Biography
Dr. Carrie Symons is Assistant Professor of Literacy and Language in the Department of Teacher Education where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in elementary literacy instructional methods, literacy for K-12 emergent bilinguals, action research, and English language development across content areas. Carrie’s research explores the relationship between teachers’ instructional practices and immigrant-origin youth’s literacy and language development in multilingual contexts. Drawing upon sociocultural, sociolinguistic, and cognitive theories of literacy and language development, she aims to identify what teachers need to know to effectively facilitate immigrant-origin youth’s learning across content areas and how culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogical knowledge is best developed.