Tara Nkrumah, M.Ed.
PhD candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
University of South Florida
Tara Nkrumah is a PhD candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Her research agenda focuses on science curriculum leadership development with an emphasis on culture, equity, and engagement in science. Tara employs various approaches to inquiry such as image theatre, narrative, and other arts-based methods. She has published in Journal of Language and Literacy Education (JoLLE) and presented at 2 national conferences – NARST A worldwide organization for improving science teaching and learning through research, and University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA). Tara’s 19 years of experience as a science educator include positions at schools in the U.S and in West Africa.
The current scope of her teaching experience began in a humble predominantly African American and Hispanic community in 1999 in Dallas, Texas. Eight years later she found herself overseas in West Africa the next seven years bringing inspiration and new life to the highest ranked, academically competitive American International School in Ghana, where she served essentially the diplomatic corps and its prestigious affiliates of the country. In completing seven years as an international teacher, she learned to teach students from over sixty different nationalities. Tara also served in Administration as the Athletic Director and Community Relations Coordinator, both high profile leadership roles that required her to be instantly recognizable as a competent and trustworthy, accessible person within a heavily diverse international community. The language, cultural and social differences positively impacted her teaching strategies in a multicultural environment.
Tara is an active member of national and international organizations in science and educational leadership and serves on the NARST Equity & Ethics committee. Her current study on engagement in science explores how science educators develop understandings and practices to help others engage in science. Her love of science lead her to pursue ways to foster engagement for underserved groups in STEM. Certified in cardio kickboxing and step aerobics, Tara’s hobbies include personal training, traveling, reading, and dancing. Professionally, Tara aspires to become a science professor at a research one institution.
