Christine Montecillo Leider

Expertise

Research Interests

Chris Montecillo Leider, Ph.D., is a critical mixed-methodologist with three overlapping strands of work:

1. teacher education and teacher beliefs about racialized multilingual learners;
2. Anti-racist pedagogy;
3. Using collaborative ethnographic methods to understand and make visible the experiences of women of color in education.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.): Curriculum and Instruction, Boston College
• Master of Arts (MA): Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology, Boston College
• Bachelor of Arts (BA): Spanish, Psychology, University of Portland

Biosketch

Chris Montecillo Leider, Ph.D., is a teacher educator and education researcher. Her experiences growing up as a Filipina American and second-generation immigrant in southeast Alaska, as well as her professional experiences teaching English and Spanish and working in predominantly white institutions have shaped both her research agenda and approach to teacher education. She views research as advocacy and critical storytelling. Her work focuses on teacher beliefs about language diversity, antiracist pedagogical practices, and policy and civil rights issues regarding teacher education and racialized multilingual learners’ access to education.

Her work examining State Education Agency policies and resources for classified English learners has been nationally recognized in public education media outlets, including EdWeek and New America. She also uses critical collaborative ethnographic methods to unpack, make visible, and center the lived experiences of women of color educators and scholars. Chris is the elected president of Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages (MATSOL) and a member of the National Committee for Effective Literacy for Multilingual Learners. She is the co-author of the forthcoming books Becoming Language Teacher Educators: Critical Friendships and Communities and Critical Disciplinary Literacy: An Equity-Driven and Culturally Responsive Approach to Disciplinary Learning and Teaching. She is also the co-editor of the forthcoming volumes Until Every Woman is Free: Equity and Belonging in the Academy through Duoethnography and Preparing Antiracist Teachers: Fostering Antiracism and Equity in Teacher Preparation.

Selected Publications

• Leider, C.M. and Proctor, C.P. (in production) Toward a Dynamic Idiolect: Multilingual Perspectives on the “Science of Reading”. Educational Psychologist.
• Leider, C.M., Dobbs, C.L., and Phillips Galloway, E. (accepted). Are we language teacher educators?: Using linguistic cartography to support teacher identity development around language. TESOL Journal.
• Leider, C.M., Tigert, J.M., Norova, N.(2024). Teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners: a content analysis of teacher professional organizations’ position statements. Teachers College Record.
• Baker, D., Leider, C.M., Kim, H., Rinaldi, C., and Garcia, P. (2024). All Over the Map: State-level Guidance for English Learners with Disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies.
• Leider, C.M., Tigert, J.M., Norova, N., Fouhti, G., Wang, T., and Sawyer, J. (2024). Supporting multilingual learners: A pilot survey of art teachers. Studies in Art Education.
• Leider, C.M., Colombo, M.W., and Nerlino, E. (2021). Decentralization, Teacher Quality, and the Education of English Learners: Do State Education Agencies effectively prepare teachers of ELs? Educational Policy Archives Analysis.
• Dobbs, C. L. and Leider, C.M.. (2021). “Does this happen to everyone?”: Women professors of color reflect on experiences in the academy, A Duoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Research, 36(7), 1271-1385.
• Dobbs, C. L. and Leider, C.M. (2021). A LangCrit analysis of teachers’ beliefs about language learning and language diversity. Journal of Multilingual Theory and Practice, 2(1), 25-46.

Selected Presentations

• Leider, C.M. and Dobbs, C.L. (April 2024). “What Is ‘Tenure-Worthy’ Work?” A Duoethnographic Exploration of What "Counts" in Teacher Education. Poster presented at the annual AERA Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Nguyen, N.M. and Leider, C,M. (April 2024). Restorying the Asian Diaspora in Education: A Duoethnography About Joy. Paper presented at the annual AERA Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Dobbs, C.L., Leider, C.M., Morita-Mullaney, P. (March 2024). Beyond the ‘master’s tools’: A QuantCrit framework for language education research. Paper presented at the annual AAAL Conference, Houston, Texas.
• Deroo, M., Dobbs, C.L., Leider, C.M., and Kray, F. (November 2023). No Hierarchies Here: Interactive Dialog, Inquiry, and Writing among Teacher Educators Seeking to Support Teaching and Learning with Multilingual Youth. Paper presented at the annual Literacy Research Association, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Leider, C.M. and Dobbs, C.L. (November 2023). Reconceptualizing Teacher Beliefs about Language: Beliefs about language learning and beliefs about language diversity. Paper presented at the annual Literacy Research Association, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Leider, C.M. and Dobbs, C.L. (March 2023). Critical Teacher Education: Addressing and challenging deficit perspectives with teachers. Paper presented at the annual TESOL Convention, Portland, Oregon.