Amanda Godley Recognized with Award for Teacher Development

Amanda Godley, vice provost for graduate studies, received the 2020 Richard A. Meade Award from the National Council of Teachers of English for “outstanding research in English and language arts teacher development.”

The award recognizes published, research-based work that promotes English language arts teacher development at any educational level. It was established in 1988 in honor of the late Richard Meade for his contributions to research in the teaching and training of composition and teacher preparation.

Godley, also a professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Leading in the School of Education, received the award for “Critical Language Pedagogy: Interrogating Language, Power and Dialects in Teacher Education,” a book she co-authored with Jeff Reaser of the University of North Carolina on how teachers develop critical perspectives on teaching about language and dialects. Their research was funded by the Spencer Foundation.

“This is a big honor for Jeff and me, particularly since it was important to us that our project not only contributed to research on teacher learning but also provided a practical resource for English teachers and teacher educators,” said Godley.

Godley is a former high school English teacher. Her research focuses on secondary literacy instruction, including critical language pedagogy, peer review of writing and developing apps to improve classroom discussions. Her research has been published in various journals, including Research in the Teaching of English and Reading Research Quarterly.