Faculty & Staff Profiles

Tenisha L. Powell is a professor at Winthrop University and has been in the field of early childhood education since 2000, first serving as lead teacher in a three to four-year-old classroom. After receiving her Bachelor's degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina and her Master's degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, she worked briefly as a Project Director for Project Literacy at Purdue University. Her duties included preparing training guides and coaching protocols for Head Start teachers and providing technical assistance and consultation in the area of Early Childhood Literacy. Tenisha was also responsible for presenting enhanced strategies to increase best classroom practices for implementing an age-appropriate emergent literacy program. After earning a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Human Development & Family Studies, Dr. Powell joined the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy in August 2006 and become the Early Childhood Education Program Director in 2013. At Winthrop, Dr. Powell teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Early Childhood Education Program including Science in Early Childhood Education, Early Intervention for Young Children with Special Needs, Home, School, Community Partnerships with Diverse Families, and Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Care and Education. Dr. Powell's research interests include science in early childhood education, culturally responsive and sustaining practices, early intervention and emergent literacy. These areas of research have allowed her the opportunity to present at several state, regional, and international conferences and to write scholarly manuscripts for publication. Dr. Powell is an active member of several professional organizations including the National Association of the Education of Young Children and the National Black Child Development Institute, Inc. She holds board memberships on the York County First Steps and the Macfeat Early Childhood Laboratory School. On a personal note, Dr. Powell has two sons, Carson and Grant and is married to Agustus. They reside in Charlotte, North Carolina.