Amanda Yoshiko Shimizu

I am a current Ph.D. Candidate in Learning, Teaching, and Diversity with a specialization in Language, Literacy, and Culture at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education.

As a researcher, my work focuses on elementary students’ literacy practices in digital environments. In my dissertation research, I investigate the collaborative writing practices of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students in online spaces with digital tools. Through the development of innovative multimodal methodologies, I explore how third graders’ collaborative writing develops across multiple online spaces, authors, and modes of interaction. The digital nature of this work provides space to develop new methodologies to study students’ interactions. In turn, it also has the potential to theoretically expand what counts as writing participation as well as a place to pedagogically support practitioners hoping to incorporate digital writing tools into their classroom instruction.

Prior to pursuing my Ph.D., I was a classroom teacher for 10 years, including international teaching with the Peace Corps in the Republic of Moldova, first grade on a U.S. military base in South Korea, and a founding literacy teacher across grades two, three, and four at  charter schools in Rhode Island. While at Vanderbilt, I have continued teaching through mentorship, invited talks, professional development for local schools, and acting as instructor of record for a required literacy course for undergraduate elementary education majors. These varied experiences have confirmed my beliefs about the power of literacy education and the importance of building relationships with students to support their learning and growth.