story by Claire Miller
College of Education & Human Development Associate Professor Ewa McGrail was one of two Georgia State University faculty members chosen to receive the Teaching for Social Justice and Democracy Award.
The award, given by the university’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Online Education, recognizes faculty who “integrate current social justice issues into their courses to better engage Georgia State students in order to help them to develop their social, emotional and expressive capacities.”
Ewa McGrail
McGrail is a leader in literacy research whose publications and work reflect ground-breaking research in literacy and technology in teaching and learning. Her research examines digital writing and multimodal composition; copyright and media literacy; multiliteracies and multimodal assessment; and technology use in teaching and learning. She also explores representation of individuals from diverse backgrounds in literary works, popular culture and media. McGrail’s work has appeared in top-ranking journals, including English Education, Assessing Writing, Disability Studies Quarterly, Teachers College Record, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Journal of Academic Ethics, Innovate, Action in Teacher Education, Kappa Delta Pi Record, The Reading Teacher and Educational Leadership.
“As an educator, my goal is to empower teachers and their students to think critically about complex social issues so that they can act boldly, passionately and creatively to address them in their own lives, communities and, by extension, in society and the world,” McGrail said. “I am honored and humbled to receive this award, and I would like to thank my department chair, Dr. Gertrude Tinker Sachs, and so many social justice leaders in the Department of Middle and Secondary Education for providing inspiration.”
For more information on the award, visit https://cetl.gsu.edu/programs-grants-awards/georgia-state-university-system-opportunities.