Mike Metz is an Associate Professor of English Education in the Department of Learning, Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Missouri.  He serves as the Emphasis Area Leader for English Education.

Mike’s research examines culturally sustaining pedagogies for English classrooms, with a particular focus on the teaching of Critical Language Awareness.   Through this research, he explores English teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about English language variation, and students’ responses to learning about language, identity, and social power.  His research also explores teacher education pedagogies that help pre-service and in-service teachers take up and enact Critical Language Pedagogies and other culturally responsive teaching practices.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri, Dr. Metz taught on the south side of Chicago for 15 years, and maintains his National Board Teacher Certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts.  He earned his PhD at Stanford University where he taught in the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) and conducted research and professional development through the Center for Support of Excellence in Teaching (CSET).

Areas of Expertise

• English Language Variation
• English Language Arts Teaching
• Critical Literacy
• Classroom Research