UNF postdoctoral fellow receives NAPDS Outstanding Dissertation Award
Dr. Megan E. Lynch, postdoctoral fellow in the University of North Florida College of Education & Human Services, was recently awarded the National Association for Professional Development Schools’ (NAPDS) Outstanding Dissertation Award at the annual NAPDS 2022 National Conference in Chicago, Illinois last week.
Her dissertation sought to understand how teacher candidates in a year-long K-4 professional development school develop into socially just educators who commit to eradicating structural and historical inequalities in and of schooling. Her research into the comprehensive mission of social justice and inquiry within a professional development school partnership serves as a powerful reminder of the complexity of teaching and teacher education.
Currently, Lynch serves part-time as a research coordinator with the Office of English Language Acquisition professional development grant project, Science 20/20: Bringing Language Learners into Focus through Community, School, University Partnership. She also participates in two initiatives in the UNF College of Education & Human Services: a collaboration with clinical faculty, school-based teacher educators and teacher candidates in professional development partnership schools to engage in practice-based research and a project supporting research and program development for the College’s Urban Education Scholarship Program.
Before beginning her postdoctoral fellowship at UNF in August 2021, Lynch spent nearly 10 years teaching emergent bilinguals abroad and in the United States. She also served as a mentor teacher to master’s students learning to teach emergent bilinguals. She has supervised teacher candidates in a variety of clinical field experiences and facilitated professional development for in-service teachers. She has taught undergraduate courses on teaching emergent bilinguals, language and power in the classroom, and STEM for emergent bilinguals.
Lynch earned her doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in supervision from Pennsylvania State University.