I'm Tiffany Lachelle Smith. You might know me as the host and producer of my podcast (A)Broad in Education, but I can also be credited for my lifelong commitment to international engagement. My study abroad trip to South Africa is the impetus of my international career trajectory. Since 2009, I’ve worked in PK-12 schools and higher educational institutions across the globe in various teaching and international exchange capacities.

I am an educational griot, a storyteller, and the stories I share about education derive from my personal experiences and the experiences of others alongside my journey. Through stories, I construct tools and resources for aspiring EDPats, a term that I conceptualized to describe expatriate educational professionals working in schools outside of their home countries.

Currently, I am sixth year doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in the Comparative and International Development Education program. My research interests include the transnational migration of Black American teachers, the intersections of affect, identity, and lived experience, and critical examinations of educational recruitment and retention policies. My goal is to enhance student’s capacity to envision international components within the framework of their future career aspirations.

Smith T.L.(2021) Jumpin’ in, stayin’ in, and double-dutchin’ it: Teacher attrition from an African American international educator. In: Murti L., Flores G.M. (eds) Gender, Race, and Class in the Lives of Today’s Teachers. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73551-7_14

Smith, T.L.(2021, April 27). (Dis)Covering routes: An inside look at the exodus of some Black teachers and why they choose to leave the United States. [Digital E-zine]. SPARK: Community of Scholars Program. https://sparkezine.com/2021/04/05/discovering-routes/

Smith, T.L.(2021). Examining teacher migration in k-12 Schools in the United Arab Emirates: Perceptions of African American expatriate educator professionals. [Policy Paper No. 46]. Sheik Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research. https://dx.doi.org/10.18502/aqf.0167