About

Natasha A. Heny is an Associate Professor at the UVA School of Education and Human Development. Her work focuses on preparing pre-service English teachers to navigate the complexities of secondary classrooms by fostering student-centered, equity-driven, and innovative instructional practices. She examines writing instruction and adolescent literacy development through the lens of critical literacy, exploring how educators can amplify student voice, challenge traditional language ideologies, and develop courageous and curious citizens. Her scholarship also investigates how emerging technologies—such as generative AI—can be leveraged to support differentiated instruction and enhance educational equity. As a University of Virginia AI Guide, she works with faculty and students to explore the ethical and pedagogical implications of AI in education. Dr. Heny’s approach to teacher preparation is shaped by her extensive experience as a middle and high school English teacher and writing center director. These roles provided her with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities within English Language Arts instruction, reinforcing her commitment to bridging research and practice. She currently advises Master of Teaching students in English Education as well as Ed.D. students in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Whether examining the role of language and literacies across disciplines, exploring AI’s impact on education, or mentoring new teachers through their professional journeys, her work remains grounded in a commitment to fostering justice-oriented, inclusive English classrooms where all students are seen, heard, and valued, and can flourish.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Mathematics education
• Pedagogy
• Psychology
• Sociology

Selected publications

• Research: Preparation and Practice: Preservice English Teachers’ Experiences in Learning to Facilitate Text-Based Discussions

  English Education · 2022 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematics education
  • Pedagogy

  This study explores the experiences of one cohort of secondary English preservice teachers (PSTs) learning to facilitate text-based discussions during a methods course. The authors analyze how the use of a Common Core-aligned instructional text and mixed-reality simulations support PSTs in developing discussion facilitation skills. Implications highlight that teacher educators need to examine their timing of approximations in teacher education programs and explain how simulated environments are intentionally used for PSTs to refine their practice.

  PublisherDOI

• How pre-service teachers construct Quad Text Sets for use in secondary classrooms

  Teaching and Teacher Education · 2020 · 3 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematics education
  PublisherDOI

• “It’s just really not me”: How pre-service English teachers from a traditional teacher education program experience student-teaching in charter-school networks

  Cogent Education · 2016-02-17 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Though teacher educators nationwide are considering ways to provide urban placements for pre-service teachers (PSTs), little research has examined how PSTs experience placements in schools operated by charter management organizations (CMOs). This study considers CMOs—which often hold particular instructional and classroom management philosophies—as a specific type of school-based learning environment. We draw from a Discourse analytic theoretical framework using qualitative methodology to study how three English education focal PSTs experience disconnections between student-teaching placements at CMO schools and their teacher education program. Findings suggest three ways teacher educators can support PSTs in navigating school-based learning. PSTs in this study experienced contexts and philosophies that varied greatly between their schools and teacher education program. Implications include: (1) PSTs must feel that others in their schools value their learning; (2) PSTs in cohorts must feel they belong to learning communities; and (3) PSTs need support in confronting paradoxes they face between theory and practice.

  PublisherDOI

• In-Service Teachers' Perspectives on Adolescent ELL Writing Instruction

  TESOL Journal · 2015-11-04 · 18 citations

  article

  As writing has assumed increasing importance in discussions of pedagogy for diverse classrooms, attention to the contexts in which secondary teachers develop and implement writing instruction for adolescent English language learners (ELLs) is of great importance. Drawing on ecological language learning theories and situated teacher learning theory (van Lier, 2003; Borko, 2004), the authors present findings from participants in a focus group (N = 10) and follow-up interviews (N = 6) conducted with a set of secondary English language arts and English as a second language (ESL) teachers. Within overlapping institutional/professional and pedagogical contexts, teachers identified teacher expertise, high-stakes testing, classroom assessment and grading, placement and tracking, and disciplinary disconnects as the ecological factors most influential in their instructional choices related to ELL writers. Implications of these findings for research and teacher education are discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• Working with Struggling Adolescent Writers: One Teacher's Reconceptualization of the English Language Arts Classroom Using Third Space Theory

  Libra · 2013-08-01

  dissertationOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This qualitative study examined one teacher's interpretation and enactment of Third Space theory in his 7 th grade English Language Arts (ELA) classroom in an effort to transform the writing experiences of culturally diverse students who are at risk of failure in academic literacy. It contributes to and makes connections between two areas of existing literature: (a) struggling adolescent writers (e.g., Ball, 2006; Fisher & Frey, 2003; Kiuhara, 2012), and (b) Third Space theory in the classroom (e.g., Barton & Tan, 2009; Cronje, 2010; Flessner, 2009; Lysaker, Wheat, & Benson, 2010; Schillinger, 2007). It does so by addressing three areas left underexplored in the extant literature related to writing instruction for struggling adolescents: (a) writing instruction conceptualized through the lens of Third Space theory, (b) the complexities of the classroom context as a research territory for investigating adolescent writing instruction, and (c) writing instruction in middle school ELA classrooms. The study's primary research questions inquired how Third Space theory was enacted in a 7 th grade English language arts classroom of students identified as struggling; the pedagogical decisions made in the enactment process of enacting Third Space Theory; and the resultant teacher understandings. This study's conceptual framework influenced its construction. Complexity theory (Davis & Sumara, 2010), Critical Sociocultural Literacy theory (Moje & Lewis, 2007), and Third Space theory (Moje, Ciechanowski, Kramer, Ellis, Carrillo, & Collazo, 2004) focused attention on the multiple simultaneities that occur in a complex learning system. Data collection occurred predominately during the first semester of the 2012-2013 school year and consisted of field observations, audio-recordings of the observed classes, teacher debriefings and interviews, student documents, and teacher instructional documents. Data analysis, an on-going, iterative process, began with data collection in the field (Charmaz, 2006). Data were incorporated into a developing data corpus to which constant comparative analysis methods (CCA) (Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) were applied. To identify key concepts in the data describing the Third Space enactment, emerging patterns were analyzed through coding and theme analysis, using a three-staged coding process: Initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding. memo-writing was systematically woven into each stage of analysis. Upon completion of data analysis, findings were developed in relation to the research questions. Findings derived from this study provide insight into the transformative nature of the participant's enactment of Third Space theory. Finding one explains the overarching understanding of the shift in Forrester's pedagogy as moving from the explicit enactment of Third Space theory to its implicit embodiment. Findings two and three explain specific processes that emerged as central to Forrester's pedagogy: Finding two, involving the evolution of Forrester's conceptualization of a "safe space"; and finding three, involving the evolution of feedback in the classroom. Note: Abstract extracted from PDF text

  PublisherDOI

• Secondary English Teachers’ Beliefs and Attitudes Regarding Digital Literacies in the Classroom

  2012-11-28

  article
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• April S. Salerno

  University of Virginia

  2 shared

• Rosalie Hiuyan Chung

  Film Independent

  1 shared

• Alexis Rutt

  University of Mary Washington

  1 shared

• Gail E. Lovette

  University of Virginia

  1 shared

• Amanda K. Kibler

  Oregon State University

  1 shared

• Kristin Conradi

  1 shared

• Alicen Brown

  University of Virginia

  1 shared

• Sean Ruday

  1 shared