Wendy Gardiner

Professor; Literacy Education

She/Her

Phone: 253-535-8342

Email: gardinwl@plu.edu

  • Professional
  • Biography

Additional Titles/Roles

  • Jolita Hylland Benson Chair in Elementary Education

Education

  • Ed.D, Curriculum and Instruction, National Louis University
  • M.Ed, Curriculum and Instruction, National Louis University
  • B.S., Elementary Education, Ohio State University

Areas of Emphasis or Expertise

  • Equity Literacy Teacher Education
  • Diversity Responsive Children's Literature
  • Mentoring and New Teacher Induction

Books

  • Responsive Mentoring: Supporting the Teachers all Students Deserve (Rowman and Littlefield 2020) : View Book

Selected Articles

  • Bahlman Bollinger, C., Hickey, P., DeFauw, D., Gardiner, W., Tondrea, A., McQuitty, V., & Assaf, L.. "Teacher educators revise more than writing.." Language Arts 2025: 103(2), 115-119.
  • Weisling, N. F. & Gardiner, W. . "Building teacher candidate’s capacity to disrupt socialized niceness through practice-based teacher education.." The Journal of Special Education Preparation 2025: 5(3), 14-23.
  • Tondreau, A., Gardiner, W., Hinman, T., Wilson, N, Degener, S., Dussling, T, Stevens, E., & White, K. . "Disrupting niceness in literacy teacher education: Non-linear trajectories toward culturally relevant pedagogy." Journal of Teacher Education 2025: 146-159.
  • Gardiner, W. & Weisling, N.. "It’s probably more comfortable for everyone: Niceness as a factor in mentor decision making about inside practices. ." The Teacher Educator 2024: 59(4), 462-479.

Accolades

  • PLU Faculty Excellence in Research Award, 2023
  • CoPI on National Science Foundation (NSF), Robert Noyce Track 1 Award, 2020-2025: $1,192,573; Title: Pathways to Culturally Sustaining STEM Teaching
  • CoPI on National Science Foundation (NSF), Robert Noyce Capacity Building Award, 2018-2019: $72,858; Title: Building Capacity to Prepare STEM Majors to Become STEM Educators

Biography

Wendy Gardiner is the Jolita Hylland Benson Endowed Chair in Elementary Education at Pacific Lutheran University, where she teaches literacy and teacher education courses. Before transitioning into teacher education, Dr. Gardiner was a K–3 teacher in Chicago Public Schools. Her experiences working with students and families in schools and communities impacted by systemic inequities shaped her commitment to literacy as a liberatory practice—a means to see oneself and the world, expand life opportunities, and work toward justice. In her teaching, she works to connect literacy research with practical, culturally relevant and sustaining approaches to instruction.

Dr. Gardiner’s scholarship focuses on equity-centered literacy teacher education, new teacher mentoring, and the preparation of teachers who can recognize and disrupt inequitable practices. Her recent work examines socialized “niceness” in teaching and mentoring, practice-based teacher education, and the role of children’s literature in preparing elementary teachers. She is co-author, with Nina Weisling, of Responsive Mentoring: Supporting the Teachers All Students Deserve. From 2020–2026, Dr. Gardiner served as co-principal investigator on the National Science Foundation Robert F. Noyce-funded Pathways to Culturally Sustaining STEM Teaching project, which prepared and supported teachers to enact ambitious and equitable STEM teaching in Title I schools.