Life: a critically reflective experience (original) (raw)
International journal of doctoral studies, 2024
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Ncpea Publications, 2010
The 2010 Yearbook, Promoting Critical Ideas of Leadership, Culture and Diversity, is dedicated to the membership of NCPEA-our colleagues, friends, role models, fellow researchers and mentors. It has been a privilege to work on the 17th and 18th editions of the NCPEA Yearbooks, first as Associate Editor with Dr. Chuck Achilles, who was Editor in 2009, and currently as Editor with Dr. Betty Alford, the Associate Editor for 2010. My work with Dr. Achilles was a dream come true. I never thought in a million years that in 1996 when he came as a part of a visiting team to review the potential of a doctoral program for the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Sam Houston State University that I would ever be able to work so closely with him.
Reflections on Race and Privilege in an Educational Leadership Course
Journal of Leadership Education, 2018
To be effective social justice leaders, school leaders need to gain critical understandings of their positionality and racial privilege and be prepared to engage in difficult conversations with others. This study examines how a peer-to-peer letter exchange assignment in a doctoral course allowed educational leadership doctoral students (N = 27) to reflect on race and privilege with each other. The findings reveal how students examined racial privilege, positionality, and bias. The authors discuss how this assignment can be used in educational leadership programs to develop and grow the practice of critical reflection for self-examination of privilege.
2015
The primary purpose of this study was to examine teachers' beliefs about diversity and equity through a culturally relevant analysis of their visions of teaching and practice. The secondary purpose was to identify how centrally located these beliefs were within their visions. Participants included a Black British female second grade teacher, a White Cajun-American male pre-kindergarten and a White American female art teacher within one public elementary school in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Using qualitative case study methodology, participants' visions and practices were This dissertation represents the culmination of a six-year-long journey that challenged me in unpredicted and unimaginable ways. I would not have persisted through the challenges presented over these six years without the support of many friends and family members, some of whom I will mention here and all of whom I will not be able to capture in these few pages. While I remain grateful to all individuals who supported me, I must specifically thank a few named here. This journey began six years ago when two faculty members saw in my application something interesting and promising. Professors Victoria-Maria MacDonald and Sherick Hughes led the Minority and Urban Education (MUE) Program and welcomed me into the University of Maryland (UMD) family in 2009. It is a family unlike any other program's at the University, and I am grateful that they invited me to join. Their love and support served the foundation of my beginning years as an educational scholar; I am so grateful. My Dissertation Examining Committee members supported me in multiple ways. Susan De La Paz provided me guidance and mentorship over four years of researching and writing as well as providing me ongoing time and feedback during the final dissertation process. Linda Valli maintained high expectations in each class while also providing helpful and encouraging-yet honest-feedback on my work. Patricia Hill Collins expanded and challenged my thinking in new ways. She also provided the "tough love" I needed to motivate me to finish this dissertation. Jennifer Turner was always available by phone when I thought I was going mad and doubted my own abilities to complete this journey. I also want to thank my committee for their challenging and List of Tables.
Qualitative Inquiry
After the cancelation of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (2020) due to the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the substantive content of my presentation for the plenary, “Higher Education in the Time of Trump: Resistance and Critique” came into confluence with my invitation to deliver the 2020 Keynote to the 17th Incoming Cohort of the doctorate program in Educational Leadership for Social Justice, School of Education, Loyola Marymount University. This presentation delivered via ZOOM on June 18, 2020, calls forth a broader confluence of our current political climate under the “leadership” of Donald J. Trump, COVID-19, and national social justice activism linked with the Black Lives Matter Movement. Truly we are living protest and recovery in repressive times with a connectivity between the three. This message is both particular and plural to the audience that it was originally presented, and now to a diverse readership in these repressive times.
