Kyunghwa Lee

Areas of Expertise

  • ethnographic studies on teaching and learning
  • disability studies in education
  • childhood studies
  • project- and inquiry-based pedagogy in early childhood education

Interests

  • teaching and learning in culture
  • early childhood teachers' perspectives on young children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
  • immigrant children and their families
  • robotics and embodied learning in early childhood education

Concentrations

Contact

 706-542-4278 (office)

Research Summary

Drawing on Giyoo Hatano and Naomi Miyake’s (1991) idea about “a double-sided effect” of culture, I examine various sociohistorical constraints, including taken-for-granted beliefs and practices, that support and hinder the process of teaching and learning in early schooling. My recent research is focused on investigating early childhood teachers’ beliefs about typical and atypical child development in general and their perspectives on young children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in particular. In this line of research, I examine the intersections of race, class, and disability in the current policy context of high-stakes accountability standards. Linking the increasing prevalence of ADHD among young children to disembodiment in today’s early schooling, I also explore robotics education as a possible pedagogy to bring blocks and children’s bodies back into early childhood classrooms.

Awards and Accolades

Donald O. Schneider Award for Mentoring

College of Education, University of Georgia, 2020

Faculty Research Leave Award

College of Education, University of Georgia, 2019

Jenny Penney Oliver Faculty Diversity Award

College of Education, University of Georgia, 2014

Faculty Research Leave Award

College of Education, University of Georgia, 2012

Mentoring Fellow

Institute for Behavioral Research, University of Georgia, 2005