View Kristien Zenkov's curriculum vitae in PDF format.

Kristien Zenkov is an associate professor of literacy education at George Mason University and the co-director of the "Through Students' Eyes" project, which asks urban high school and middle school youth to document with photographs and writing what they believe are the purposes of school. He received his PhD in Teacher Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was a faculty member at Cleveland State University before recently moving to George Mason. He has published more than forty articles and book chapters concerning urban teacher education, language arts pedagogy, and curriculum standards in English Journal, Visual Studies, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Educational Action Research, Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, and School-Practitioner Quarterly. While at Cleveland State Dr. Zenkov served as the Director of the Master of Urban Secondary Teaching (MUST) Program—an award-winning urban and social justice focused masters licensure option—and coordinated partnerships with high schools in four urban school districts. He continues his professional development schools efforts at George Mason through partnerships with Washington, DC, Fairfax, and Manassas schools. Dr. Zenkov and his colleagues have been awarded grants (totaling nearly $2 million) from private foundations and the US Department of Education in support of the “Through Students’ Eyes” project and numerous other urban teacher education, conflict resolution, and teacher mentoring studies and programs.  He has taught language arts and drama in city high schools across the country, and while at Cleveland State continued to co-teach a 10th grade English class with Jim Harmon. Dr. Zenkov currently serves as the editor of PDS Partners, is editing a special issue of Theory Into Practice focused on urban students’ perspectives on school, and is a board member or reviewer for the National Association for Professional Development Schools, the Journal of Teacher Education, Urban Education, and Equity and Excellence in Education.

Literacy/English education, urban teacher education, social justice and education, visually-based research methods, teacher activism, portfolio/performance assessment, teacher research

Zenkov, K. (forthcoming). From “He’s too nice” to “Some day”: Using photographs to understand what urban students want to learn in school. Sociological Studies of Children and Youth.
Zenkov, K. (forthcoming). The teachers and schools they deserve: Seeing the pedagogies, practices, and programs urban students want. Theory Into Practice.
Zenkov, K. & Dutro, E. (Eds.). (forthcoming). Special issue of Theory Into Practice focused on urban students’ perspectives on school, teachers, and curricula.
Zenkov, K. & Harmon, J. (forthcoming). Through students’ eyes: Urban youth show us what they believe about school. School-University Partnerships.
Zenkov, K. & Harmon, J. (forthcoming). Picturing a writing process: Using photovoice to learn how to teach writing to urban youth. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.
Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., Tompkins, E., van Lier, P. (forthcoming). Through students’ eyes: Seeing city youths’ perspectives on the purposes of, supports for, and impediments to literacy practices. Journal of Reading Education.
Zenkov, K., Corrigan, D., & Smith, T. (forthcoming). The evidence of social justice: New notions of “quality” for urban teachers. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research.
Marquez-Zenkov, K., Corrigan, D., Brockett, C., & Lehrian, S. (2008). Show me what you know: Pre-service teachers and social justice in action. Perspectives on Urban Education, 5(2).
Marquez-Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., van Lier, P., & Marquez-Zenkov, M. (2008). Picture this: Seeing diverse city students’ ideas about schools’ purposes, impediments, and supports. Multicultural Perspectives, 10(3).
Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2007). Through city students’ eyes: Urban students’ beliefs about school’s purposes, supports, and impediments. Visual Studies, 22(2), 138-154.
Marquez-Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., van Lier, P., & Marquez-Zenkov, M. (2007). “If they’ll listen to us about life, we’ll listen to them about school”: Seeing city students’ ideas about quality teachers. Educational Action Research 15(3), 403-415.
Marquez-Zenkov, K., & Harmon, J. (2007). Seeing English in the city: Using photography to understand students’ literacy relationships. English Journal, 96(6), 24-30.
Marquez-Zenkov, K., Corrigan, D., & Brockett, C. (2007). Pre-service teacher “quality” and social justice leadership. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 11(2), 11-15.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Stahlman, J. (2005). City teachers staying in city schools: New principles of urban teacher education and induction. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 4-20.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2004). City standards generation: How urban educators might see their communities in the standards movement. Scholar-Practitioner Quarterly, 2(4), 13-28.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2003). The “public art” of language arts: Re-discovering a pedagogical purpose through the arts. Language Arts, 80(5), 384-391.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Harmon, J. (2003). Seeing standards: Using technology and a school facilities crisis to make sense of the standards movement. Technology and Teacher Education Annual, 1993-1998.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Harmon, J. (2003). Perpetual pedagogy: A critical deficiency in modeling educational technology to pre- and in-service teachers. Technology and Teacher Education Annual, 3585-3588.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2002). Seeing standards: Schools’ built environments and the standards movement. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 15(4), 22-27.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Peterman, F. (2002). Resiliency and resistance in partnering to prepare urban teachers. Making a Difference in Teacher Education through Self-Study, 2, 84-90.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Zaharias, J. (2002). Teacher research: An alternative ethic in urban teacher preparation. English Leadership Quarterly, 24(4), 7-12.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Harmon, J. (2002). The sky is falling: Language arts methods, technology, and a Cleveland school facilities crisis. Technology and Teacher Education Annual, 1924-1928.
Zenkov, K. (forthcoming). Language arts education curricula. In C. Kridel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies. Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA.
Zenkov, K. & Dutro, E. (2008). Urban students testifying to their own stories: Talking back to deficit perspectives. In Youb, K., Risko, V., Compton, D.L., Dickinson, D.K., Hundley, M.K., Jimenez, R.T., Leander, K.M., & Rowe, D.W. (Eds), 57th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, 172-186.

Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2007). Social justice in the city: Novice urban educators and community relevant standards. In F. Peterman (Ed.), Partnering to prepare urban Teachers: A call to activism. Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Navarro, V. (Eds.) (2005). Staying connected: Re-framing the contours of partnership work in education with PDS standards. Milwaukee, WI: Urban Network to Improve Teacher Education.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2005). Urban across institutions: Portfolio assessment at Cleveland State University. In F. Peterman (Ed.), Designing performance assessment systems for urban teacher preparation. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2005). “Resilient Classrooms: Creating Healthy Environments for Learning.” Book review published in Teachers College Record (on-line February, 2005; paper copy August, 2005).
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Nordgren, R.D. (2004). City teachers and curricular relevance: Seeing students’ communities in the standards movement. Yearbook of the Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research Special Interest Group, 1-13.
Zenkov, K. & Apple, M.W. (1996). American realities: Poverty, economy, and education. In M.W. Apple, Cultural power and education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., Washington, S., & Washington, S, & Bell, A. (Eds.). (forthcoming). Professional Development School Partners, 4(3). Columbia, SC: National Association for Professional Development Schools.
Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., Washington, S., & Washington, S, & Bell, A. (Eds.). (September, 2008). Professional Development School Partners, 4(2). Columbia, SC: National Association for Professional Development Schools.
Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., Washington, S., & Laschinger, S. (Eds.). (May, 2008). Professional Development School Partners, 4(1). Columbia, SC: National Association for Professional Development Schools.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Harmon, J. (May, 2008). Through students’ eyes. Apple Learning Interchange Community.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. & Members of the National Association for Professional Development Schools Summit. (April, 2008). The non-negotiables of a professional development school.
Marquez-Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., & Laschinger, S. (Eds.). (January, 2008). Professional Development School Partners, 3(3). Columbia, SC: National Association for Professional Development Schools.
Marquez-Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., & Laschinger, S. (Eds.). (September, 2007). Professional Development School Partners, 3(2). Columbia, SC: National Association for Professional Development Schools.
Marquez-Zenkov, K. (2007). Teacher preparation report overlooks schools like Cleveland State University that educate most teachers. Catalyst Cleveland. Cleveland, OH: Catalyst Cleveland.
Marquez-Zenkov, K., Harmon, J., & van Lier, P. (2005). Through Students’ Eyes: A Catalyst Cleveland Special Section. Cleveland, OH: Catalyst Cleveland.
Zenkov, K. (February, 1997).  School Board to send referendum to voters. The Madison Times, 6(6).
Zenkov, K. (Assistant Ed.). (1997). Review of Research in Education, 22. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Zenkov, K. (December, 1996). School Board continues discussions of next year’s dollar needs. The Madison Times, 5(49).
Zenkov, K. (November, 1996). School Board considers long-range needs of children of color. The Madison Times, 5(44).
Zenkov, K. (Assistant Ed.). (1996). Review of Research in Education, 21. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Zenkov, K. (Proofreader). (1994-1997). Rethinking Schools. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

• Graduate School of Education
• College of Education and Human Development
• Center for Digital Media, Innovation and Diversity
• Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning
• Literacy and Reading
• Secondary Education 6-12

• School-Based Inquiry in Literacy (EDRD - 635)

• Facilitating Literacy in School or Community Settings (EDRD - 301)