Nada Ahmed, clinical assistant professor and director of field studies in the Department of Teaching and Learning and former co-director of the NYU Teacher Residency, recently told NYU Steinhardt about her research and teaching interests focused on fostering equity in urban schools and communities.
Ahmed’s research topics reflect the NYU Teacher Residency’s promise to train aspiring teachers to address long-standing issues of inequity and educational injustice in classrooms across the US.
One research project aims to design a partnership collaborative that creates models to support students, including teacher-education students, and communities. The groups within the collaborative will examine equity and access for emergent bilinguals and students with special needs.
Learners to Leaders, one of Ahmed’s current research projects, encourages emerging teachers to understand diverse perspectives and uncover blind spots in their practice. Likewise, in the Teacher Residency, faculty help residents build the tools to create inclusive classrooms and to advocate for students of all backgrounds.
In addition to her research, Ahmed has spent 18 years working with high-need urban school districts, providing coaching and professional development to new and experienced teachers, and is committed to building teacher leadership.
Read the interview to learn more about Ahmed’s partnership collaborative and Learners as Leaders research project.