Ryan Schey, who joins the University of Iowa College of Education this fall as a visiting professor in the English Education program, explores literacy and language practices and social change through his teaching and research. 

Schey received all of his degrees at The Ohio State University, receiving a bachelor of arts degree majoring in English and minoring in women’s studies in 2006, a master of education degree in English education in 2007, and a doctorate in philosophy in teaching and learning in 2018. 

Schey decided to be a teacher to help schools and their communities become more just and compassionate. He worked as a high school language arts and video production teacher from 2007 to 2014 and as a graduate assistant in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University from 2014 to 2018. Most recently, Schey worked as an assistant professor of English education at Auburn University from 2018 to 2021. 

Schey was drawn to Iowa by the opportunity to work with a range of students, including undergraduates working toward their initial teaching certification and graduate students learning to engage in research that shapes the profession nationally. 

In his new position in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Schey is excited to work with his new colleagues and to get to know local teachers and students. 

“I love opportunities to collaborate with young people and their teachers in order to make schools places that are more compassionate and just,” Schey says. 

Schey’s research focuses on queer and trans youth and the educators who work in solidarity with them. In his recent work, he has been trying to better understand what happens when students and teachers in secondary English language arts classrooms engage with LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum, particularly in ways that consider the relationships between sexuality, gender, and race. 

“Ultimately, I want schools to be places where queer, trans, and questioning kids feel affirmed, understood, and loved,” Schey says. 

Schey is proud that his research has contributed to the broader goals of justice and social change in queer literacies research.