Dr. Mijana Lockard is an educator and researcher with over 30 years of experience in public schools and higher education. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Education at Florida Southern College School of Education, where she teaches foundational education courses, special education, and philosophy of education. In addition to her undergraduate teaching, she works across master's and doctoral programs, with a focus on instructional approaches and program evaluation. Dr. Lockard is passionate about hands-on learning and educational initiatives such as digital fabrication, makerspaces, and instructional technology. Her work is grounded in a commitment to equity, community partnerships, and empowering future educators to create transformative learning environments. She lives in Lakeland with her husband and has an adult son who lives in North Carolina. Outside of academia, she coaches high school tennis and spends summers in her home country of Croatia.