EPS Alumni Speaker Series: Bethany Wilinski

Introduction by: Jonathan Marino
Bethany Wilinski is Associate Professor of International Education in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, where she also leads education projects for the Tanzania Partnership Program. She holds a joint degree Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction and Educational Policy Studies with specializations in Early Childhood Education and Comparative Education. She is a former early elementary and preschool teacher and has 15 years of experience conducting research and implementing education development projects in Tanzania. Dr. Wilinski studies early childhood education (ECE) policy enactment in the U.S. and Tanzania, with a focus on understanding 1) how ECE teachers and institutions enact and experience educational policy, 2) how policies shape ECE teachers’ initial preparation, work experiences, and well-being, and 3) how global and national policy ideas circulate and intersect with local realities in ECE classrooms. Her work has been funded by the Spencer Foundation and published in journals such as Teachers College Record, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, and Compare.