Sonia Janis headshot

Sonia Janis

Areas of Expertise

  • Curriculum Studies
  • Social Studies Education
  • Teaching and Learning in 6-12 Grade Public Schools

Interests

  • critical mixed race studies
  • curriculum theory
  • curriculum in the U.S. South
  • school-university partnerships
  • clinical practice in teacher education

Concentrations

Education

  •  Ed.D. in Curriculum Studies, Multicultural Education, 2010
    Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia
  •  M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, 2005
    Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
  •  B.S.Ed. in Secondary Social Studies Education - Political Science, Sociology, Broad Field Social Studies, 2001
    University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
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Contact

 Aderhold Hall, 105G

Research Summary

Dr. Janis’s scholarship is in critical mixed race studies and clinical practices in social studies teacher education. Prior to UGA, she taught social studies and served as a public school administrator for ten years. She has written about multiracialism, critical race theory, and education for social justice (i.e., Janis & Howard, 2021; Janis, 2016; Janis, 2015; Janis, 2013; Janis & Carlyle-Hollis, 2013) by using narratives to reveal the in-betweenness of her life as a multi-race woman educator living and teaching in the U.S. South. In-betweeness inspired Janis’s role as Professor-in-Residence (PIR) with the Clarke County School District (CCSD), and she believes schools and universities should partner to create just educational experiences for children and teachers. Her current teacher education pedagogies and research are grounded in clinical practice and supporting induction teachers (i.e., Janis et al, 2025; Gilbertson & Janis, 2025; Janis, 2022; Janis et al, 2022; Janis et al, 2020; Janis et al, 2019) .

Publications

Articles

Making learning visible: Shaping teacher candidates’ pedagogical judgment in clinical practice
  • Janis, S., Schmeichel, M., Grace, C., Wegrzyn, K., & Lee, J.
  • Journal of Educational Supervision, 8(3)
  • teacher education
  • clinical practice
  • social studies education
  • assessments

Books

Are you mixed? A war bride’s granddaughter’s narrative of lives in-between contested race, gender, class and power
  • Janis, S. E.
  • Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
  • critical mixed race theory
  • narrative inquiry
  • mixed race studies

Chapters

Leveraging Action Research to Create Innovative K-12 Systems Change in School-University Partnerships
  • Gilbertson, E. & Janis, S.
  • The Cambridge handbook of school-university partnerships (pp. 637-658). Cambridge University Press.
  • induction teachers
  • school university partnerships
  • professional development schools

Awards and Accolades

Arthur M. Horne Faculty Award for Community Engagement and Research

Mary Frances Early College of Education, 2022