Despite the clarion call from educational leaders, scholars, and doctoral students for educational leadership preparation to provide learning experiences to ensure students persist to become transformative school leaders, most educational leadership programs struggle to make this happen. The purpose of this reflective essay is to capture how converting a doctoral educational leadership program from a quarter system to a semester system afforded two faculty members the opportunity to redesign their doctoral program into one that specifically focuses on social justice. We not only capture how the semester conversion process afforded us the opportunity to ensure the program was tied to preparing transformative school leaders, but highlight how it allowed us to implement programmatic supports predicated on ensuring that more students graduate. We believe the insights we gleaned from redesigning the Ed.D. program will assist other educational leadership faculty and directors. They will be able to graduate more leaders who are equipped to build socially-just schools and solve complex problems facing the communities they serve.
2016
The task of guiding the development of scholar-practitioners as leaders for social justice is inherently challenging. The dissertation journey, unlike any other journey practitioner-based doctoral students face in urban school settings, provides a steep learning curve as they transition from practitioner to scholar-practitioner. This journey challenges doctoral students, particularly those who represent the marginalized students they serve, as they begin to understand their personal history, how they view themselves, how they view others, and the ethical and political issues (Creswell, 2013) they face as their thinking shifts from that of a mere practitioner to that of a scholar-practitioner. This collection of case studies on dissertation research emerged from the collective work of faculty, students, and program graduates of the Educational Leadership for Social Justice Doctoral Program at California State University at East Bay. As we examine the development of scholar-practition...
Reflecting on my pedagogy : an accidental story
2020
This dissertation is a narrative autobiographical story of my lived experience as an educator, and the ideas that have emerged to inform my pedagogical passions, philosophy, and practice. Beginning with the early years of my life, and moving through to the present day, I have attempted to uncover how it is I came to be the educator I am, or perhaps, aspire to be. This dissertation is a weaving of poetry, prose, artwork, short stories, and acknowledgments of others whose ideas have enriched my teaching. It is organized into six parts. Part One, The Forward, provides an overview and explores the writing of this dissertation, my methodology, and authors of significance to my inquiry. Part Two, Family and Schooling: In Search of Belonging, briefly describes the story of my childhood, and segues to stories of my elementary and high-school experiences. Part Three, The Later Years: Education, offers select recollections, and reflections from my post-secondary education, and illuminates connections to my current educational philosophy, and practice. Part Four, Just One Day, is a detailed narration of one day in my life as an educator, and highlights the influence of other educators, scholars, and writers on my practice. Part Five, A Legacy of Love: Foundations of Instruction, contains the curriculum that was developed for a faculty workshop in hopes of inspiring faculty to create welcoming, respectful, inclusive, and caring spaces of possibility for learning. Part Six: Pausing, includes reflections on the journey of writing this dissertation, thoughts for others considering a similar methodology, and finally, considerations for future inquiries. Evident from narrating my personal journey of family, schooling, higher education and my varied roles as an educator are sensitivities and sensibilities of significance to me, and my teaching including creating welcoming, inclusive and caring classrooms. My application to the Department of Educational Studies for a Doctorate of Education, Leadership and Policy is inspired by a triumvirate of intentions: to again engage in scholarly discourse with a cohort of similarly engaged colleagues to enable me to continue to critically reflect on, evaluate and enhance my praxis; to research the practices of post-secondary institutions that inhibit and prohibit the participation and engagement of mature adult learners, both first generation and returning, with the intention of contributing to the scholarship on post-secondary education and effecting change in the policies and practices at post-secondary institutions with which I am affiliated; to assume a senior leadership position in a post-secondary institution which will allow me enhance the access, participation, engagement and success of those mature members of our communities who aspire to higher education. However, my interest in continuing my studies and pursuing my doctorate is less about what I learned and more about what I did not, what I want to learn about, and what I don't yet know I don't know. There it is. The beginning of this dissertation as an intention, written on my application, nearly ten years ago now, "to continue to critically reflect on, evaluate, and enhance my praxis." That was the intention that came to fruition on these pages: to understand how the experiences of my life, and more specifically, my experiences of schooling, and of education, have informed who I am as a teacher, and how I teach. This dissertation does not follow a common structure often seen in the academy which includes chapters denoting a research question, the literature review, methodology, findings, implications and recommendations (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Rather, this dissertation, through a weaving of