As a scholar of international and comparative education, I’m interested in education policies, practices, and contexts worldwide, and how these might be adapted to local contexts.

My scholarship influences my teaching. Knowledge and appreciation of others’ lived experiences is crucial for both understanding ourselves and becoming truly open-minded, critical thinkers capable of doing good in the world. How has schooling influenced our respective thinking, being, and aspirations for the future? What struggles and successes have we experienced along our respective educational journeys?

To get at these questions, whether I’m teaching EDYS 201: Comparative and International Perspectives in Education or EDYS 276: East Asian Culture, Society, and Education, I use multimedia resources. I also ask students to share their own educational experiences. These are both revealing and empowering, and shed light on how different societies understand the purposes of education and schooling, and how educational inequalities are produced and reproduced. Students realized their potential to disrupt inequalities, no matter their future directions in life and work.

In 2005, in an on-going project, I began researching the impact of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and internal migration on the lived experiences and aspirations of China’s migrant and rural youth, both educationally and professionally. I have also conducted research on higher education in Russia and China, internationalization of education in the U.S., girls’ education, and education for sustainable development.

Critical ethnography carries over into my personal life. I love to learn about others’ lives and cultures by traveling and taking photographs. During the pandemic, I began growing vegetables; I gained new perspectives about our connection with earth. I draw on those when I teach EDYS 276, Ecology, Development, and Education.