Julia Mahfouz | University of Colorado Denver (original) (raw)

Drafts by Julia Mahfouz

This article discusses the efforts of the Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (I... more This article discusses the efforts of the Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (IKEEP), at the University of Idaho, a predominately white institution (PWI) of higher education, and its struggle to create space in higher education for intentional support of Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and Tribal nation building through the preparation of Indigenous teachers. In doing so, we examine the contentious and local work of reimagining education, from the bottom up and top down, to develop leaders to serve the needs of Indigenous youth and communities through the vehicle of mainstream institutions. With data from a multiyear ethnographic documentation, we examine the experiences of IKEEP program administration, teacher mentors, and students through the conceptual lens of Tribal nation building in higher education. Our findings underscore how teacher education programs at PWIs need to engage in a radical shift toward seeing Indigenous teachers as nation builders and to prioritize the infrastructure and programmatic collaboration to support them and their communities as such.

Educational Leadership for Social Justice and Improving High-Needs Schools: Findings from 10 Years of International Collaboration., 2020

In this chapter, we seek to examine and compare the meanings and praxis of SJ leadership of schoo... more In this chapter, we seek to examine and compare the meanings and praxis of SJ leadership of school principals in three high needs schools in the ME, based on three case studies in Turkey, in the divided city of Jerusalem and in Lebanon. Taking a comparative stance, we believe, will contribute to how SJ is understood and implemented by school principals in diverse situations characterized as high needs schools in the ME. Specifically, we aim to answer the following questions: (1) How are the principals’ perceptions of social justice enacted and applied in their schools and communities? (and (2) How do the cultural, social, and national contexts of high needs schools influence perceptions and the implementation of social justice leadership?

Papers by Julia Mahfouz

Early Childhood Education Journal

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the processes and practices of mysticism found within t... more The purpose of this paper is to introduce the processes and practices of mysticism found within the monotheistic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, in an attempt to identify areas where these might inform, elaborate, and deepen our understanding of profound and transformative learning theory and practice.

Phi Delta Kappan

In the last 15 years, mindfulness programs have become more popular in schools. However, bringing... more In the last 15 years, mindfulness programs have become more popular in schools. However, bringing mindfulness into schools involves more than selecting a curriculum. It entails creating the conditions for mindfulness that requires a particular kind of leadership: the capacity to lead for and with mindfulness. Authors Deborah L. Schussler, Karen Krisch, Julia Mahfouz, Rebecca N. Baelen, and Laura Feagans Gould highlight common principles and practical examples from educational leaders engaging in this work and share some of the emerging research into mindfulness in education.

Proceedings of the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting

This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and their re... more This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and their responses to Syrian refugee education in Turkey, Lebanon, and Germany, drawing on the post-migration ecology framework developed and sensemaking processes in leadership. We utilized a comparative qualitative design within the realm of qualitative research. Findings revealed that the challenges are similar across the three contexts and are categorized into three domains: structural, psychological, and socio-pedagogical. School leaders’ strategies in addressing these challenges fell into three different groups as ethics of care, principal agency, and sense making. In their strategies, all school principals are driven by ethics of care and act from a humanitarian stance, and they try to provide a better future for the Syrian students as well as the host country’s students. However, the German education system provides greater autonomy to the school leaders in their implementations. In the Turkish and Lebanese cases, school leaders rely more on their discretion and personal values in their attempts, yet their authority is legally limited in taking further action. Further conclusions and implications are discussed.

Early Childhood Education Journal

Journal of Educational Administration, 2020

Theory Into Practice, 2022

Neoliberalism and Education Systems in Conflict, 2020

Research in Educational Administration & Leadership, 2020

Article Info The aim of the present article is to review literature on mentoring of school princi... more Article Info The aim of the present article is to review literature on mentoring of school principals. The review focuses on the importance of mentoring in fostering effective leadership as a principal by presenting the pervasive definitions and perspectives on mentoring in the field. Second, based upon predefined selection criteria, we present empirical evidence from a number of studies organized by emergent themes on how mentoring in the principalship is conceived and valued. The bulk of the article presents evidence from studies organized along themes. Two central themes emerged in the review focused on determinants of effective mentoring relationships: a) the mentor and protégé pairing and b) length of time in the mentoring relationship including enough time for mentoring sessions. The article concludes with methodological recommendations and an outline of possible directions for future research concerning these commonly overlooked, yet critical features of successful mentoring programs.

