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Research Overview
My research examines how teachers navigate the relationship between curriculum, identity, and context in their efforts to teach for peace, equity, and justice. I focus on how these commitments are enacted in everyday classroom practice, particularly within the constraints of contemporary schooling.
Across my work, I explore how teachers make instructional decisions, how professional learning shapes their practice, and how teacher educators support the development of justice-oriented teaching. My research has been presented at national and international conferences, including AERA, CIES, NCSS-CUFA, and SSEC, and includes publications in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. My dissertation on teachers’ learning of peace education received the Best PhD Dissertation Award from the Peace Education SIG at the CIES Annual Conference in 2026.
Below, I articulate my research areas of interest, select publications, conference presentations, and additional research experiences.
Research Areas
My research agenda is organized around three interconnected areas that examine how teachers learn, make decisions, and develop practices for teaching toward peace, equity, and justice.
Peace Education and Global Learning
My research examines how teachers conceptualize and enact peace education, particularly within and beyond U.S. contexts. Drawing on my dissertation, which explored teachers’ learning through an international experience in Northern Ireland, I investigate how educators make sense of peacebuilding in relation to their own classrooms.
This work highlights both the possibilities and constraints teachers face as they attempt to translate global understandings of conflict, justice, and reconciliation into locally meaningful practice. More broadly, I am interested in how professional learning experiences can support teachers in preparing students as critically engaged and globally minded citizens.
In-Service Teachers’ Curricular Decision-Making
A second strand of my research focuses on how in-service teachers navigate curricular decisions in the context of competing institutional and sociopolitical pressures. I examine how teachers attempt to incorporate diverse perspectives, use supplementary materials, and teach for equity while working within systems shaped by standardized testing, accountability, and dominant narratives.
This work foregrounds the everyday tensions teachers experience and considers how school structures can both support and constrain justice-oriented teaching. Across this research, I aim to better understand how teachers make instructional decisions in real classrooms and what supports are necessary for more transformative practice.
Teacher Educator Development & Practice
My third area of research explores the development of teacher educators and the broader work of preparing future teachers. Through collaborative inquiry and self-study, I examine how teacher educators navigate their roles, identities, and relationships with pre-service teachers.
This includes work on the affective dimensions of teaching, the role of positionality in teacher education, and the importance of modeling reflective, justice-oriented pedagogy. Grounded in my own practice, this research seeks to make visible the complexities of teacher education and to contribute to more responsive and relational approaches to preparing educators.
Selected Publications
Selected publications reflect my work across peace education, social studies education, and teacher education.
Pol, M. & O’Brien, K. P. (Forthcoming 2026). Who we are in the classroom: Navigating emotions and positionality of two novice teacher educators in a multicultural education course. In J. Snow & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Teacher Educator Learning across the Professional Life Span. Information Age Publishing.
Pol, M. (2025). Learning in the aftermath of a historical harm: U.S. teachers peace education conceptualizations and practices through an international learning experience in Northern Ireland (Publication No. 32039821) [Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/learning-aftermath-historical-harm-u-s-teachers/docview/3223782949/se-2
Received Best PhD Dissertation Award in Peace Education by the Peace Education Special Interest Group of CIES in March 2026.
Cuenca, A., Brinda, C., Cowden, R., & Pol, M. (2024). Preparing all teacher educators? Considerations for the specialized work of teacher education in a pedagogy of teacher education course. In B.M. Butler & S.M. Bullock (Eds.), Understanding a Pedagogy of Teacher Education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003365129
Pol, M. (2023). Road to forgotten: Korea in U.S. world history textbooks. Iowa Journal for the Social Studies, 31(1), 91-122. https://iowasocialstudies.org/resources/Documents/IJSS%20Winter%202023%2031(1).pdf
Vesperman, D. P. & Pol, M. (2022). Teaching social studies in a time of COVID-19: An examination of contradictions in activity. In D. P. Vesperman (Ed.), Out of turmoil: Catalysts for re-learning, re-teaching, and re-imagining history and social science (pp. 57-72). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/979-8-88730-077-120251007
Conference Presentations
My research has been presented at major national and international conferences, including:
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)
NCSS College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA)
Social Science Education Consortium (SSEC)
Additional Research Experience
2022
Research Analyst, WGBH Education
Conducted pre- and post-implementation observations of PBS LearningMedia, “U.S. History Collection” in high school U.S. history classroom
Gathered interview data of a teacher and student focus groups related to the teaching and learning of social studies
Analyzed efficacy of curriculum in enhancing teacher and students’ knowledge of multiple perspectives in U.S. history and historical thinking skills
Designed and presented case study research report to stakeholders showcasing findings
2018 - 2022
Research Fellow, World History Digital Education Foundation
Led research project analyzing coverage of Korea in U.S. high school social studies textbooks
Presented findings to social studies teachers at organization’s annual conference
Created business report to funders and stakeholders on project’s progress and significance
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