Dr. Melissa Landa

Personal Information

Melissa Landa was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her father was a civil rights lawyer and her mother was a lecturer of social work at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her parents opposed the apartheid regime and decided to leave the country.

When she was ten, Melissa immigrated to the United States with her parents and two brothers. She spent summers back in South Africa.

Melissa earned her B.A. from Oberlin College, her M.A. from Tufts University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Melissa is married and lives in Maryland. She and her husband have a daughter and a son, who are both in college.

Professional Information

Melissa Landa has been an educator for 25 years. She began her career as a kindergarten teacher in a Title I school in Montgomery County Maryland, where she subsequently taught Head Start and first grade. She was then asked to serve as a writing specialist in the same district. Melissa contributed innovative ideas to the school district's Language Arts Curriculum Guide and led professional development summer workshops for elementary school teachers.

After 15 years in Montgomery County, Melissa began a doctoral program at the University of Maryland. Upon completion of her dissertation, Melissa was asked to join the faculty. For ten years, she taught Children's Literature and Language Arts, as well as several other courses, which she designed and created. Melissa was instrumental in reshaping the literacy courses in the Teacher Education Program and preparing teacher candidates to work effectively with children and families from diverse cultures. Melissa has presented her research on cultural competence and early literacy at conferences across the United States and the world. She has published her work in peer reviewed journals, and has won awards for her teaching and her research.

Teaching Interests

Cultural Competence in Teacher Education;
Ethiopian Jews in Israel;
Early Literacy;
Children's Literature;
Writing Instruction in the Primary Grades;
Representations of the "Other" in Literature, Film, and the Media

Melissa Landa's CV

Selected Publications

"...a practical and comprehensive companion for Early Childhood teachers who are beginning to rethink the teaching of writing."

-Shelley Harwayne

Former co-director of the Teachers College Writing Project

“The AEIOU strategy is genius, and serves as an easy tool for teachers who want to assess young children’s writing in a more holistic way.”

-Jennifer Turner, Ph.D.

University of Maryland

"Melissa rekindles the spirit of the transformative teacher, providing an approach to the teaching of writing that is inspirational..."

Jeremy N. Price, Ph.D.

Montclair State University

"In this original and beautifully crafted book , Melissa Landa draws upon her love of language and literature to argue the importance of cross-cultural understandings for teachers and students in their instructional relationships. Grounded in an insightful analysis of urban school systems, and courageously mining her own biography of growing up in apartheid South Africa, the author weaves powerful stories of five teachers, who use literature to engage their students in difficult conversations about social and cultural divides. Through powerful images of collaborative classroom cultures, and teachers who cross boundaries to navigate school system demands, while always putting children first, Landa expands and sharpens possibilities for transformative teaching and teacher education, and greater educational equity."

Linda Valli, Ph.D.

University of Maryland