Golnar Fotouhi.

Golnar Fotouhi, M.A.

Doctoral Candidate

Pronouns
she/her
College
Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (FAHSS)
Department
School of Education
Email
golnar_fotouhi@student.uml.edu
Links

Expertise

Multilingual learners; teacher education; culturally and linguistically responsive teaching; Artificial intelligence (AI) in education.

Research Interests

Golnar’s research explores the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in teacher education, with a particular focus on how AI tools, frameworks, and ethical considerations can support teacher learning in programs preparing educators to work with multilingual learners.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Research and Evaluation in Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell (expected 2027)
    • Focus: Teacher education for multilingual learners
  • Master of Arts (M.A.), Applied Linguistics, Sheikh-bahaee University, Esfahan, Iran
    • Thesis: Exploring practices and perceptions of Iranian language teachers and content teachers in teaching EAP academic and technical vocabulary
  • Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Translation Studies, Sheikh-bahaee University, Esfahan, Iran

Biosketch

Golnar Fotouhi is a Ph.D. candidate in the Research and Evaluation in Education program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her research examines how artificial intelligence can be thoughtfully integrated into teacher education to enhance equity-oriented preparation for multilingual learners. She is particularly interested in how AI literacy, ethics, and critical digital pedagogy can inform teacher development, curriculum design, and institutional policy in higher education.

At UMass Lowell, Golnar serves as a teaching assistant in the School of Education and has taught Teaching Emergent Bilingual Students as Instructor of Record both in online and in-person formats. She previously worked as a research assistant on a federally funded bilingual teacher preparation initiative, contributing to projects focused on multilingual educator development.

Originally from Iran, Golnar brings several years of experience teaching English for Specific Purposes at the university level. Her long-term goal is to advance teacher education research and practice that prepare educators to teach effectively in linguistically diverse and technologically evolving classrooms. She is an active member of professional organizations, including American Educational Research Association (AERA), Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), and regularly presents her work at academic conferences.

Outside of her academic work, Golnar enjoys spending time with her family, especially her young daughter, who inspires her daily curiosity and joy for learning. She loves cooking and sharing Persian dishes, exploring local art and cultural events, and finding creative ways to connect her research with real-world educational practice.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Winner, Inaugural AEA United States Student Evaluation Case Competition (2023)
  • Third Place, World Evaluation Case Competition (2023)
  • Winner, Student Research and Community Engagement Symposium, University of Massachusetts Lowell (2024)
  • Graduate Student Travel Grants, American Educational Research Association (AERA) Special Interest Groups (SIGs): Multicultural/Multiethnic Education, Accreditation and Program Evaluation, and International Studies (2024)
  • Graduate Student Sponsorship Registration, AERA Second Language Research SIG (2024)

