Exceptional Education Doctoral Candidate to Publish in Prominent Teacher Education Journal

School of Teacher Education doctoral candidate Tahnee Wilder is charging on to her next big feat — publishing in the peer-reviewed Journal of Teacher Education.

Wilder was one of three Holmes Scholars from around the country to be selected for the mentoring opportunity to co-author an editorial or manuscript that will appear in one of the journal's special anniversary issues in 2024.

Originally a speech pathologist for 15 years, Wilder joined the UCF exceptional education doctoral program to continue her education in both medical and educational settings. She also has a cognate in Cognitive Neuroscience. She joined the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Holmes Scholars program, a consortium dedicated to graduate scholars who identify as racially and ethnically diverse.

Part of the Holmes Scholars program is to provide students with increased opportunity and mentorship. It was during one of the program’s dissertation retreats where Wilder learned about the opportunity to apply for the Journal of Teacher Education mentorship from one of the journal’s editors, Valerie Hill-Jackson.

“The Journal of Teacher Education is one of the highest-ranked research journals in education,” Wilder says. “This mentorship provides me with the opportunity to go through the whole editorial process and it’s really special, because I get to co-author a manuscript for their 75th anniversary, so that's a big deal.”

The journal publishes a few times a year with different themed editions. Wilder says she will contribute to an edition themed on the future of education. Her research is on educational neuroscience and preparing teachers to incorporate neuroscience into their teachings. Wilder says she looks forward to working with the next generation of educational scholars during this program.

“I appreciate the mentoring that's going into this, because it's one thing to do the work, but it's another thing to build a community,” she says. "Establishing those relationships is something that I already love doing, it's cool when you find like-minded people. I’m looking forward to establishing those relationships and pushing the field forward for teacher preparation.”

Wilder says she is also grateful to the Holmes Scholars program for the continued support it has provided her.

"The Holmes Scholars program is super important because there's not a lot of representation in higher education in general,” Wilder says. “It has really been helpful in navigating all of the hidden curriculum, so to speak, in higher education. It's super important that programs like this are able to continue to provide extra support.”