Tierney Hinman
Assistant Professor, English/Language Arts Education
Short Bio
Dr. Tierney Hinman is an assistant professor in the Reading Education Program in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. Her research focuses on supporting preservice and practicing teachers to design equitable literacy instruction, particularly for culturally and linguistically diverse adolescents. One strand of this research uses self-study as a methodology for examining teacher educators’ practices in supporting preservice teachers’ implementation of equitable literacy instruction. A second strand examines how teachers take up critical disciplinary literacy as an approach to literacy instruction in the content areas. Dr. Hinman teaches courses, particularly those targeting adolescent literacy instruction, across the Reading Education Program.
Professional Experience
Dr. Hinman received her B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Northern Colorado in 2005, her M.Ed. in K-12 Reading Education from the University of Florida in 2006, and her Ph.D. in Educational Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2020. Dr. Hinman has been a faculty member at Auburn University since 2020. Prior to moving to higher education, Dr. Hinman served as a high school literacy teacher (grades 9-12) in Citrus County, Florida from 2006 to 2013 and in Brunswick County, North Carolina from 2013 to 2014.
Engagement
Dr. Hinman’s outreach offers opportunities for practicing teachers to participate in communities of practice focused on teaching literacy in the content areas in ways that support culturally and linguistically diverse adolescents. In the group, teachers identify and explore shared problems of practice and collaboratively engage in the inquiry process to research and create potential ways of navigating the problem of practice. Critical reflection and a commitment to equitable literacy instruction are central to each component of the inquiry process. The community of practice meets annually and experienced teachers in the group become teacher leaders who support incoming beginning teachers.