prose, poetry, figures, and art, reflects on what Leggo (2012) described as "research as searching" (p.10). The writing follows the trajectory of my journey in education, beginning with my beginnings as a wee one in New Zealand, and winding forward to the present day, and my role as an administrator in higher education. Of course, it is neither feasible, desirable, nor necessary, to elucidate the entirety of my more than 50 years on these pages thus, what is observed on the following pages is selections of events, some of those from a very long time ago indeed, and yet, all of which connect, some tightly, others more tenuously, to my praxis. The dissertation is organized into six parts which I list briefly here and explain further below. Part One: The Foreward, provides the reader with an overview, and explores how I 4 found my way to the writing of this dissertation, a discussion of my methodology, and the authors whose ideas have significantly informed my inquiry. Part Two: Family and Schooling: In Search of Belonging, describes a little bit about the story of my childhood, and segues to stories of my elementary and high school experiences. Part Three: The Later Years: Education, is comprised of select recollections, and reflections, from my post secondary education, and illuminates' connections to my current educational philosophy, and practice. Part Four: Just One Day, provides a detailed account of one day in my life as an educator, and highlights the influence of other educators, scholars, and writers on my practice. Part Five: A Legacy of Love, offers a culmination of the preceding parts which contains the curriculum that was developed for a faculty workshop in hopes of inspiring faculty to create welcoming, respectful, inclusive, caring spaces of possibility for learning. Part Six: The Pause, concludes the dissertation with reflections on the journey of writing this dissertation, including thoughts for others considering a similar methodology, and finally, considerations for future inquiries. Finding the writer within The Continental Conversation I want to find a way, the way, anyway, to write this thing! I have absolutely no idea how I am supposed to do this. The red headed sage who so fiercely assures me I can, has me believing in the moment. But then we part, and she takes my courage with her. And I am left behind. Shrivelled, I sit in Café Continental with doubts, insecurities, unknowingness, uncertainties, seated at my table. I try to tell them they are not welcome here. They are interfering with my intention. But they peer haughtily at me over the rim of their cups, and cackle. I despair. Soon it engulfs me and I wonder what exactly I am supposed to do.
In Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
2009
The purpose of this study was to explore the career and life paths of male and female Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs). The study used Super’s components of Work Salience and Career maturity to examine gender differences and commonalities of individuals in their climb to a SSAO position. Specifically, the study examined the role of family and personal life and the intersection with career. Employing qualitative methods in the form of semi-structured interviews, this study investigated the following research questions: 1. How do female SSAOs describe their life and career development according to Super’s factors of Work Salience and Career Maturity? 2. How do male SSAOs describe their life and career development according to
The Qualitative Report Transforming Educational Leadership Preparation: Starting with Ourselves
To lead for social justice, scholars have maintained aspiring leaders should examine their own values and beliefs that dictate, to a great extent, their day-to-day decision-making and responsibilities. To do so requires faculty to examine themselves before they can prepare leaders for social justice. The purpose of this paper is to engage others with similar interests toward creating and/or improving programs designed to prepare leaders for social justice. Serving as a source of data and method of analysis, this duoethnography chronicles the life histories of two faculty members working in different leadership programs to reveal how their understanding of diversity and social justice has been formed over the course of their lives. Sharing stories, they dialogically critiqued and questioned each other, challenging one another to reconceptualize beliefs and meanings about their lived experiences. Duoethnography has the potential to transform faculty’s conceptions of diversity and social justice as well as promote empathy, compassion and understanding. When trust is established, faculty can take risks, ask tough questions, reveal vulnerabilities, exchange uncensored comments, and challenge deficit thinking. Duoethnography can be a valuable tool for faculty development. The authors question, however, whether faculty would be willing to employ duoethnography to explore their beliefs about diversity and increase their knowledge of social justice. Due to a perceived lack of trust, power differences, fear of uncovering biases, engaging in conflict, and/or denial of tenure and promotion, they question whether faculty would be willing to engage in this methodology. Educational Leadership, Faculty Development, Social Justice, Transformative Learning, Duoethnography
Critical Questions in Education, 2017
Critical multicultural educators’ concerns about the oppressive and/or emancipatory potentialities of curriculum extend to the preparation of educational researchers. By framing one’s scholarly life as curriculum, this personal phronesis of the author’s scholarly journey as a multicultural teacher and researcher, highlights the implications for the knowledge construction process in the preparation of researchers as leaders for social justice. A personal and collective agenda for re-conceptualizing research as a public good is offered.
