Arlene Ventimiglia
Scholar-Practitioner Exploring How Mobility, Place, and Context Shape Teaching Practice
I am an educator and qualitative researcher whose work examines how teachers navigate professional practice across changing schools, communities, and institutional contexts, with particular attention to Military Spouse Educators (MSEs).
Focus Areas:
- Teacher mobility and professional transitions
- Qualitative and narrative inquiry
- Military Spouse Educators (MSEs)
- Teacher education and university supervision
About Me
With professional experience spanning K–12 classrooms, teacher supervision, and higher education, my work sits at the intersection of research, practice, and professional learning. Drawing on qualitative and narrative approaches, I center educators’ lived experiences to understand how mobility, context, and professional transitions shape teaching practice and decision-making.
I am a scholar-practitioner with professional experience across K–12 education and higher education. My career has been shaped by teaching, mentoring, and supervising educators in diverse geographic and institutional contexts, as well as by my lived experience navigating frequent relocations as a military spouse.
As an educator, I have taught across elementary grade levels in multiple states and school systems. As a teacher educator, I have supported the development and supervision of teacher candidates and interns across varied classroom and community settings. As a researcher, I focus on how educators make sense of professional transitions and how place, mobility, and institutional context shape pedagogical decision-making and professional identity.
My scholarship is grounded in qualitative and interpretive traditions, including narrative inquiry and semi-structured interviewing. I am particularly interested in documenting the often invisible labor, adaptability, and professional expertise required to teach well in contexts characterized by change.
Across my teaching, research, and service, I am committed to research-informed, context-responsive approaches to education that recognize educators as active agents within complex systems.
focus areas
- Teacher mobility and professional transitions
- Qualitative and narrative inquiry
- Military Spouse Educators (MSEs)
- Teacher education and university supervision