A headshot of Stephanie Anne Shelton

Shelton Wins National Award for LGBTQ+ Advocacy

Dr. Stephanie Anne Shelton, associate professor of qualitative research with UA’s College of Education, was recently honored with the 2021 National Council of Teachers of English LGBTQ+ Advocacy & Leadership Award that recognizes a member of the LGBTQ+ community who has made a significant contribution to NCTE and the development of its professional community.

“Receiving this award is incredibly empowering because it affirms the importance of educational spaces celebrating and honoring LGBTQ+ identities, and it reminds me that my own work as an LGBTQ+ person and advocate is both deeply personal and critically important to my profession,” said Shelton.

According to the NCTE, the award demonstrates the organization’s vision to strengthen an increasingly inclusive group that provides more access to diverse voices and helps promote cross-community connections and values and supports the agency of diverse leaders in the field.

Shelton, who also serves as program coordinator for educational research and affiliate faculty member with UA’s department of gender and race studies and gifted education program, has been part of the UA faculty since 2016. Her research is interview- and focus group-based and often incorporates queer and feminist theories into examinations of secondary education.

Shelton’s current research projects include considering teachers’ understandings of LGBTQ+ ally identity and ally work in sociopolitically conservative school spaces; expressions and formations of early-career teacher identities in longitudinal research; teachers’ understandings and enactments of “social justice” in peer discussions and classroom practice; and researchers’ reflexivity through interview transcription practices.

“In looking ahead, my hope is that this recognition continues to spark my commitment to LGBTQ+ communities and people, including in teaching and research, and to constantly advocate for intersectional understandings and enactments of LGBTQ+-focused work,” said Shelton.

Shelton will be recognized during NCTE’s virtual awards ceremony later this month.

Contact

Bryant Welbourne, UA Strategic Communications, bryant.welbourne@ua.edu

Source

Dr. Stephanie Anne Shelton, sashelton@ua.edu