She teaches courses in Early Childhood and Elementary Literacy Methods, and Children’s Literature and the Arts. She earned her Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education from the University of Georgia. Dr. Gardner’s research explores relationships among children’s literature, critical literacy, and sociocultural contexts of children’s’ literacy practices, particularly the influences of race, place, class and gender. She is currently conducting an analysis of trauma narratives within children’s lives and in literature for children and how these narratives intersect with the discourses of toughness and resilience which are often fused to race and class realities. She is also developing communal networks and creative communities of practice that are child/family-centered, and emphasize diverse neighborhood contexts.