Rachel Snyder Bhansari, PhD, (she/her or they/them) is an assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction. Rachel primarily works in the Bilingual Teacher Pathway (BTP) program and the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement program, and also contributes to the Educational Leadership Doctorate program. Rachel holds an M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction: Language, Literacy and Culture from the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the experiences of multilingual teachers, particularly in Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) Classrooms. Prior to earning her PhD, Rachel worked as an elementary DLBE teacher in Chicago.
Rachel has published multiple articles centered on DLBE teachers and how these teachers draw on critical consciousness to navigate racial and linguistic inequities in their classrooms. She has also published work related to teacher educator identity and researcher accountability. Rachel teaches a variety of classes related to language learning, culture, community and educational research.