Engaging aspiring educational leaders in self-reflection regarding race and privilege
Reflective Practice, 2015
Self-reflection is a vital tool that can be used in the preparation of aspiring school leaders to ensure they can equitably serve the increasingly racially, culturally, linguistically and economically diverse students in schools. When coupled with social justice pedagogy, reflection can also serve as a means of gauging student resistance, growth, and understanding of issues of race and privilege. In this study, written self-reflections from educational leadership students exposed to social justice pedagogy were examined revealing varying degrees of resistance in the form of intense emotions, distancing, and opposition for some, and changes in mindset for others. Students also began interrogating their own assumptions, practices, and the equity-oriented theories presented. Findings reiterate the utility and need for social justice pedagogy that includes self-reflection in the preparation and continued professional development of educational leaders.
2019
Writing this work was the most rewarding, fulfilling and taxing as a wife, and mother leading an important public school effort with a full time workload. Like my own children, this work has been nurtured and poured over by me and my village. My support system has praised me, encouraged me and been there when I needed to just be as the pages slowly breathed life into this complex topic. My mantra in life has always been God, family and everything else follows. To Gregg, my rock, my best friend and the best father to our boys, thank you for going on this journey with me. You sacrificed precious QT and now I can give it back tenfold. I love you! To my boys, you are the joys of my life and my why. You inspire me to make this writing what it needs to be for all the boys like you. You give me unconditional love and have sacrificed family time for this journey. I love you and can't wait to celebrate all the accomplishments you have yet to achieve. Mama! Thank you for sharing your love of literacy with me at a very early age and for nurturing a caring spirit in me. You are now and have always been my model of a strong black woman! You are my cheerleader, technical writer, critic, and safe place to be! The late nights in high school where we battled over commas, semicolons, and sentence structure and meaning has finally paid off! To The Wards, thank you for keeping my boys company in those early years of course work and providing a homecooked meal, a place to lay our heads on long basketball road trips, picking the boys up from school, going to basketball games. Thank you for your unwavering love and support for our family. vi To my extended family! All Ya'll! Thank you for your unconditional love and support. Thank you for always having my back and for genuine happiness for my accomplishments. To Momo, Uncle Allen and all my elders. You created the space for my growth and taught us all unconditional love. Rest in Heaven. My mentor, friend, sister and foundational force in my success as an educator. From my first year in this city teaching, to my first year as an Assistant Principal, and my choice to pursue doctoral studies, Dr. Alicia Moore-Hopkins you have been there to listen, to teach, to scold, to guide, to support me, in a way that only an experienced Southern, Proud, Black Feminist Educator could support someone like me! I can't wait to publish with you! To my church family! Thank you for supporting me and the boy's growth in Christ. You nurture in us the "witness" that I speak about in this work. This work is possible because I know who I am and whose I am. Tamey & Beverly, my Sustas! Thank you for the laughs and the support! That outline early in this journey gave me just the focus I needed to get through this literature review. Now, I have a little more time to hang out. The ladies I can nerd out with when I discover new research, and who can appreciate an R&B/Soul artist's rhyme and rhythm with me. Amber & Sarah thank you for your friendship and listening ear! You helped me practically apply my thinking just by listening and providing insight! Thank you! To the greatest team a person can dream of! In your first year and some of you first months, you all took on your roles like old pros, freeing my thoughts to the final edits of this my most fulfilling work. vii Amy, thank you for showing me how a white woman leans in to this work with a critical eye. