Mary M. McConnaha

Mary M. “Maggie” McConnaha (she/her) is an educational researcher and teacher educator in East Lansing, MI. Previously, she was a middle school English Language Arts teacher in Kentucky and Maryland. Her research broadly focuses on topics related to the school-to-prison pipeline, English Language Arts education, and teachers in youth prisons. She currently works with teachers of incarcerated youth in an online community of practice on the development and sharing of humanizing classroom practices for prison-school classrooms. She worked as a long-term substitute ELA teacher at a local youth detention center following a multi-year partnership with the education team at the same center.

Mary has a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction for Social Justice from Loyola University Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in English Education from St. Norbert College. She will graduate with a PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education this spring from Michigan State University, with a concentration in Language and Literacy and a certificate in Qualitative Methods.

Mary’s work has been presented nationally at conferences such as the American Educational Research Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Literacy Research Association, and the National Partnership for Juvenile Services. She has published academic research in journals including the Journal of Language and Literacy Education, the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, the ALAN Review, and Teaching and Teacher Education. Her public writing has been published in EdWeek, and she has been interviewed on CNN and the podcasts Writing & Literacies On Air and the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy Podcast.

Alongside so many others, Mary’s work is in pursuit of a world where all youth can access flourishing, thriving futures, which will only be achieved through building a world where youth prisons no longer exist. For as long as they do, she hopes to work with teachers who are interested in creating classrooms grounded in care, relationship, social justice, and student agency. If you are a teacher of incarcerated youth, consider joining us at our monthly online meet-ups.

Outside of teaching and research, Mary is a mom, two-time cancer survivor, gardener, and knitter.