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Job Purpose:
The School of Education at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA invites applications for a short-term, non-tenure-track Visiting Research Scholar with an appointment beginning January 2, 2027 through August 15, 2027. The Visiting Scholar will play two connected roles. First, the Scholar will assist with research and programming for the School of Education’s Gates Foundation–funded work, including the “AI for Instruction Fellowship,” which provides outreach and professional development to K-12 educators around intentional, ethical use of AI. Responsibilities will include identifying relevant research, supporting data collection and analysis, and helping design and facilitate professional learning for preservice and practicing teachers and school leaders. Second, the Scholar will lead or contribute to a focal project matched to their interests and expertise in one of three areas:
- Multilingual learner education – examining how AI can support asset-based instruction for multilingual learners, including language and content learning, translanguaging, and family–school communication, with attention to linguistic bias, equitable access, and the preparation of teachers to serve culturally and linguistically diverse students.
- Adolescent development and AI – contributing to work on adolescent AI literacy, drawing on research in adolescent development, youth participatory action research, and critical perspectives on AI.
- Special education – contributing to an in-progress design project that reimagines the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for the age of artificial intelligence. The project aims to design a next-generation IEP framework that uses AI selectively to reduce administrative burden while shifting the focus from deficit-based compliance toward student agency and self-determination, meaningful student and family participation, and attention to the intersecting inequities of race and disability.
Across all focal areas, AI is treated as a support for professional judgment and human collaboration rather than an automated substitute, with explicit attention to accuracy, bias, privacy, and legal compliance.
Applicants may include advanced doctoral candidates nearing completion, recent Ph.D. graduates, or established scholars whose work aligns with the mission and priorities of the School of Education.
Grounded in Gonzaga’s Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic mission, the School of Education prepares educators to serve every learner with dignity and care. As artificial intelligence reshapes classrooms, we believe the most consequential questions it raises in education are not only technical but human—questions of equity, agency, and the relationships among students, families, and teachers. This work asks how AI can support teaching and lighten administrative burden without displacing professional judgment, how design choices can advance rather than diminish the agency of multilingual learners, adolescents, and students with disabilities, and how the next generation of educators can be equipped not merely to use AI but to shape it wisely and justly. The Visiting Scholar will help translate that vision into actionable steps for K-12 teachers.
Gonzaga University is a Catholic, Jesuit, and humanistic institution grounded in a mission to form the whole person — intellectually, ethically, and spiritually — and to prepare graduates for lives of leadership and service for the common good. Rooted in the Ignatian tradition of cura personalis (care for the whole person) and "faith that does justice," Gonzaga calls its faculty, staff, and students into a vibrant community committed to social justice, solidarity, and finding meaning and purpose in their work. Located in Spokane, Washington — the heart of the Inland Northwest — the university offers an exceptional quality of life in one of the Pacific Northwest's most livable and dynamic mid-sized cities. Spokane sits at the crossroads of mountains and rivers, offering four distinct seasons, world-class outdoor recreation from skiing and hiking to whitewater and cycling, and a thriving downtown with tremendous sports events as well as arts and culinary scene. With a cost of living well below that of larger coastal metros and a strong sense of community, Spokane combines the amenities of a city with the warmth and accessibility of a place where people genuinely know their neighbors — making it an ideal home for those seeking both purposeful work and an exceptional place to visit and live.
For more information on our mission, please visit: https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values/mission-statement
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Essential Functions:
Gates Grant Research and Programming –
- Assist with research and programming for the Gates Foundation “AI for Instruction Fellowship” and related K-12 AI literacy work.
- Identify and synthesize relevant research.
- Support data collection, analysis, and reporting.
- Help design, facilitate, and evaluate professional learning for preservice and practicing teachers and school leaders (e.g., AI Academy sessions, professional development workshops, school-leader convenings, and a spring showcase).
Focal Project Research and Design –
- Collaborate with faculty to lead or contribute to a project in the Scholar’s area of expertise (multilingual learner education, adolescent development and AI, or special education).
- Build a knowledge base of relevant research and an asset-oriented vision to guide AI applications in that area.
- Develop a deliverable product (e.g., paper, framework, prototype, curriculum, website, or app) to disseminate the recommendations. (There is also the possibility of designing an original research project.)
Collaboration and Dissemination –
- Contribute to the intellectual life of the School of Education by collaborating with faculty.
- Share developments through seminars, workshops, presentations, and written products for educators, families, and scholarly audiences.
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