In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Buffalo's finest Dr. Tiffany M. Nyachae on the podcast to learn about her personal journey to education, her transition from the classroom to academia, how she manages racial battle fatigue as a Black woman in academia, the importance of incorporating 'race space' critical professional development in our school communities, and so much more! To learn more about Tiffany's work, you can visit The Evolving Education Project at evolvingeducationproject.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@tiffany.m.nyachae or @evolvingeducationproject) or Twitter (@tiffany_nyachae or @EvolvingEduProj)
BIO: Tiffany M. Nyachae is Assistant Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The Pennsylvania State University, College of Education. She is also podcaster, educational consultant, and founder of the Evolving Education Project; a fellow in the STAR (Scholars of Color Transitioning into Academic Research Institutions) Mentoring Program through the Literacy Research Association (LRA); and 2018-2020 Cultivating New Voices (CNV) Among Scholars of Color Fellow through the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Dr. Nyachae earned her Ph.D. in Literacy Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning at the University at Buffalo (SUNY).
As a native and longtime resident of the city of Buffalo, NY, at the heart of her research agenda is, has been, and will be improving the educational experiences of students of Color. This agenda is evident in her research on supporting the racial literacy, social justice ideological becoming, and classroom practice of urban teachers committed to social justice through “race space” critical professional development. Additionally, she provides educational consulting and professional development to college/university faculty, school districts, administrators, and teachers through the Evolving Education Project.
As a former middle school teacher of urban Black youth, Dr. Nyachae is interested in the continuous transparent and reflective work that is required from those who claim to center social justice in their leadership, instruction, and research. Thus, she also facilitates social justice literacy workshops and programming for youth of Color broadly—and for Black girls specifically at times—interrogating the degree to which these spaces are liberatory in actuality. Dr. Nyachae finds her greatest joy in learning with (and from) young people. Her publications have appeared in journals such as Urban Education, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Multicultural Learning and Teaching, Gender and Education, and Qualitative Inquiry. Finally, she also volunteers her service to various community and professional organizations.
