Joan Wynne - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Joan Wynne

Teaching & Learning, Quality Education as a Constitutional Right, Jun 29, 2010

Transformative Leadership and Educational Excellence, 2009

Multicultural Education, 2007

Metropolitan Universities, 2008

Florida International University's Center for Urban Education and Innovation in the College o... more Florida International University's Center for Urban Education and Innovation in the College of Education and the Algebra Project have created a model for accelerated learning for disenfranchised children. The program includes mathematics instruction using university researchers in high school classrooms, supplemented with after-school enhanced reading and writing instruction. Tutoring, mentoring, experiential learning and an intensive residential summer institute provide a model for engaging lowperforming high school students.

When serving economically disenfranchised African American children, school systems often unconsc... more When serving economically disenfranchised African American children, school systems often unconsciously respond from a racist and class biased paradigm. Teachers often unconsciously operate from a framework of low expectations for these students' success. Society often supports the notion of students getting by with less because less is all the schools believe they can do. The Urban Atlanta Coalition Compact (UACC) is one current reform effort. As researchers engage with UACC schools that are struggling with ways to create better learning environments for African American children, they have observed that racism is a significant factor in the failure of schools to meet these students' academic needs. A 1997-99 research effort explored what could be done as a collaboration of schools and universities to remedy this situation. This paper discusses the early manifestations of racism encountered in the formation of the UACC project during its planning meetings with the steering committee, the boards of education, school leaders, parents, and other parties. Because of these experiences, part of the research was driven by the question of whether the prejudices, stereotypes, and misconceptions of well-intentioned educators sabotage educational reform efforts. The paper also explores reasons for the resistance of mainstream educators to discuss the impact of racist politics, economics, and educational theory on the school's capacity to teach all children. (Contains 33 references.) (SM)

Reframing Transformational Leadership, 2014

Theory Into Practice, 2007

This article represents a conversation between two urban educators-one African American and one W... more This article represents a conversation between two urban educators-one African American and one White. Not only the influence of race, but also the influence of personal and cultural histories on urban classrooms and colleges, unfold during their conversation. Providing important insights into the nature and significance of the work of urban education, their dialogue also demonstrates the need for, and examples of, multiple divergent voices in the struggle for practical and theoretical thinking in urban education to give direction to meaningful improvements.

Journal of Educational Administration, 2007

Purpose“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your... more Purpose“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound with mine, then come, let's work together”. These words of Lill Watson, an indigenous activist, frame the context for this article. The purpose of this research was to examine the historical evolution of “grassroots movement leadership” model and its incarnation in the present time. A corollary purpose focused on how this model can transform urban schools by focusing on “movement” efforts of one large urban school district that espouses the values of this form of leadership. As part of a larger reform effort, the district engaged students, parents, teachers, school leaders and communities in becoming equal partners in urban school reform in an effort to co‐create schools and communities that might lead all of us toward liberation and learning.Design/methodology/approachTheory and practice come together through the lens of three researchers who operate from a simi...

Advances in Educational Administration, 2016

Abstract Revolutionary thinker and Civil Rights leader, Ella Baker, once declared, “Strong people... more Abstract Revolutionary thinker and Civil Rights leader, Ella Baker, once declared, “Strong people don’t need strong leaders.” Baker’s statement epitomizes her philosophy that the wisdom needed to fight against hegemony emerges from the brilliance of the people stuck at the bottom of oppressive systems. Standing in stark contrast to the charismatic leadership philosophy of many in the nation, Baker’s model encourages disenfranchised youth and elders to lead themselves into the struggle to bring down America’s apartheid system of governing. Yet grassroots governing is complex and constantly evolving. But it leaves no space for static hierarchal iterations of leadership, an epistemology that pervades and corrodes the nation. Growing up in this nation’s segregated south, I have struggled to understand the impact of racism on school leaders, faculty, students, and parents. Thus, my chapter will use institutionalized racism as the lens to examine the toxic environment that school leaders, and, ultimately, all leaders face because of the country’s chosen amnesia of its bloody history, a history that still impacts current public policy. Within that context I will also offer alternative ways to lead, especially that modeled by Civil Rights icon and president of the Algebra Project, Robert P. Moses.