Marilyn Johnston-Parsons

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

I am currently a professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My current research interests include educational reform related to teacher education and social studies education particularly related to issues of social justice and diversity. I use socio-cultural, post-colonial, and post-structural feminist perspectives to frame my research. I recently published a book with teachers from an urban school in Columbus, Ohio. The book, entitled Success Stories From a Failing School: Teachers Living Under the Shadow of NCLB, describes the ways in which learning successes happen daily in a school that is labeled "failing" by their test scores. The teachers describe the pressures and effects of narrowly defined accountability measures on their professional identities and teaching practices.

I am also interested in collaborative research methodologies, urban education, action/teacher research and self-study. I regularly do action research/self-studies of my own teaching.