Kim Pyne
Associate Professor of English
Department: English
Email: kpyne@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-5732
Professional Expertise
Brief Biography
Kim Pyne is the coordinator of Elon's English Teacher Licensure program, preparing the next generation of secondary and middle grades English teachers. She teaches senior pedagogy courses and works closely with students during their full-time teaching internship. She also teaches a variety of other courses, including EDU 4500 (Teaching Diverse Learners), ENG 3900 (Teaching Literature), winter term study abroad classes in Ireland and England, and--very, very occasionally--Hogwarts for Muggles: The Phenomenon of Harry Potter.
A former English teacher in the Alamance-Burlington Schools, Pyne's teaching, service, and research often centers on issues of racial and socioeconimic equity in public schools/higher education and on issues of secondary-level adolescent literacy. For 18 of her years at Elon, she served as staff for the Elon Academy, a non-profit college access and success program for high school students in Alamance county. In this role, she oversaw academic curriculum; recruited, trained, and supported summer faculty; and taught academic and college planning classes for the adolescents in the program. Her most recent summer course is a wildlife science class designed with Environmental Studies faculty called Critical Carnivores.
Outside of Elon, she serves as volunteer staff at the Animal Park at the Conservators Center, offering tours and educational programs about wildlife and wildlife conservation, leading the socialization team for a small pack of grey wolves, and helping care for a variety of animals large and small.
News & Notes
Education
Ph.D. in Education (Culture, Curriculum, and Change)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Areas of Specialization: English Education, Teacher Education, Critical Multiculturalism, Educational Technology, Qualitative Research
M.A. in English (Literature)
Purdue University
Areas of Focus: Holocaust Literature, Contemporary Drama, Contemporary Poetry, Shakespeare
B.A. in English (Secondary Teacher Licensure)
Elon College
Research
Research Interests
- English teacher education
- Culturally sustaining pedagogy; antiracist & antibias pedagogy
- College access and success; college readiness
- Critical pedagogy
- Adolescent literacy
- Wildlife education & captive management
Grants Awarded
Pyne, K. (2016). Wildlife Science: Critical Carnivores. $178,959 (over 3 years) grant received from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Student Science Enrichment Program. For the development and implementation of a new academic summer course in partnership with Elon Academy, the Conservators Center, and Elon Environmental Studies Department.
Pyne, K. (2014). Spoken Word Poetry & Performance as Pedagogy. $4,710 grant received from Elon's Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning to bring spoken word as artistic form and pedagogical tool to English Education courses. In partnership withThe Poetry Project of Greensboro and the Gate City Youth Slam Team.
Scott, M.A., Pyne, K., Means, D., Long, D., & LaPlante, K. (2011). Elon Academy Book Project. $5,050 grant received from Elon University’s Associate Provost Office. For publicaton of a research manuscript by high school students with a financial need and/or no family history of college. Available at online here.
Carpenter, J. Pyne, K. & Richardson, J. (2011). Shared Classroom Experience as Methods Text. $4,500 grant received from the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. For collaborative investigation about shared classroom observations and teaching in a pre-service teacher Methods practicum.
Long, D., Means, D., Flinn, L., Williams, L., & Pyne, K. (2010). Elon University Summer Bridge Programs, $20,000 federal grant received from the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. For creating summer bridge programs for students with a financial need and/or no family history of college.
Moore, J. Pyne, K., & Patch, P. (2010). Assessing Student Learning in a Modified Section of ENG 110. $2500 grant received from the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. Teaching and Learning.
Long, D., Means, D., & Pyne, K. (2009). Elon Academy Transitions to College Program, $14, 972 federal grant received from the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. For developing a transition to college program for students with a financial need and/or no family history of college.
Publications
Means, D.R. & Pyne, K.B. (2017). Finding my way: Perceptions of institutional support and belonging in low-income, first-generation, first-year college students. Journal of College Student Development, 58(6).
Means, D.R. & Pyne, K.B. (2016). After access: Underrepresented students’ post-matriculation perceptions of college access capital. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, & Practice, 17(4).
Moore, J., Pyne, K.B. & Patch, P. (2015) Writing the transition to college: A summer college writing experience at Elon University. In M.J. Reiff, A. Bawarshi, M. Baliff, & C. Weisser (Eds.), Ecologies of writing programs: Profiles of writing programs in context, Anderson, SC: Parlor Press. [Reprint Coda of 2013 article]
Scott, M.A., Pyne, K.B. & Means, D.R. (2015). Approaching praxis: YPAR as critical pedagogical process in a college access program. The High School Journal, 98(2), 138-157.
