Taeyeon Kim joins the Department

10 Apr 2020    

As the year draws to an end, the Department of Educational Administration is looking ahead. Next year, Taeyeon Kim will join our department as an assistant professor of P-12 school leadership. 

“I am extremely happy to accept this position,” Kim said. “Building on my previous experience, I believe this position would give me a great opportunity to grow as a researcher, educator, and mentor.” 

Before she comes to join us in Nebraska, Kim will finish her Ph.D. in K-12 Educational Administration at Michigan State University in May. 

While at MSU, she accomplished a number of impressive things. Not only did she create a masters-level student affairs course to increase global awareness, she was also a teaching assistant for many Ph.D. and Ed.D. school leadership courses and taught an undergraduate student leadership course.

Kim also had teaching assistantships at Seoul National University and the Daegu National University of Education in South Korea.

Prior to all of this, she was an elementary and music teacher, student orchestra conductor, data facilitator for principals, professional development consultant, and an English, ethics, and classroom teacher in Korea.

During her time at MSU, her research has focused on how leaders’ voices and strategies intersect with school organizations and policy contexts. Her work, which includes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, has been published in Educational Administration Quarterly, Education Policy Analysis Archives, Educational Management Administration & Leadership, and others.

“She brings a strong desire to connect research with practice and build meaningful partnerships with school leaders and districts,” said Dr. Nick Pace, chair of the department. 

Closely connected to her background as a teacher and her research, Kim’s teaching interests include leadership development, educational policy and school reform, and research methods including both qualitative and quantitative methods.

While visiting UNL, she was impressed by the strong research support from the university and the shared vision to support meaningful learning.

“I want to be part of this ongoing community to make every interaction count," Kim said. “EDAD has a collaborative, caring culture and I am very excited to work with faculty, staff, and students in the department.”