UNC Greensboro|Directory|Melody Patterson Zoch

Melody Patterson Zoch

Headshot of Melody Zoch

Professor

Teacher Education and Higher Education

Email Address: mjpatter@uncg.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., Language and Literacy, University of Texas at Austin, 2012
  • M.A., Curriculum and Instruction, Texas State University, 2004
  • B.F.A. with honors, Design, University of Texas at Austin, 2001
  • B.A. with honors, Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 2001

Research & Publications

Research Interest: literacy education; cultural and linguistic diversity; identity work

  • Zoch, M., & Burke, A. (2025). Adoption representation in picturebooks: A Critical Content Analysis. English Teaching: Practice and Critique.
  • Zoch, M., Moteane, M., & Bagwell, D. (2025). “You just don’t think that you are in the right place”: The experiences of preservice teachers of color in a predominantly white teacher preparation program. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education. 1-16.
  • He, Y., Schissel, J., & Zoch, M. (2025). Expanding access for all educators working with multilingual learners: Lesson learned from an educator preparation program. TESOL Journal.
  • Burke, A., & Zoch, M. (2023). Adoption as liminal space: The representation of adoption in children’s literature. Journal of Children’s Literature, 49(2), 42-55.
  • Zoch, M., Vetter, A., Faircloth, B., Marhatta, P., McDaniel, D. (2022). Community voices: Resettled youth use their writing to reposition themselves. Literacy Research and Instruction, 63(2).
  • Zoch, M. (2020). Creating “a collage of story and memory” to support identity work and connect with literacy teaching. Language Arts, 97(5), 285-294.
  • Zoch, M., & He, Y. (2019). Utilizing Community Cultural Wealth to build teaching relationships and learn with diverse language communities. The Teacher Educator, 55(2), 148-164.
  • Zoch, M. (2017). “It’s important for them to know who they are”: Teachers’ efforts to sustain students’ cultural competence in an age of high-stakes testing. Urban Education, 52(5), 610-636.
  • Zoch, M. (2017). A school divided: The organization of one elementary school in response to school reform. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 48(1), 23-41.
  • Zoch, M. (2016). Growing the good stuff: One literacy coach’s approach to support teachers with high-stakes testing. Journal of Literacy Research, 47(3), 328-369.