Our Story
Created by Josephine, the seeds for Mai Pedagogy Project emerged out of a desire and dream for re-imagining how knowledge in the field of education is created, represented, and shared beyond the current systems that exist. Feeling stifled by the compartmentalization of knowledge that existed across community, institutional, and academic spaces, she craved more expansive outlets for painting a fuller picture of the everyday practices and livelihood of youth, educators, and communities of color, and privately engaged in more creative tools for capturing the complex stories and practices of educational justice that she’s witnessed having spent thousands of hours in K-12 schools, higher education, and community settings. Inspired by ongoing conversations with friends, family, and femtors, she was encouraged to make the intimate creations for Mai Pedagogy Project public. She aspires to continue building and collaborating with scholar-educator-artists and other community members to expand new creations, representations, and disseminations of knowledge and practices for educational justice.
About Josephine
Josephine H. Pham, Ph.D. (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Critical Studies in Education in the Education Department at the University of California Santa Cruz, and faculty affiliate in the Critical Race & Ethnic Studies Department. Her lived experiences as a daughter of Vietnamese refugees, former K-12 classroom teacher in her own communities, and teacher educator influence her Woman of Color feminist approach to research with and among teachers of Color. Drawing upon critical social theories of race and methodological tools from literacy, the learning sciences and educational anthropology, Pham’s interdisciplinary research blends counternarratives, video ethnography, and the arts to examine the liberatory educational possibilities already inherent in the everyday practices and embodied presence of justice-centered teachers of Color. Her scholarly work is guided by three strands of inquiry, which include:
- 1
The pedagogical and embodied practices of teachers of Color who navigate issues of politics and power to advance and reimagine racially just educational spaces
- 2
Co-design research that is attuned with the daily livelihood, wellness, and aspirations of communities of Color
- 3
Multimodal and situated approaches to antiracist teacher education and professional development
Her research has been recognized and supported by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation (2023), Hellman Fellowship (2023), National Council of Teachers of English Research Foundation’s Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color (2020-2022), American Educational Research Association’s Division K (2020), and American Anthropological Association’s Council of Anthropology and Education (2020). Her recent publications have appeared in journals such as Curriculum Inquiry, Journal of Teacher Education, Cognition & Instruction, Journal of Identity, Language, and Education, Journal of Learning Sciences, and Teacher Education Quarterly.
Her broader portfolio of scholarly work can also be found at:
About Our Logo
“The logo features three figures: one who is painting, one who is planting seeds, and one with a fist of power. They are facing back-to-back as a show of collective solidarity and community care: we do this work together and have each other’s backs. The logo also features yellow apricot blossoms (also known as “hoa mai” in Vietnamese, a symbol of renewal/life/good fortune). The roots represent indigenous and community-grounded wisdom to move at a pace that is both anti-capitalist and deeply grounded. – Designed by Eunice Ho
