College of Education and Human Development

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

People

Betsy Maloney Leaf

  • Pronouns: she, her, hers

  • Assistant Professor in Arts Education

Betsy Maloney Leaf, PhD, MFA, is the co-License Program Lead and the program area coordinator in the Arts in Education program.

    DEGREES

    PhD, Curriculum & Instruction
    MFA, Dance Performance & Choreography
    BA, Dance and English

      AREAS OF INTEREST

      Dance pedagogy, arts education and policy, culturally relevant pedagogy, social justice in education

        BIOGRAPHY

        Betsy Maloney Leaf, PhD, MFA, is the co-License Program Lead and the program area coordinator in the Arts in Education program. She works with the interarts (visual art, dance, theatre arts) initial license program and teaches graduate level research courses in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction.

        Maloney Leaf's research examines the intersection between arts education, culturally relevant pedagogy, and educational policy. She has presented her research at several regional and national conferences, including American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Educational Studies Association (AESA), National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), National Art Education Association (NAEA), and American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Her work has been published in the Research in Dance Education, Youth Theatre Journal, Review of Research in Education, Journal of Dance Education, Studies in Art Education, Dance Education in Practice, Climate Literacy in Education, and Arts Education Policy Review.

        Currently, Maloney Leaf serves on the editorial board for Dance Education in Practice and is a board member for ARENA Dances in Minneapolis.

        Maloney earned her PhD in curriculum & instruction from the University of Minnesota, her MFA in dance performance and choreography from the University of Colorado, and her BA in dance and English from Gustavus Adolphus College. She holds a Minnesota K-12 teaching license in dance and theatre. 

        Associations/Memberships

        • Member of the National Dance Education Organization
        • National Art Education Association
        • American Educational Research Association
          PUBLICATIONS

          Maloney Leaf, B. (in publication, 2026). Mentorship in K-12 dance education: One state’s approach to keeping dance teachers in schools. Dance Education in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/23734833.2026.2650086 

          Maloney Leaf, B., & #Brown, A. (in publication, 2025). Using a broken tool against the grain: Recasting the edTPA to craft critical consciousness among dance teacher candidates. Journal of Dance Education.

          Maloney Leaf, B., Delisle, H., & #Redmond, C. (2025). A reason for hope: Situating arts education within eco-justice approaches to climate literacy. Climate Literacy in Education, 3(1), 90-96. https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v3i1.6538 

          Maloney Leaf, B., #Delisle, H., #Redmond, C. (2025). Developing climate literacy through artistic practice. Climate Literacy in Education, 3(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v3i1.6460 

          Maloney Leaf, B., Traynham, M., Schull, N., Bequette, J., Hansen, T. (2023). “Something missing”: Using the Critical Response Protocol as anti-racist practice in arts education, Studies in Art Education, 64(2), 181-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2023.2180260 

          Maloney Leaf, B., #Chandara, D., & Ngo, B. (2023). Towards a curriculum of darkness: Re-storying and retribution in youth arts programs. Globalization, Societies and Education, 21(4), 523-536. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2191933 

          Ngo, B., Maloney Leaf, B., & #Chandara, D. (2022). Immigrant educators as curriculum texts: The praxis within co-ethnic community-based arts programs. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 20(2), 160-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2021.2022036 

          Maloney Leaf, B., & Ngo, B. (2020). “You are not invisible”: A qualitative study examining ritual, pedagogical relationships, and student visibility in kathak dance. Research in Dance Education, 21(3). 280-295. DOI: 10.1080/14647893.2020.1815689   

          Maloney Leaf, B., & Ngo, B., (2020). “Fear of what we don’t know”: A qualitative study examining how youth grapple with diversity in a professional theatre program. Youth Theatre Journal, 34(1). 78-94. DOI: 10.1080/08929092.2019.1688210  

          Ngo, B., Lewis, C., & Maloney Leaf, B. (2017). Fostering sociopolitical consciousness with minoritized youth: Insights from community-based arts programs, Review of Research in Education, 41, 358-380.

          Maloney Leaf, B., & Ngo, B. (2017). The importance of “downtime” for democratic dance pedagogy: Insights from a program serving Asian American youth. Journal of Dance Education, 17(2), 65-72.

          Maloney, B. (2015). Institutional power: Identity, politics, and lived experiences in the dance license via portfolio process. Arts Education Policy Review, 116(2), 92-102.

            PRESENTATIONS

            Leaf, B. & St. Clair, I. (2020). Partnerships Through Policy: Connecting Preservice Teachers to Community Resources, National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) virtual conference.

            Leaf, B., & Ngo, B. (2019). Art moves: Filmmaking as Arts Activism in a Middle School Media Arts Residency. American Educational Studies Association (AESA) conference.

            Leaf, B. (2019). Promoting Student Visibility: An Autoethnographic Study of a High School Dance Program. National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) conference. 

            Leaf, B., & Bgo, B. (2019). "Dance With Your Body": Combatting Inequality through Embodiment in a Racially Diverse Youth Dance Organization. American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference. 

            Maloney, B., & Ngo, B. (2019). "You Could Put Yourself in There": Media Arts as Embodied Learning. American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference. 

            Chandara, D., Leaf, B., & Ngo, B. (2019). Latinx Students Working Toward Radical Healing: Reflections on the Possibilities of a Media Arts Residency. American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference. 

            Ngo, B., Leaf, B., & Chandara, D. (2019). Immigrant Educators as Curriculum Text: The Praxis of Ethnic Community-Based Arts Programs. American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference. 

            Betsy Maloney Leaf