Jonathan M. Coker, Ph.D. Dr. Coker, an assistant professor in Education Sciences and Organizations and the coordinator of the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership program, earned his doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a certificate in qualitative research from the University of South Florida and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the College of Charleston. He has a decade of experience as a K-12 educator focusing on middle school education and has held various higher education roles, including: institutional review board specialist at the University of Central Florida; a lecturer of qualitative research methods at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and a lecturer for diversity, equity, and gender in education at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Dr. Coker’s research focuses on qualitative research methods and teacher working conditions, especially the issue of inadequate teacher bathroom breaks, and he was recently listed as a scholarly source on this topic in NEA Today's May cover story. He has also received awards for his research, including American Educational Research Association's Qualitative Research SIG Outstanding Dissertation Honorable Mention Award, the University of South Florida's Pride Award from the Presidential Committee for Issues of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity for his contributions to LGBTQ+ teacher scholarship, and the Best Paper Award at the annual Global Conference on Education and Research.

Recent Publications

Coker, J. M. (2024). Tips for Making an Ethnodrama: Creating an Experience. In M. Lahman. An Introduction to Qualitative Research: Becoming Culturally Responsive. SAGE.

Coker, J. M.& Panerosa, F. (2023). Brood Mother:  What the lack of bathroom breaks reveals about dehumanizing teachers.  In J. DeHart (Ed.),Phenomenological Studies in Education. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-8276-6.ch009

Coker, J. M., Haraf, S., Valcarlos, M. M., Basham, S., Gonzalez, A., Austin, D., Davis,& Wolgemuth, J.R., (2022). Kinning and composting: Mentorship/t in post qualitative research. In K. Guyotte & J.R. Wolgemuth (Eds), Philosophical mentoring in qualitative research: Collaborating and inquiring together. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003022558

Coker, J. M. (2021). The storm was already here: Teacher stress amid COVID-19. The Journal of School and Society, 7(2), 44-47. http://www.johndeweysociety.org/the-journal-of-school-and-society/files/2022/01/JohndeweysocietyArticle6-1.pdf

Coker, J. M., & Cain, L.K. (2018). Southern disclosure: One southern-and-queer middle school teacher's narrative. Middle Grades Review, 4(3), 1-9. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview/vol4/iss3/4