About Me

I completed my doctoral work at the University of Georgia in May of 2018 under the direction of Dr. Brian W. Dotts. The title of my dissertation is Ideology, Strategic Action Fields, and the School Choice Agenda in Georgia, 1993-2017.

Prior to my doctoral studies, I attained a BBA in Finance from Georgia Southern University and worked in the corporate world until 2005 when I began teaching. While teaching business education courses, I began work on a M.Ed. in Science Education at the University of Georgia completing this in 2008. I taught business education and science education courses in both high schools and middle schools. All of my teaching were in primarily rural, Title I schools.

My scholarship focuses on the critical nature of education and the role of social intelligence in developing our future educators. For this reason, I am deeply concerned with the marginalization of social foundations of education as a field of study. Future educators should have a well-rounded understanding of the social, philosophical, historical, and political underpinnings of education. I believe it is important to equip our future educators not just with the tools to be effective in the classroom, but also to engage with and empower critical activism within their professional field.

My current research focuses on ideology and the sociopolitics of education, the social psychology and social epistemology of teachers, and the sociohistorical contexts of education. In particular, I am examining system justifying beliefs, epistemological entrenchment, and cognitive/ideological rigidity with student teachers.

In addition to my undergraduate and graduate degrees, I hold two associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force, one in Emergency Management and the other in Human Resource Development. I have served in the Georgia Army National Guard, the United States Naval Reserve, and the Georgia Air National Guard. I retired from the Georgia Air National Guard with a total of 24 years of military service achieving the rank of Senior Master Sergeant.