Cody Dalton

Educator & Researcher

Cody Dalton is a Ph.D. student and preservice teacher supervisor at Virginia Tech studying History and Social Science Education. His work explores how technology, curiosity, and a bit of chaos can make history classrooms more engaging and equitable. He spends most of his time helping future teachers navigate lesson plans, curriculum maps, and the existential question of whether students actually care. His research connects students’ lived experiences with digital tools to help them think critically about the past and the stories we choose to tell. He’s interested in whose voices get preserved, whose get left out, and how those choices shape our understanding of the world. He believes that good teaching starts with empathy, humor is a form of pedagogy, and learning works best when it’s a little unpredictable. He insists that if students are laughing and learning, something’s going right. When not writing or teaching, he’s usually collecting marginalia, overanalyzing roadside historical markers, or rooting for the Carolina Panthers with a level of optimism that could be classified as either admirable or delusional.

Education
Publications
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Teaching Philosophy

Restoring Mabry Mill: The contested realities of historic preservation.

Selected Publications

This section highlights a range of peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and essays that reflect my scholarship in social studies education, emerging technologies, and public history. Each piece demonstrates a commitment to equity, historical inquiry, and the role of technology in shaping democratic learning environments.

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Selected Presentations

This section features conference presentations and invited talks delivered at national and regional gatherings. These sessions engage educators and researchers in dialogue about pedagogy, historical thinking, and the integration of new technologies into teaching and learning.

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Education

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PhD Curriculum & Instruction, Virginia Tech, Expected 2028EdS Higher Education Leadership, South CollegeMBA Business Administration, South CollegeMEd Literacy, American College of EducationBS History (18+ graduate credits), Liberty UniversityGraduate Certificates
Educational Research, Virginia Tech, Expected 2027
AI Applications, Northeastern University, Expected 2026
Gifted Education, Averett University

Teaching PhilosophyI believe that teaching is a relational, justice-oriented, and transformative act. Every student deserves access to learning that challenges them, respects who they are, and connects to the world they live in. Teaching isn’t neutral work, it’s human work. It’s about creating spaces where students feel seen, where curiosity is valued, and where learning leads to action.My thinking is shaped by Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Maxine Greene. Freire reminds me that education can be an act of freedom. hooks shows that love and rigor can coexist. Ladson-Billings pushes me to design culturally relevant classrooms. And Greene grounds me in the idea that education awakens imagination and helps students see themselves as co-creators of a more just world. Their work helps me see teaching as both personal and public, rooted in empathy but aimed at collective responsibility.In the classroom I try to bring those ideas to life. I use Universal Design for Learning and culturally responsive teaching to make sure every student has a way in. I integrate digital tools to help students uncover voices that history has ignored. My goal is to help learners see history as something living, something they have the power to question, shape, and even make.I see myself as both a teacher and a co-learner. Whether I’m guiding AP Psychology students through questions about how we think or mentoring preservice teachers through their first curriculum maps, I try to model reflection and shared leadership. I draw on experiential and transformative learning theories to build lessons that connect content to life. For me, success looks like students who are willing to wrestle with complex ideas, and trust that I’ll wrestle right alongside them.Good teaching starts with empathy. Humor helps too. And history always sounds better when more voices get the mic. My instruction invites students to ask whose stories are told, whose are missing, and why that matters. Arendt’s idea of “world-building” stays close to me: every honest conversation, every tough question, expands the space of what we can imagine together.Equity is the center of everything I do. That means designing pathways for gifted and twice-exceptional learners, building multilingual systems for families, and pushing against structures that limit opportunity. Through project-based learning, Socratic seminars, and digital inquiry, I want students and teachers alike to connect purpose to practice and learning to life.In the end, I teach to empower. I don’t just want students to know things, I want them to care, to question, and to see themselves as capable of changing the story. Teaching is my way of saying that learning can still be an act of hope, and that hope is worth teaching for.

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Contact

Cody invites fellow scholars, K–12 and higher-ed practitioners, and community partners to collaborate on research.

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Thank you

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