Lisa Marie Westbrooks

Lisa Marie Westbrooks is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Wayne State University. She coordinates ESL and Bilingual/Bicultural Education programs, develops curriculum, advises graduate students, and collaborates with school districts. Her academic credentials include a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Bilingual/Bicultural Studies from Wayne State University, along with an Educational Specialist degree and Master of Art in Teaching from the same institution.

Her research explores cultural and linguistic equity through interdisciplinary lenses, with emphasis on:

• African American storytelling as pedagogical resistance
• First/second language acquisition in marginalized communities
• Decolonial approaches to language policies
• Culturally responsive frameworks for K-12 education

Her scholarly publications consistently address systemic inequities in education, utilizing autoethnographic methods to examine linguistic identity formation, cultural preservation, and transformative teaching practices. Recent works analyze the role of ancestral knowledge in challenging Eurocentric curricula.

Awards recognizing her academic contributions include:

• King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship
• Rumble Fellowship
• Graduate Professional Scholarship

She maintains active community engagement through partnerships with Detroit-area schools for teacher certification initiatives and regularly presents research at international education conferences.