Bio

Kelly C. Johnston is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Baylor University. Dr. Johnston's program of research examines how children and youth engage with literacy across contexts and the implications for literacy development and wellbeing in underserved communities. Her research seeks to produce more equitable and just opportunities for children and youth whose cultural, linguistic, racial-ethnic, and neurodiverse identities and practices have been marginalized through formal education.


Along with her project on reimagining schooled literacies, Dr. Johnston is currently examining the integration of literacy with physical activity and health as well integration of literacy across content areas through inquiry-based learning.


Dr. Johnston’s recent scholarship can be found in Unsettling Literacies: Directions for Literacy Research in Precarious Times (Eds. C. Lee,, C. Bailey, C. Burnett, and J. Rowsell) and The Handbook of Critical Literacies (Eds. J. Zacher, R. Mora, J. Alford, N. Golden, R. de Roock), as well as academic journals, such as Language Arts, The Reading Teacher, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, English Teaching: Practice & Critique, and The Teacher Educator.


Dr. Johnston was recently awarded the Innovation in Teaching and Learning Award by the Education Deans of Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas.

Dr. Johnston teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. Before coming to Baylor, Dr. Johnston taught graduate courses at Teachers College, Columbia University, and at The City College of New York while working as a research fellow in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University.

If you are interested in pursuing a funded graduate research fellowship with Dr. Johnston, please email her directly: Kelly_Johnston@Baylor.edu

Degrees (3)

Ed.D. Curriculum and Teaching
2018
Teachers College, Columbia University

M.Ed. Reading Education
2011
Texas State University

B.S. Interdisciplinary Studies
2004
Baylor University

Research Interests (1)

Research Interests

Literacy in schools and communities

Integrating literacy pedagogy in alternative contexts and spaces

Critical literacies

Sociomaterial, sociocultural, and affective approaches to literacy engagement

Select Publications (12) Showing 5 of 12. Showing 12 of 12. Show All Show Less

Inquiry-based teacher writing groups as sites for professional learning and restorying identities

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published Inquiry-based teacher writing groups as sites for professional learning and restorying identities in The Teacher Educator, 2022, with co-author(s) Dr. Amy Tondreau, University of Maryland Baltimore.

Proposing a politics of immediation for literacy studies, or what is possible for literacy studies beyond critical theory’s mediations?

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published Proposing a politics of immediation for literacy studies, or what is possible for literacy studies beyond critical theory’s mediations? in The Handbook of Critical Literacies, 2021, with co-author(s) Dr. Christian Ehret, McGill University, and Jennifer Rowsell, University of Bristol.

Dis/comforting shelfies: Travelling literacies other-wise in disrupted times

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published Dis/comforting shelfies: Travelling literacies other-wise in disrupted times in Digital Cultures and Education, Vol. 14, Issue 2, p. 18-26, 2022, with co-author(s) Dr. Amelie Lemieux, University of Montreal, and Fiona Scott, The University of Sheffield.

Refining literacy pedagogy through practitioner inquiry partnerships

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published Refining Literacy Pedagogy through Practitioner Inquiry Partnerships in The Reading Teacher, Vol. 75, Issue 2, p. 169-177, 2021, with co-author(s) Dr. Tracy Harper, Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

From New York City to the World: Examining Critical Global Literacies in an English Language Arts Classroom

Dr. Kelly C Johnston in Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 2021, with co-author(s) Dr. Lakeya Omogun, University of Texas, and Crystal Lee, North Carolina State University.

Rethinking “availability” in multimodal composing: Infrastructures of digital design

Dr. Kelly C Johnston in Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Vol. 64, Issue 3, p. 259-270, 2020, with co-author(s) Dr. T Phillip Nichols.

Enacting a body-focused curriculum with young girls through an activist approach: Leveraging the after-school space

Dr. Kelly C Johnston in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 2020, with co-author(s) Dr. R Marttinen, George Mason University, S Flory, University of South Florida, and B Meza.

“The Day You Begin”: Using children’s lived experiences as a tool for cultivating critical consciousness

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published The Day You Begin: Using children’s lived experiences as a tool for cultivating critical consciousness in Multicultural literature in the content areas: Transforming K-12 classrooms into engaging, inviting, and socially conscious spaces.

Affective literacies in the classroom

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published Affective Literacies in the Classroom in Literacy Today magazine, a publication of the International Literacy Association, 2020.

Assemblaging communities: Looking at how communities work for enacting critical literacies pedagogy in the classroom

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published Assemblaging communities: Looking at how communities work for enacting critical literacies pedagogy in the classroom in English Teaching: Practice & Critique, Vol. 19, Issue 1, p. 121-135, 2020.

Tapping into the Feeling Power: Considering the Affordances of the Affective Nature of Multimodal Literacies

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, published Tapping into the Feeling Power: Considering the Affordances of the Affective Nature of Multimodal Literacies in Language Arts, Vol. 97, Issue 3.

Girls’ Experiences in a Positive Youth Development Sport Program: Developing a Participant-Centered Space

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, assistant professor, published Girls' Experiences in a Positive Youth Development Sport Program: Developing a Participant-Centered Space in Journal of Youth Development, Vol. 14, Issue 1, p. 93-111, with co-author(s) Risto Marttinen, George Mason University, and Ray Fredrick, Queens College, City University of New York.

Awards & Honors (4)

Innovation in Teaching and Learning Award

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, received Innovation in Teaching and Learning from Education Deans of Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas, 2022.

John Laska Dissertation Award

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, received John Laska Dissertation Award in Teaching from American Association for Curriculum and Teaching, 2020.

Emerging Scholar Fellowship

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, received Emerging Scholars Fellowship Award from The Reading Hall of Fame, July 2019.

Dissertation Award

Dr. Kelly C Johnston, received the Timothy & Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Finalist from International Literacy Association, June 1, 2019.

Professional Leadership (2)

Board of Directors, Texas Association of Literacy Educators

Dr. Kelly C Johnston; At-Large Director; Texas Association of Literacy Educators.

Board Member, Directed Energy

Dr. Kelly C Johnston; Board Member; Directed Energy.

Courses (8)

EDC 5323: Contemporary Curriculum for Young Children

Independent Study: Multimodality and Literacy

Independent Study: Critical Literacies

TED 4303: Comprehension of Expository Texts

EDC 5312: Literacy, Equity, and Students’ Lives

TED 3380: Social Issues in Education

Independent Study: Literacy Innovations across Content Areas

EDC 6312: Curriculum Inquiry and Analysis