KMH

Language. Education. Identity.

Educator · Researcher · Writer

Kristine M.
HarrisonPhD

Language, teaching,
and the work of education.

Kristine M. Harrison teaches languages, develops curricula and prepares teachers. Her research follows language and education policy into textbooks and classrooms. In teacher preparation and community teaching, her work has included lesson planning and reflection, adapting teaching materials, and courses shaped around learners’ languages and cultural contexts.

Teaching philosophy

From inquiry to experience

  1. ResearchPolicy, textbooks and teachers’ perspectives
  2. CurriculumThe knowledge and materials a course selects
  3. TeachingPlanning, observation and reflection
  4. Student experienceLearners’ languages, interests and identities

What does an education teach us about ourselves?

Connections across her policy research, curriculum work and classroom teaching.
  • Language teaching
  • Teacher education
  • Curriculum development
  • Education policy & research

I Teaching philosophy

Making practice a subject of inquiry.

In teacher preparation, Harrison’s work has connected lesson planning, the selection of materials and reflection on classroom practice. Her community language teaching has also made room for learners’ first languages, interests and cultural contexts.

  1. Language

    In a community ESL course in Madison, lessons drew on participants’ interests and cultural contexts, making room for their first languages alongside English.

    Community language teaching

  2. Curriculum

    In world-language methods, teacher candidates adapted textbooks, selected authentic texts and considered how lessons represent language and culture.

    Materials & teacher preparation

  3. Teaching

    Lesson portfolios, written and video reflections, and observation conferences made classroom practice open to discussion.

    Reflection in classroom practice

  4. Identity

    Her doctoral research examined how policy and school materials represent Indigenous history and identity in Puerto Rico. The study brought policy analysis and textbook research together with teachers’ perspectives.

    Policy, knowledge & identity
Explore selected work

II Teaching in practice

From the question
to the classroom.

  1. 01 / Teacher education

    Making practice a subject of inquiry.

    At UW–Whitewater, Harrison observed teacher candidates’ lessons, gave feedback and worked with cooperating teachers. Cohort meetings and individual mentoring made space to discuss classroom practice.

    University of Wisconsin–Whitewater · August 2019–January 2022

  2. 02 / Community language teaching

    Learning a language.
    Keeping a world.

    With Lynet Uttal, she co-designed and taught a community ESL course for Muslim immigrant and refugee women, connecting language learning with participants’ cultural contexts.

    Madison, Wisconsin · Summer 2018

  3. 03 / Spanish teaching & curriculum

    Writing syllabi. Teaching Spanish.

    Harrison taught intensive Spanish to visiting U.S. university students and wrote or revised 23 liberal arts syllabi in a separate commission.

    CIEE · Santiago, Dominican Republic · 2016

  4. 04 / Research

    Whose knowledge belongs in school?

    Her doctoral study followed a question from the language of policy to the textbooks teachers use and the choices they make in classrooms.

    Puerto Rico · Doctoral research, 2013–2015

All selected work

III / Writing

Ideas, in print.

Books and collaborative volumes on the relationship between education, language, knowledge and identity.

Educational Imperialism

IV / Background

Classrooms, curriculum, inquiry.

Her doctoral research followed policy into textbooks and classrooms. Her teaching and curriculum work has included planning language courses, working with learners’ cultural contexts and helping teacher candidates reflect on their practice.