Michiko Hikida

Michiko Hikida is assistant professor of Reading and Literacy for Early and Middle Childhood in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Born and raised in New Mexico, Hikida received her education from the University of Texas-Austin. She was a practicing elementary school teacher where equity and inclusion were central to her philosophy and practice.

As a literacy researcher, she focuses on classroom literacy practices for students whose experiences put them at the intersection of race, language, and ability profiling. Because she draws on her experiences as a former teacher, it is important to her to continually highlight and build on what teachers and students are doing right. This is all in an effort to make schools more humane and loving spaces for all students, especially those who have been marginalized.

As a professor of literacy teacher education, she hopes to support preservice teachers to see teaching and learning as the intellectual work in which caring for students is the motivator. She hopes to equip young teachers with the confidence and methods to facilitate students’ growth as independent and strategic readers and writers.

• PhD, Language and Literacy Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 2015
• MEd, Multicultural Special Education, University of Texas at Austin, 2003
• BA, Applied Learning and Development Special Education Socialization, University of Texas at Austin, 2001

• Access and Equity
• Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
• Curriculum and Instruction
  • Classroom literacy assessments
  • Classroom-based literacy practices
  • Literacy teaching and learning
• Educational Achievement
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• English/Language Arts Teacher Education
• Equity
• Literacy
  • Elementary literacy teaching, learning, and assessment
• Multicultural Education
• Reading Teacher Education
• Social Justice
• Sociolinguistics
• Teacher Education
• Urban Education

Hikida explores the intersection of language, literacy, ability profiling, and race in the public schooling of students of color. Her research examines: (1) the ways personhood, race, ability, and literacy are languaged in classroom talk; (2) the everyday practices of inclusion for students identified with high incidence disabilities; and (3) the preparation of preservice teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students in urban settings.

1. Hikida, M., & Lee, J. (2018). Positioning Readers in One-on-One Conferences. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 67(1), 180-194.
2. Hikida, M. (2018). Holding Space for Literate Identity Co-Construction. Journal of Literacy Research, 50(2), 217-238.
3. Martínez, R. A., Hikida, M., & Durán, L. (2015). Unpacking ideologies of linguistic purism: How dual language teachers make sense of everyday translanguaging. International Multilingual Research Journal, 9(1), 26-42.
4. Durán, L., Martínez, R.A., Hikida, M. (In Press). Beyond bilingual: pedagogy and practice for trilingual students in dual immersion schools. Rethinking Bilingual Education
5. Worthy, J., Durán, L., Hikida, M., Pruitt, A., & Peterson, K. (2013). Spaces for Dynamic Bilingualism in Read-Aloud Discussions: Developing and Strengthening Bilingual and Academic Skills. Bilingual Research Journal, 36, 3, 311-328.