Shameem Rakha

Biography

Hello. My name is Shameem Rakha.  I am an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Washington State University.  Prior to becoming a professor, I taught for 17 years at the elementary and middle school levels.  Teaching is my passion.

I received my Ph.D. in Educational Policy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013. I am very interested in increasing equity in our schools for students of color.  My research examines the use of culturally relevant pedagogy to increase student engagement and improve student academic outcomes.  Recently, I have been looking specifically at ways to cultivate caring relationships between teachers and students, particularly in situations where there is a mismatch between the cultures of these groups.

At WSU, I teach Elementary Social Studies methods, Multicultural Education, Social Foundations of Education, and Race and Racial Identity in Education. I teach across several programs in the College of Education including the BA, MIT-E, MIT-S, Ed.M., and Ed.D. programs.

I am currently co-directing the Bachelors of Arts in Education program with Dr. Gisela Ernst-Slavit.