Kate Kinney is an expert in teacher training and professional development. She currently is building new models for pre-service teacher preparation in partnership with K-12 schools. A former high school teacher, Kinney can discuss the challenges new teachers face, what it means to teach for social justice, practices for middle and high school content teachers that support language diverse students, and trauma informed approaches to education. As part of the Penn Futures Project, Kinney seeks new ways for teachers, counselors, social workers, and health workers to partner to better support students and meet their needs.
Professional Biography
Ms. Kinney has extensive experience in public education both as a teacher and as a teacher educator. She taught English and social studies and worked extensively with ESL students and teachers in New York City public schools. Highlights of this work include developing the curricula for and directing a Saturday School to support English language learners and fostering a partnership with several New York City theater programs for student access to free Broadway shows. During her time in New York, she was one of five teachers who founded a small alternative public school in the Bronx, the Marble Hill School for International Studies, with a grant from New Visions for Public Schools and the Bill Gates Foundation.
In 2005, Ms. Kinney began her work with teachers in Philadelphia, as a supervisor for student teachers for Penn GSE and Swarthmore College. Since 2006 she has taught courses in Penn's master's program in secondary education and has served as interim coordinator for secondary education.
Paralleling her work at Penn GSE, Ms. Kinney is currently the program director for the Philadelphia Area New Teacher Network, an organization that provides support for beginning teachers in the Philadelphia area through induction and mentoring.
She has also taught English as a foreign language and conducted teacher professional development workshops internationally in Costa Rica and Mongolia.
Ms. Kinney's research interests include new teacher induction and support, teacher identity development, and teaching diverse learners. She is currently researching how teacher identity development is supported through new teacher professional development. A second major field of interest includes understanding the role teacher research and inquiry play in teacher development and assessment.
