Dr. Alison G. Dover is a Professor in the Department of Secondary Education at California State University, Fullerton, where she teaches secondary methods and coordinates the Master of Science in Transformative Teaching in Secondary Education. She holds a doctorate in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has taught English Language Arts and service learning in diverse urban school districts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Dover works extensively with local and national students, educators, and school communities to advance equity, social justice, and culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies in K-12 and teacher education. Click here to access her full CV.
Alison's research examines approaches to teaching for social justice within and despite accountability-driven P–12 and teacher preparatory contexts. Her recent publications include Preparing to Teach Social Studies for Social Justice: Becoming a Renegade (2016, Teachers College Press) and articles in The New Educator, Urban Education, the International Journal of Multicultural Education, Multicultural Perspectives, Teaching and Teacher Education, The Educational Forum, English Journal, and the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, among others. Her latest book, Radically Inclusive Teaching with Newcomer and Emergent Plurilingual Students: Braving Up was published in 2022 by Teachers College Press.
Dr. Dover's current projects include the co-direction of several enrichment programs for newcomer and emergent plurilingual students in Southern California, including the Language Explorers. Since its 2016 inception, more than 1000 students and 100 educators have participated in a summer or academic year Language Explorers program, and, in 2018, the programs received both the Orange County Department of Education Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness Award and the California School Board Association Golden Bell Award. In 2020, Dover (with co-PIs Dr. Fernando Rodríguez-Valls and Dr. Renae Bryant) was awarded a Spencer Foundation Research-Practice Partnership Grant to engage newcomer students as co-researchers who cooperatively study and shape educational policy and practice (click here for more on Project LEARN: Language, Equity and Action Research with Newcomer Students ). Dover is also co-PI of a statewide project examining the racial climate of teacher education programs throughout California (funded by the California Teacher Education Research and Improvement Network and the Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity).
Use the above links above to read more about Dr. Dover's teaching and research, and to see examples of how her students promote equity and social justice in their classrooms. You can also read more about Dr. Dover in the Orange County Register or follow her on Twitter or Academia.edu.