Professional Summary
Kierstin Giunco, Ph.D. (she/her), is a literacy researcher and teacher educator committed to practitioner inquiry and teacher agency. Her research leverages qualitative methods within long-term partnerships to explore how PK-8 educators make sense of their context and develop their agency in adapting curricular materials to support and affirm all learners. Giunco’s commitments to equity and research-informed practices as a teacher educator are informed by her experiences teaching elementary grades in Boston, Massachusetts. Her teaching of a sixth-grade advocacy-focused literacy unit, along with her subsequent research on students' developing literate identities, earned her recognition on the International Literacy Association’s "30 Under 30" list. These experiences ultimately led her to take on administrative roles that supported curriculum development and provided instructional coaching across seven schools. Giunco now serves in a leadership role within the Teacher as Researcher Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. Her research has been published or is forthcoming in Reading Research Quarterly, Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, Urban Education, Action in Teacher Education, Teacher Development, and The Reading Teacher.
Education
Curriculum and Instruction: Boston College (Literacy, Language, and Culture & Leadership, Policy, and Educational Change)
Honors and Awards
International Literacy Association's 30 Under 30 Award
New England Education Research Association's John Schmitt Outstanding Research Award
Massachusetts Association of College and University Reading Educators' Celebrate Literacy Award
Service
American Educational Research Association (Teacher as Researcher Special Interest Group )
Literacy Research Association (Publications Committee )