Journal of Educational Administration, 2019

Purpose Emotions of school leaders influence school culture and structure. Understanding emotions... more Purpose Emotions of school leaders influence school culture and structure. Understanding emotions is under-researched and under-theorized in non-western contexts, especially during educational change. The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of the leadership team’s (LT’s) emotional responses to change, their coping strategies and conditions that maintain their commitment to change. Design/methodology/approach The study used intrinsic case study research, drawing on data from interviews and a focus group that illuminated perceptions of the LT in a school. The data set was analyzed following the general inductive approach. Findings The LT’s experienced three critical incidents (CI) of educational change that provoked a range of intense negative and positive emotions, a national curriculum reform. Despite the team’s attempt to cope with the national curriculum reform (i.e. CI1), negative emotions and unsupportive conditions challenged their commitment to change. In CI2, s...

Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 2018

Various job demands continue to be very stressing and exhausting for school administrators who ha... more Various job demands continue to be very stressing and exhausting for school administrators who have to work under unprecedented pressure. This qualitative study explores the various stressors school administrators experience and the coping strategies they utilize to manage their stress. Findings show that the various stressors experienced by the school administrators do affect their job performance and their own wellbeing. Principals mentioned three main types of stressors related to work, relationships and time. They also experienced some unpleasant feelings in response to these stressors such as guilt, a sense of unfairness, loneliness, or disappointment. However, their coping strategies comprised of spending time with loved ones and having an outlet outside work. Implications for social emotional skills-based professional development programmes for school administrators are discussed.

Between 2014 and 2017, an interdisciplinary group of researchers examined whether a high school h... more Between 2014 and 2017, an interdisciplinary group of researchers examined whether a high school health class that incorporated mindfulness techniques lowered students' stress and improved their wellbeing. We received a grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences from the United States Department of Education to (1) train high school health teachers to implement the mindfulness-based curriculum and (2) study how the program impacted students. We examined changes in cognitive, social, emotional, and physical wellbeing indicators from before the course to after the course, using a quasi-experimental (intervention and control group with pre and post SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 2 SAGE

Leadership and Policy in Schools, 2021

ABSTRACT This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and... more ABSTRACT This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and their responses to Syrian refugee education in Turkey, Lebanon, and Germany, drawing on the post-migration ecology framework developed and sensemaking processes in leadership. We utilized a comparative qualitative design within the realm of qualitative research. Findings revealed that the challenges are similar across the three contexts and are categorized into three domains: structural, psychological, and socio-pedagogical. School leaders’ strategies in addressing these challenges fell into three different groups as ethics of care, principal agency, and sense making. In their strategies, all school principals are driven by ethics of care and act from a humanitarian stance, and they try to provide a better future for the Syrian students as well as the host country’s students. However, the German education system provides greater autonomy to the school leaders in their implementations. In the Turkish and Lebanese cases, school leaders rely more on their discretion and personal values in their attempts, yet their authority is legally limited in taking further action. Further conclusions and implications are discussed.

Mindfulness, 2021

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a manualized mindfulness-based progr... more The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a manualized mindfulness-based program for adolescents, Learning to Breathe (L2B), on indicators of adolescent social-emotional well-being, mental health, substance use, and executive function. Participants included 251 high school students attending an urban school district who were randomly assigned to required health education classes that offered L2B or the business-as-usual health curriculum. No direct effects on self-report measures were found. Students exposed to L2B demonstrated significant improvements on executive functioning measures related to susceptibility to cognitive interference and working memory. Subsequent tests of moderation revealed beneficial program effects within the treatment group were dependent on rates of practice, and those that used L2B strategies regularly showed small-to-moderate improvements on indices of emotional awareness, emotional clarity, impulse control, social connectedness, mind-wandering, substance use, perceived stress, and self-compassion relative to controls. This study provides mixed support regarding the potential effectiveness of a universal mindfulness program for high school students. The absence of direct effects on self-report measures implies that simply exposing adolescents to a mindfulness curriculum within the context of typical instruction, in the absence of supports for implementation, is unlikely to impact youth socio-emotional well-being or behavior. However, changes in EF favoring the intervention group suggest that possible benefits on tasks related to susceptibility, cognitive interference, and selective attention are possible. Tests of moderation revealed dosage effects, and students who adopt mindfulness practices can indeed benefit on multiple fronts.

This article discusses the efforts of the Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (I... more This article discusses the efforts of the Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (IKEEP), at the University of Idaho, a predominately white institution (PWI) of higher education, and its struggle to create space in higher education for intentional support of Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and Tribal nation building through the preparation of Indigenous teachers. In doing so, we examine the contentious and local work of reimagining education, from the bottom up and top down, to develop leaders to serve the needs of Indigenous youth and communities through the vehicle of mainstream institutions. With data from a multiyear ethnographic documentation, we examine the experiences of IKEEP program administration, teacher mentors, and students through the conceptual lens of Tribal nation building in higher education. Our findings underscore how teacher education programs at PWIs need to engage in a radical shift toward seeing Indigenous teachers as nation builders and to prioritize the infrastructure and programmatic collaboration to support them and their communities as such.

