Advancing Kentucky Together: First-gen student to ‘Great Teacher’
Kayla Johnson, Ph.D., is focused on leading with values and coaching students through challenges.
Johnson, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation in the University of Kentucky College of Education, was recently honored with a Great Teacher Award.
She also serves as director of Graduate Global Learning Initiatives, where she aims to further internationalize the graduate student experience, and is the deputy editor of the American Journal of Education.
As a first-generation student, Johnson knows the path to higher education and academia can be challenging. She said her professors’ belief in her helped open many doors in her career.
Now at UK, she uses these same techniques with her students to help them open doors to their future, and, ultimately, succeed.
Johnson is one of many professors helping share the stories of those across campus — and in Kentucky — who put in the work to advance the state.
This year’s institutional TV commercial focuses on the people who reflect UK’s mission to teach, care, serve and discover.
Johnson and other members of our community — who are also working to help improve Kentucky — shared their voices for the both the 30-second and 60-second spots. While we hear only a few seconds from each of them, they have powerful stories to tell.
UKNow asked Johnson what it means to be part of the UK community — and of a legacy — of people who are working to advance Kentucky.
Read the Q&A below.
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UKNow: What makes the University of Kentucky special?
Johnson: Although no one in my family had ever gone to college, UK has always been a part of my life. I’m from Ohio and West Virginia, but I grew up a huge Kentucky basketball fan. As a six-year-old, I slept in my ’96 championship season jersey almost every night. I came to UK in 2012 for my master’s program — a first-gen student firmly committed to education but a little lost in my career goals — and it was then that I cultivated my passion and skills for supporting students. Studying and working at UK as a graduate student molded me to care deeply about the things that now comprise my research agenda as a faculty member in the College of Education: the powerful benefits of international education; how to craft responsive support structures for first-generation, Indigenous and other vulnerable students; and the vital importance of facilitating access to higher education around the world. UK gave me the gift of being able to help students in Kentucky and beyond realize their own paths to and through higher education.
UKNow: What does “advancing Kentucky” mean to you?
Johnson: Advancing Kentucky means caring. We need to care about and for one another and for our collective futures. This means fostering community, where we prioritize collaboration over division. It means actively working together toward solutions that support all Kentuckians — regardless of their backgrounds or experiences. By enacting care — showing compassion, empathy and a shared commitment to progress — we can build a stronger, more resilient Commonwealth. As the land-grant institution, and the flagship university for Kentucky, it is in our mission to care.
UKNow: How has your time at UK helped you be part of UK’s mission to advance Kentucky?
Johnson: As a faculty member in higher education, my research focuses on identifying practical ways to ensure that all students have access to the resources and support they need to succeed, and the amazing things they can achieve when they do. I teach courses that help future educators and leaders understand how to foster supportive learning environments, because equipping students to thrive — academically, socially and personally — is central to my values and essential to our mission. But most importantly, I am most proud of the small role I have played in my students’ research as their mentor. The graduate students in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation care. They care about their students, their colleagues, the Commonwealth and the world. Their research — whether it be Kayla Gill and Stephen Farley’s work on study abroad programming for students from varied backgrounds or Elizabeth Harris-Medina’s research on the college experiences of vulnerable students — emphasizes the critical importance of care in our search for excellence at the university and throughout the Commonwealth. They are the ones advancing Kentucky.
UKNow: What is your hope for UK’s next 160 years?
Johnson: In 160 years, I hope the University of Kentucky is remembered as a place that remained committed to its core values in the face of change — where we continued to serve all students, especially those facing the greatest challenges. I hope UK will still be known for encouraging thoughtful dialogue, upholding fairness and expanding opportunity. I want our legacy to be integrity, compassion and care, enacted through our commitment to preparing caring citizens and strong communities.
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Each week this semester, as UK celebrates its 160th birthday, UKNow is sharing more about these members of our community and what inspires them to do more and be more for the people of Kentucky.
