In Rethinking School-University Partnerships (pp. 171–190). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-64802-528-020251012

Gibbs, B., & Papoi, K. (2020). “We are Still Here.” In Making A Spectacle (pp. 229–247). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-64802-293-720251028

Papoi, K. (2017). Sensemaking through art making: Trash for Teaching and visual arts integration with elementary emergent bilingual students. In T. Dell’Angelo, L. Ammentorp, & L. Madden (Eds.), Using Photography and Other Arts-based Methods with English Language Learners: Guidance, Resources and Activities for P-12 Educators. Rowan and Littlefield.

Book Review

Papoi, K. (2020). Book Review of Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White Students. Teachers College Record. Published. Teachers College Press.

Conference Proceeding

Papoi, K. (2025). “We Are Doing This Together”: Program Evaluation of a Residency Program Preparing Diverse Teachers. Proceedings of the 2025 AERA Annual Meeting. Published. https://doi.org/10.3102/2194272

Professional

  • edTPA Consultant, Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools, Chapel Hill, NC. (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026).
  • edTPA Consultant, Chatham County Schools, Pittsboro, NC. (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026).
  • edTPA Expert, Durham Public Schools. (January 2021 – July 2024).

University

  • Clinical Faculty Representative, Faculty Executive Council. (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2028).
  • Committee Member, School of Education Scholarship Committee. (July 2025 – June 2028).
  • Trainer & Facilitator, Relational Leadership Institute. (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026).
  • Faculty Chair & Discussant, POLITICS OF EDUCATION: APPLYING FRAMEWORKS for POLITICAL ANALYSIS. (April 23, 2026).
  • Alternate, Faculty Assembly Delegation. (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025).
  • Chairperson, Curriculum Committee. (July 2024 – June 2025).
  • Faculty Mentor, Kessler Scholars. (August 2023 – May 2025).
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