Educational Leadership for Social Justice and Improving High-Needs Schools: Findings from 10 Years of International Collaboration., 2020

In this chapter, we seek to examine and compare the meanings and praxis of SJ leadership of schoo... more In this chapter, we seek to examine and compare the meanings and praxis of SJ leadership of school principals in three high needs schools in the ME, based on three case studies in Turkey, in the divided city of Jerusalem and in Lebanon. Taking a comparative stance, we believe, will contribute to how SJ is understood and implemented by school principals in diverse situations characterized as high needs schools in the ME. Specifically, we aim to answer the following questions: (1) How are the principals’ perceptions of social justice enacted and applied in their schools and communities? (and (2) How do the cultural, social, and national contexts of high needs schools influence perceptions and the implementation of social justice leadership?

Early Childhood Education Journal

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the processes and practices of mysticism found within t... more The purpose of this paper is to introduce the processes and practices of mysticism found within the monotheistic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, in an attempt to identify areas where these might inform, elaborate, and deepen our understanding of profound and transformative learning theory and practice.

Phi Delta Kappan

In the last 15 years, mindfulness programs have become more popular in schools. However, bringing... more In the last 15 years, mindfulness programs have become more popular in schools. However, bringing mindfulness into schools involves more than selecting a curriculum. It entails creating the conditions for mindfulness that requires a particular kind of leadership: the capacity to lead for and with mindfulness. Authors Deborah L. Schussler, Karen Krisch, Julia Mahfouz, Rebecca N. Baelen, and Laura Feagans Gould highlight common principles and practical examples from educational leaders engaging in this work and share some of the emerging research into mindfulness in education.

Proceedings of the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting

This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and their re... more This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and their responses to Syrian refugee education in Turkey, Lebanon, and Germany, drawing on the post-migration ecology framework developed and sensemaking processes in leadership. We utilized a comparative qualitative design within the realm of qualitative research. Findings revealed that the challenges are similar across the three contexts and are categorized into three domains: structural, psychological, and socio-pedagogical. School leaders’ strategies in addressing these challenges fell into three different groups as ethics of care, principal agency, and sense making. In their strategies, all school principals are driven by ethics of care and act from a humanitarian stance, and they try to provide a better future for the Syrian students as well as the host country’s students. However, the German education system provides greater autonomy to the school leaders in their implementations. In the Turkish and Lebanese cases, school leaders rely more on their discretion and personal values in their attempts, yet their authority is legally limited in taking further action. Further conclusions and implications are discussed.

Early Childhood Education Journal

Journal of Educational Administration, 2020

Theory Into Practice, 2022

Neoliberalism and Education Systems in Conflict, 2020

Research in Educational Administration & Leadership, 2020

Article Info The aim of the present article is to review literature on mentoring of school princi... more Article Info The aim of the present article is to review literature on mentoring of school principals. The review focuses on the importance of mentoring in fostering effective leadership as a principal by presenting the pervasive definitions and perspectives on mentoring in the field. Second, based upon predefined selection criteria, we present empirical evidence from a number of studies organized by emergent themes on how mentoring in the principalship is conceived and valued. The bulk of the article presents evidence from studies organized along themes. Two central themes emerged in the review focused on determinants of effective mentoring relationships: a) the mentor and protégé pairing and b) length of time in the mentoring relationship including enough time for mentoring sessions. The article concludes with methodological recommendations and an outline of possible directions for future research concerning these commonly overlooked, yet critical features of successful mentoring programs.

Journal of Educational Administration, 2019

Purpose Emotions of school leaders influence school culture and structure. Understanding emotions... more Purpose Emotions of school leaders influence school culture and structure. Understanding emotions is under-researched and under-theorized in non-western contexts, especially during educational change. The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of the leadership team’s (LT’s) emotional responses to change, their coping strategies and conditions that maintain their commitment to change. Design/methodology/approach The study used intrinsic case study research, drawing on data from interviews and a focus group that illuminated perceptions of the LT in a school. The data set was analyzed following the general inductive approach. Findings The LT’s experienced three critical incidents (CI) of educational change that provoked a range of intense negative and positive emotions, a national curriculum reform. Despite the team’s attempt to cope with the national curriculum reform (i.e. CI1), negative emotions and unsupportive conditions challenged their commitment to change. In CI2, s...

Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 2018

Various job demands continue to be very stressing and exhausting for school administrators who ha... more Various job demands continue to be very stressing and exhausting for school administrators who have to work under unprecedented pressure. This qualitative study explores the various stressors school administrators experience and the coping strategies they utilize to manage their stress. Findings show that the various stressors experienced by the school administrators do affect their job performance and their own wellbeing. Principals mentioned three main types of stressors related to work, relationships and time. They also experienced some unpleasant feelings in response to these stressors such as guilt, a sense of unfairness, loneliness, or disappointment. However, their coping strategies comprised of spending time with loved ones and having an outlet outside work. Implications for social emotional skills-based professional development programmes for school administrators are discussed.

