Bianca Nightengale-Lee, Ph.D.

Dr. Nightengale-Lee currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the department of Curriculum & Instruction at Florida Atlantic University. With over 15 years as an elementary educator, and literacy specialist, her expertise is grounded in a deep understanding of pedagogical practice that focuses on humanizing curriculum development, and culturally relevant instruction.

With articles published in, Multicultural Perspectives, the Journal of Literacy Theory: Research Methods & Practice, as well as the Oxford Encyclopedia of Research, her work examines the intersections of critical theory, literacy, curriculum, and culture, to foreground curricular development reflective of the lives and literacies of students of Color. Her authentic and intersectional approach to research has garnered awards and honors from multiple organizations and institutions including: The National Council of Teachers of English, Literacy Research Association, and Florida Atlantic University.

As a critically engaged community scholar, Dr. Nightengale-Lee works with teachers and students to develop literacy experiences that draw on the cultural resources of students of Color through Hip Hop. Through this lens, Hip Hop is leveraged as a vehicle that stretches beyond traditional literacy norms to reflect the cultural practices of urban life through song, art, dance and self-expression. In teacher education, she works with in-service and pre-service teachers to prepare them to meet the demands of 21st century learning contexts, which reflect the racially, socially, and politically charged structures that shape education, and the practical pathways that lead to more humanizing modes of pedagogy.