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Join Natalie Davis in conversation about her innovative research focused on learning from and listening to children, about Black children’s brilliance, and their insights into who they are and what it means for them to be in this world.
Presenter:
Natalie R. Davis is an assistant professor of Critical Studies in Education at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. Previously, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education and the MA Program in Creative and Innovative Education at Georgia State University. Her scholarship has been nationally recognized through early career fellowships awarded by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation and Society of Research on Child Development, and through funding from the National Science and Spencer Foundations. She also received the distinguished dissertation award from Division G (Social Context of Education) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Dimond Dissertation Award from the University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education.
Natalie is a learning scientist who studies the relationship(s) between teaching and learning, cultural ecologies, and the sociopolitical development of children from non-dominant communities, with emphasis on the educational experiences and place-based understandings of city-dwelling Black children. Her work considers if/how our methodological frameworks, theories, and practices demonstrate kinship with youth, advancing pedagogical innovations that intervene on the adult-centered discourses that have characterized the field. She is a former postdoctoral research fellow in the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University, where she focused on micro-ethnographic analyses of children’s thinking and self-determination in community-based STEAM learning environments.
Natalie has collaborated with museums, makerspaces, non-profit youth-serving organizations, and schools to design curriculum and conduct professional development on topics related to environmental justice, imagination, children’s knowing, and the enactment of critical pedagogies. Her work has been disseminated in highly-regarded academic journals such as Cognition & Instruction; Race, Ethnicity & Education; Review of Research in Education; Learning, Culture & Social Interaction; and via public outlets such as National Public Radio, the STEM for All Multiplex, Michigan Talk Radio, and the Leading Equity Podcast. Natalie received her PhD in Educational Foundations from the University of Michigan. She holds a BA in Psychology and Secondary Science Education from Columbia University and a MA in Elementary Teaching. Prior to graduate school, Natalie taught 3rd grade in an African-centered school. She grew up on the Westside of Detroit and is a proud graduate of Cass Technical High School.