Between 2014 and 2017, an interdisciplinary group of researchers examined whether a high school h... more Between 2014 and 2017, an interdisciplinary group of researchers examined whether a high school health class that incorporated mindfulness techniques lowered students' stress and improved their wellbeing. We received a grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences from the United States Department of Education to (1) train high school health teachers to implement the mindfulness-based curriculum and (2) study how the program impacted students. We examined changes in cognitive, social, emotional, and physical wellbeing indicators from before the course to after the course, using a quasi-experimental (intervention and control group with pre and post SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 2 SAGE

Leadership and Policy in Schools, 2021

ABSTRACT This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and... more ABSTRACT This article seeks to compare and analyze school-level challenges for school leaders and their responses to Syrian refugee education in Turkey, Lebanon, and Germany, drawing on the post-migration ecology framework developed and sensemaking processes in leadership. We utilized a comparative qualitative design within the realm of qualitative research. Findings revealed that the challenges are similar across the three contexts and are categorized into three domains: structural, psychological, and socio-pedagogical. School leaders’ strategies in addressing these challenges fell into three different groups as ethics of care, principal agency, and sense making. In their strategies, all school principals are driven by ethics of care and act from a humanitarian stance, and they try to provide a better future for the Syrian students as well as the host country’s students. However, the German education system provides greater autonomy to the school leaders in their implementations. In the Turkish and Lebanese cases, school leaders rely more on their discretion and personal values in their attempts, yet their authority is legally limited in taking further action. Further conclusions and implications are discussed.

Mindfulness, 2021

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a manualized mindfulness-based progr... more The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a manualized mindfulness-based program for adolescents, Learning to Breathe (L2B), on indicators of adolescent social-emotional well-being, mental health, substance use, and executive function. Participants included 251 high school students attending an urban school district who were randomly assigned to required health education classes that offered L2B or the business-as-usual health curriculum. No direct effects on self-report measures were found. Students exposed to L2B demonstrated significant improvements on executive functioning measures related to susceptibility to cognitive interference and working memory. Subsequent tests of moderation revealed beneficial program effects within the treatment group were dependent on rates of practice, and those that used L2B strategies regularly showed small-to-moderate improvements on indices of emotional awareness, emotional clarity, impulse control, social connectedness, mind-wandering, substance use, perceived stress, and self-compassion relative to controls. This study provides mixed support regarding the potential effectiveness of a universal mindfulness program for high school students. The absence of direct effects on self-report measures implies that simply exposing adolescents to a mindfulness curriculum within the context of typical instruction, in the absence of supports for implementation, is unlikely to impact youth socio-emotional well-being or behavior. However, changes in EF favoring the intervention group suggest that possible benefits on tasks related to susceptibility, cognitive interference, and selective attention are possible. Tests of moderation revealed dosage effects, and students who adopt mindfulness practices can indeed benefit on multiple fronts.

Mindfulness, 2022

Objective Little is known about the process by which teachers learn the skills necessary to teach... more Objective Little is known about the process by which teachers learn the skills necessary to teach a school-based mindfulness program (SBMP), including how they come to understand and embody mindfulness. The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to explore how teachers experienced implementing an SBMP over time, including their embodiment of mindfulness. Specifically, this study investigated whether teachers experienced any shifts in their thinking or pedagogy that coincided with developing embodiment of mindfulness. Methods Data included in-depth, semi-structured interviews spanning 12–20 months with three 11 th grade health teachers to capture their perspectives at three to four time points during their professional development and implementation of the SBMP Learning to BREATHE (L2B). Thematic analysis identified themes that described teachers’ experiences over time, with particular attention to the mental or pedagogical shifts unique to implementing an SBMP. Results Although L2B aligned well with teachers’ overall teaching beliefs and values, implementing L2B elicited tensions in how teachers’ practices fulfilled their beliefs. These tensions highlighted necessary shifts as teachers worked to implement the program effectively, including embodying mindfulness. The main themes describing these shifts were as follows: (1) teaching to facilitating, (2) approach to classroom management, (3) interactions with and perceptions of students, and (4) adoption of personal mindfulness practice. Navigating these shifts involved embodying attitudinal foundations—patience, non-striving, beginner’s mind, non-judgment, acceptance, letting go, and trust. Conclusions Teacher buy-in to SBMP goals, openness to modifying their own instructional approaches, and ongoing professional development may help enhance embodiment of mindfulness and result in more effective implementation over time.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Gender and Educational Leadership and Management, 2022