Selected Publications

Selected Presentations

  • Leider, C. M., Dobbs, C. L., Cornelio, E., Fotouhi, G., & Uy, P. (2025, December 3). A community cultural wealth approach to teacher development [Paper presentation]. Literacy Research Association (LRA) 75th Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
  • Hsu, HY., Hakouz, A., Fotouhi, G., Fargnoli, J. (2025, April 23-27). Towards Responsible Generative AI in Academia: Synthesizing AI Policies for Manuscript and Proposal Writing [Poster presentation]. American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2025 Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, United States.
  • Leider, C. M., Wang, T., Fotouhi, G. (2025, March 19-21). Facilitating multilingual learners in the visual arts classroom. [Paper presentation]. TESOL 2025 Convention & English Language Expo, Long Beach, California, United States.
  • Fotouhi, G., Yang, X. (2025, March 22-25). Changes in Early-Career Teachers' Beliefs about Linguistically and Culturally Responsive Teaching after an Online Course. [Poster presentation]. AAAL 2025 Conference, Denver, Colorado, United States.
  • Crawford, J. B., Peercy, M. M., Fredricks, D., Tigert, J. M., Jones, L., Hardy-Skeberdis, M., Fotouhi, G. (2025, March 22-25). Language Portraits as an Alter(n)ative Tool to Promote Self-Reflection for Teaching Multilingual Learners. [Paper presentation]. AAAL 2025 Conference, Denver, Colorado, United States.
  • Kim, MJ., Fotouhi, G., No, L. (2024, November 21-24). Fixing the Wall Using the Words: Engaging Young Children in Critical Literacy through the Use of the School Environment as Text. NCTE Annual Convention 2024, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
  • Fotouhi, G. (2024, May 29-31). Teachers' Perceptions about Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching: Coursework and Perception Change [Paper presentation]. MATSOL 2024 Conference, Framingham, Massachusetts, United States.
  • Fotouhi, G., Wang., T., Hartwick, L., Langlois, H., Silvia, J., Leider, C., Tigert, J. M. (2024, May 29-31). Art Educators and Multilingual Learners [Paper presentation]. MATSOL 2024 Conference, Framingham, Massachusetts, United States.
  • Leider, C. M., Wang, T., Fotouhi, G., Norova, N., Tigert, J.M., & Ahmed, A. (2024, April 11-14). Working with immigrant multilingual learners in the visual arts classroom. In Gail Prasad (chair), Equitable access and promising practices: Supporting multilingual learners beyond the “core” [Symposium]. American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2024 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
  • Tigert, J. M., Fotouhi, G., No, L., & Marcucci, S. (2024, April 11-14). International Student Acculturation: Stressors and Sources of Support [Roundtable session]. American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2024 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
  • Lohmeier, J. H., Johnson, M., Fargnoli, J., Sahila, N., Fotouhi, G., & Dart-Kathios, L. (2023, October 11-14). Conducting research on evaluation as experiential learning: Student reflections on their experiences [Panel presentation]. American Evaluation Association (AEA), Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
  • Marcucci, S., No, L., Fotouhi, G., & Tigert, J.(2023, October 18-20). Resilience and determination: International PhD students’ experiences on campus. NERA 2023 54th Annual Conference, Trumbull, Connecticut, United States.
  • Leider, C. M., Tigert, J. M., Norova, N., & Fotouhi, G. (2023, May 31-June 1). Supporting multilingual learners in the visual arts classroom [Paper presentation]. MATSOL 2023 Conference, Framingham, Massachusetts, United States.
  • Fotouhi, G. & Tigert, J. M. (2023, May 31-June 1). English Needs of International Students in Higher Education [Paper presentation]. MATSOL 2023 Conference, Framingham, Massachusetts, United States.
  • Fotouhi, G. & Tigert, J. M., (2022, October 19-21). Meeting the English language needs of international students. [Roundtable presentation]. NERA 2022 53rd Annual Conference, Trumbull, Connecticut, United States.
  • Fotouhi, G. & Tigert, J. M. (2022, March 22-25). Sheltered mathematics for high school: A case study. [Paper presentation]. TESOL 2022 Convention & English Language Expo, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United States.
  • Fotouhi, G., Tahririan M.H., & Soleimani, F. (2017, May 10). Teaching Material and Students’ needs: The case of Electrical Engineering Students. [Paper presentation]. The 4th National ELT Conference on Advances in ELT and Applied linguistics, Allame Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.
  • Fotouhi, G. (2017). Exploring Practices and Perceptions of Iranian Language teachers and Content teachers in teaching EAP Academic and Technical vocabulary. [Poster presentation]. The 4th International Conference on Language, Discourse and Pragmatics, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
  • Fotouhi, G. & Soleimani, F. (2017). A sociolinguistic study of compliment responses among Farsi speakers: focusing on age and gender. [Poster presentation]. The 4th International Conference on Language, Discourse and Pragmatics, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.

Research Currently in Progress

  • Using language portraits to promote critical self-reflection for teaching multilingual students (under review, Language, Identity, and Education).
  • 50 years of conceptualizing, measuring, and imagining equity in multilingual education: Towards transformative practices that support multilingual community thriving (under review, Review of Research in Education).
  • Examining the impact of sheltered English immersion courses on teacher candidates’ beliefs about multilingual learners in Massachusetts (in progress).
  • Dissertation research exploring the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in teacher education to advance equitable preparation for multilingual learners.