Westry Whitaker, Ed.D.
Overview
Westry Whitaker is a Professor of Middle Grades and Secondary Education at the University of North Georgia. Dr. Whitaker's research explores young adult literature and book banning, English methodologies, Curriculum Theory, qualitative research methods, and justice-oriented education with a focus on bullying and adolescent mental health. His 2025 edited volume written with colleagues, Supporting Students’ Intellectual Freedom in Schools, is a declaration of solidarity in the pursuit of knowledge and the right to read.
His 2018 article published in Teaching Education, The Southern Mind and the Savage Ideal: Deconstructing Identities of Place in the Cracker State, is a place-based pedagogical exploration of the South and Southern Identity. Conference presentations include panel discussions at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the American Educational Studies Association (AESA), the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (AAACS), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory.
Courses Taught
- Exploring Learning and Teaching (EDUC 2130)
- Language Arts for Middle Grades (LART 3060)
- Foundations of Middle Grades Schools and Their Students (MGED 3010).
- Internship 1: Culture and Practice in Middle Schools (MGED 3015)
- Internship 2: Facilitation and Differentiation (MGED 3115)
- Internship 3: Decision Making (MGED 4015)
- Internship 4: Supervision/Senior Internship Block (MGED 3540, 4403, 4404, 4405)
- Pre-Adolescent and Adolescent Literature (READ 3190)
- Teaching Content to Diverse Learners (MGED 3130)
- Sociocultural Diversity in Education (EDUC 2120)
- Strategies for Effective Teaching (EDUC 5101)
- Curriculum and Assessment (EDUC 5102
Education
- Ed.D., The George Washington University, 2014
- M.Ed., The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2002
- B.A., The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000
Publications
Whitaker, W., & Brewer, J. (Sept. 11, 2024). Opinion: In our political cowardice on guns, teachers left to take bullets for kids. The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Sachdeva, D.E., Hull, S.L., Kimmel, S.C., & Whitaker, W.A. (Eds.). (2024). Supporting students’ intellectual freedom in schools: The right to read. IGI Global.
Whitaker, W.A., & Sachdeva, D.E. (2024). Advocating for the right to read: Finding support. In D.E. Sachdeva, S.L. Hull, S.C. Kimmel, & W.A. Whitaker (Eds.), Supporting students’ intellectual freedom in schools: The right to read (pp. 243- 259). IGI Global.
Adams, K., Chang, D., Governor, D., Hardee, S., McFaden, K., Nelms, A., Whelan-Kim, K., Whitaker, W., and Zoll, J. (expected fall 2026). Using qualitative inquiry as a community of practice in the quality assurance system. In Recipe for success: Building a sustainable quality assurance system (pp. TBD). Information Age Publishing.
Whitaker, W.; Hardee, S.; Johnson, L.; McFaden, K. (2019). The southern mind and the savage ideal: Deconstructing identities of place in the cracker state. In Mason, A., Berry, T., Morales, A., & Jupp, J. (Eds.), What is to be done with critical knowledges from curriculum studies and foundations? New research on critical consciousness-raising with preservice and in-service teachers. A special issue of Teaching Education.