Postdoctoral Research Fellow
I specialize in science education, sociocultural learning theories, and critical research methods in education. I am concerned with issues of equity and justice in education and embrace a variety of critical perspectives, particularly feminisms. I am fascinated by the science of learning; especially how preservice science teachers learn to teach with equitable excellence in secondary classrooms. I completed a PhD in Education in 2021--Come talk to me about applying to grad school! When I’m not doing academics, I’m reading lots of fiction, often at the beach, and eating Takis.
- Ph.D. in Education, University of California Santa Cruz
- BA in Environmental Analysis, Pitzer College
- Preservice science teacher learning
- Science teacher preparation for equitable excellence
- Just learning systems
- Science and justice
- Qualitative research methods
- Cultural studies
- Feminisms
Instructional Equity in Math and Science Secondary Education, Foundations of Education, and Education Research Methods
Since 2021 I have co-managed the research component of the Biliteracy and Content Area Integrated Preparation (BCAIP) project here at Sonoma State (working with project PI Dr. Ed Lyon). I have lectured at UC Merced, UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz. I also do research evaluation work for the Advancing Language Literacy with Relevant Investigations in Science Education (ALL RISE) project at the University of Houston.
From 2015-2021 I worked on a variety of research projects as a graduate research assistant at UCSC. Primarily, I researched math and science teacher preparation focused on equitable instruction for emergent multilingual learners. I also worked on a project dedicated to advancing faculty diversity in the UCs, and another project focused on stem cell biology. My dissertation explored how Discourses of power were enacted, taken up, resisted, and deconstructed in an equity-oriented science teacher preparation program, using Critical Cultural Discourse Analysis and a case study design.
- Praxis Crisis and the Trouble With Science Teacher Education For Emergent Bilingual Learners has been successfully submitted to Science Education (Tolbert, Spurgin, and Ash, Manuscript Under Review, 2023)
- Talking beyond science: Deconstructing whiteness and hegemonic language ideologies in preservice Science Teacher Education (Spurgin and Tolbert, Conference Paper, NARST 2022)
- Patchworking Critical and Cultural-Historical Activity Theoretical Analytics for Research in Science Education (Spurgin, Race, and Ash, Conference Paper, NARST 2022)
- Discourses of Power in Science Teacher Becoming: Science and Equity in Conflict (Spurgin, Dissertation, 2021)