Katherina Payne is an Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction in Social Studies Education. She received her B.A. in American Studies with a concentration in History and Political Science from Yale University, an M.A. in Urban Elementary Education from Adelphi University, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Professor Payne taught in New York City Public Schools, where she developed her own practice and pedagogy as a democratic elementary school teacher and a strong commitment to urban education.
Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2013
M.A. in Child Urban Education Studies and Elementary Education, Adelphi University, 2004
B.A. in American Studies, Yale University, 2000
Researches civic education, early childhood/elementary education, and teacher education to examine the role of relationships, community, and justice to make classrooms democratic and equitable spaces.
McManus, M.., Payne, K.., Lee, S.., Sachdeva, S.., Falkner, A.., Colegrove, K.S.S.. & Adair, J.. (2019). Expanding video-cued multivocal ethnography for activist research in the Civic Action and Learning with Young Children Study. Anthropology & Education Quarterly. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12300.
Payne, K.A.., Adair, J.K.., Colegrove, K.S.S.., Lee, S.., Falkner, A.., McManus, M.. & Sachdeva, S.. (2019). Reconceptualizing civic education for young children: Recognizing embodied civic action. Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197919858359.
Payne, K.A.. & Journell, W.. (2019). We have those kinds of conversations here
: Addressing contentious politics with elementary students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 79(March), 73–82. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.12.008.
Swalwell, K.. & Payne, K.A.. (2019). Critical civic education for young children. Multicultural Perspectives, 21(2), 127–132. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2019.1606641.
Payne, K.A.. & Green, E.. (2018). Inquiry through the lens of identity. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 30(3), 4–8.
Payne, K.A.. (2018). Young Childrens Everyday Civics. The Social Studies, 109(5), 1–7.
Payne, K.A.. (2018). Democratic teachers mentoring novice teachers: Enacting democratic practices and pedagogy in teacher education. Action in Teacher Education, 40(2), 133–150.
Payne, K. (2018). Teacher Education's Role in Thick Democracy. Teacher Education & Practice, 31(2), 293–296.
Payne, K.A.., Hoffman, J.V.. & DeJulio, S.. (2017). Doing democracy through simulation, deliberation, and inquiry with elementary students. Social Studies Research and Practice, 12(1), 56–69.
Payne, K.A.. (2017). Democratic teacher education in elementary classroomsLearning about, through, and for thick democracy. Journal of Social Studies Research, 41(2), 101–115.
Payne, K.A.. & Zeichner, K.. (2017). Multiple voices and participants in teacher education. D. Clandinin & J. Hukka (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (pp. 1101–1116). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc..
Flessner, R.. & Payne, K.A.. (2017). The Impact of Social Theories on Agency in Teacher Education. In D. Clandinin & J. Hukka (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (pp. 286–300). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc..
Payne, K.A.. (2015). Who Can Fix This? The Concept of Audience and First Graders Civic Agency. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 27(4), 19–22.
Zeichner, K.., Payne, K.A.. & Brayko, K.. (2015). Democratizing knowledge in university teacher education through practice-based methods teaching and mediated field experience in schools and communities. Journal of Teacher Education, 66(2), 122–135.
Falkner, A. & Payne, K. (n.d.). "But all your walls are blank!" Civics in the Classroom Environment. Young Children.
Civic Action and Young Children
The Civic Action and Young Children project is a video-cued multivocal ethnography of preschools across three countries: the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. The project sought to observe, document, and contextualize the everyday ways that young children engage in civic action, i.e. acting on behalf of and with their community. I primarily participated in research at the site in the United States; however, I also did some field work to learn in our New Zealand site in Porirua, Wellington.
Dynamic Innovation for Young Children
Big XII Faculty Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, collaborating with Iowa State University (2018 - 2019)
Dean's Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin (2017 - 2017)
Summer Research Assignment, University of Texas at Austin (2017 - 2017)
VPR Special Research Grant, University of Texas at Austin (2017 - 2017)
Erin T Green, Ph.D., expected 2025 (Supervisor)
Erin Green is a doctoral student in curriculum and instruction, focusing on critical, anti-racist approaches to elementary social studies.
Heath T Robinson, Ph.D., expected 2022 (Committee Member)
Heath's research interests live at the intersection of curriculum studies, social studies teacher education, and the politics of education. Drawing on sociocultural and critical theoretical frameworks, his research is primarily concerned with preparing secondary social studies preservice teachers to enact humanizing pedagogies in public school classrooms.
Melissa R Williams (Committee Member)
Melissa Rojas Williams is a first-generation college student and motherscholar. Melissa currently serves as an assistant instructor for both the Generalist and Bilingual Elementary Social Studies Methods, as well as the Latinx Childrens Literature Course.
It is an honor for her to explore how pre-service Bilingual Teachers utilize childrens literature to help build childrens civic identities as they too reflect on their own civic identity, membership, and agency. Having had ten years of teaching experience...
Anna Falkner, Ph.D., 2020 (Co-supervisor)