Pyne, K.B., Scott, M.A., O’Brien*, M., Stevenson*, A., & Musah*, M. (2014). The critical pedagogy of mentoring: Undergraduate researchers as mentors in youth participatory action research. Collaborative Anthropologies, 7(1), 50-83. [*co-written with undergraduate research assistants]
Pyne, K.B. & Means, D.R. (2013). Underrepresented and in/visible: A Hispanic first-generation student's narratives of college. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 6(3), 186–198..
Pyne, K.B., Scott, M.A, & Long, D. (2013). From structural inequalities to speaking out: Youth participatory action research in college access collaborations. PRISM: A Journal of Regional Engagment, 2(1).
Moore, J., Pyne, K.B. & Patch, P. (2013) Writing the transition to college: A summer college writing experience at Elon University. Composition Forum, 27,online.
Pyne, K. (June 2012). Reading and college readiness. Educational Leadership, 69(9).
Pyne, K., Scott, M.A., Means, D. and O’Brien, M. (Dec. 2011). From individuals to agents: Youth participatory research as access to equity. Anthropology News, December Counsil of Anthropology and Education News, Dec. 2011.
Pyne, K. & Shoffner, M. (2009). Living in the liminal spaces: Lessons learned as supervisors of English student teachers. In A. Webb (Ed.), The doctoral degree in English education. Kennesaw, GA, Kennesaw State University Press.
Long, D., Means, D., & Pyne, K. (2008). College by design: A university-community partnership. Educational Leadership, 66(2).
Presentations
Pyne, K.B. & Robinson, K. (2017-2024 October). Legends and lore: Cultural stories and the alpha predator. Storytelling and wildlife education performance at the Animal Park at the Conservators Center, Mebane, NC.
Pyne, K.B., Robinson, K., Davidson, H., Rudulph, J. & Pyne, F. (2019-2020).Wild about Wolves monthly program series that followed wolf pups' first year. Animal Park at the Conservators Center, Mebane, NC.
Pyne, K.B, Johnson, J., King, P, & LaPlante, K. (2018, November). Supporting underrepresented students on their journey to college. Teacher Leadership Academy, Elon University, Elon, NC.
Pyne, K.B. (2014, December). Write more!: Writing to think and learn. Alamance-Burlington School System/Elon University Writing Professional Development workshop for teachers.
Pyne, K.B. & Thompson, J. (2014, October). Spoken word in the ELA classroom: The critical and creative art. Presentation at the North Carolina English Teachers Association, Raleigh, NC.
Means, D. & Pyne, K.B. (2014, March). The institutional barriers and opportunities for first-year, underrepresented college students. Presentation at the annual meeting for College Student Educators International (ACPA), Indianapolis, IN.
Pyne, K.B. & Means, D. (2013, November). “Who’s gonna survive college?”: Underrepresented students post-matriculation perceptions of college access capital. Presentation at the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Council on Ethnic Participation Pre-Conference, St. Louis, MO.
Pyne, K., Richardson, J., & Carpenter, J. (2013, February). "Making teacher thinking visible: Shared classroom experiences in teacher education." Presentation at the Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators, Orlando, FL.
Pyne, K, & Means, D. (2012, November). "After access: First-generation, low-income students of color and the shaping of the first-year college identities." Research paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Council on Ethnic Participation Pre-Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Pyne, K., Means, D., & Laplante, K. (2012, March). "College by design: Learning what works for marginalized students." Presentation at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development annual conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Pyne, K., Scott, M.A., & LaPlante, K. (2011, November). "Shaping identities, seeing futures: Teaching and learning about intersectionality and college access through participatory research Presentation at the National Association of Multicultural Education annual conference, Chicago, IL."
Means, D., Pyne, K., & Scott, M.A. (2011, March). "Transformations at the intersections: Preliminary findings in a participatory research project on educational transformation among underserved high school students." Presentation at the Society for Applied Anthropology annual conference, Seattle, WA.
Pyne., K. and Shoffner, M. (2008, November). "Making the shift from isolated individual to collaborative community with pre-service English teachers." Presentation at the Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, San Antonio, TX.
Pyne, K. (2008, August). "The professors’ roundtable: Conversations in the pedagogy of Potter." Presentation at Terminus 2008, Chicago, IL.
Pyne, K. (2007, November). "When critical literacy, creativity, and collaboration converge: A muggle professor’s lessons from Hogwarts." Presentation at the Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, New York, NY.
Pyne, K. & Shoffner, M. (2006 , November) "Learning together: Using weblogs to support teacher reading groups." Presentation at the Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, Nashville, TN.