Cara Chang, who earned her PhD in Education (Curriculum and Instruction) from the UH Mānoa College of Education (COE), was awarded a Regentʻs Medal for Excellence in Teaching. Chang is an associate professor of English at Leeward Community College (LCC) where she teaches developmental and college-level writing.
With LCC since 2013, she currently serves as faculty senate chair, Writing Intensive Board chair, and Sustainability-Designation co-chair. She also helped develop the college’s strategic plan and participates in the President’s Emerging Leaders Program (PELP).
“Cara embodies what it means to be a teacher-scholar,” said COE Professor Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer. “In her doctoral work, she studied her own instruction with humility, rigor, and care, always asking how community college students grow as critical thinkers, writers, and change-makers. Having read her data, her teaching invited students to connect learning to real-world issues and to see themselves as capable of making a difference. I am so proud of her.”
Specializing in the writing and research process, critical thinking, and culturally-responsive multiliteracies, Chang says her mom is her biggest influence, having instilled a love of reading and writing in her at a young age.
“I first got into the field of education because my mom is an educator,” Chang said. “She taught first grade at Waimānalo Elementary, and I recall going to school with her to help her set up her classroom and occasionally helping her with her students. When I majored in English in college, I naturally ended up getting jobs in teaching and tutoring in writing, which carved my path towards education.”
Before enrolling in the COE PhD in Education program, Chang taught English in Korea and was a lecturer at multiple colleges.
“The best part of the PhD program at the COE was learning first-hand how to do research and working alongside faculty who are expert researchers,” Chang said. “I truly appreciated the close bond I formed with my PhD Advisor, Dr. Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer, who took me on as a graduate student fairly late in my academic journey, kept me accountable to finishing my dissertation, and helped me get to the finish line.”
Chang says she was also greatly influenced by her master’s advisor in the UH Mānoa Department of English, Dr. Candace Fujikane, who helped her to see herself reflected in literature and introduced her to Hawaiian literature. Finally, she says her kids – Rylan, Rylie, and Reece – had a huge influence on her teaching.
“I have incorporated sustainability into my English classes,” Chang said. “I want my kids to live in a world where they are able to enjoy the beauty of Hawaiʻi and nature.”
This summer, Chang will attend the Oxford Education Research Symposium and design an Experiential Learning assignment is partnership with the Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center (WVAPDC) for her English 209 Business Writing class.
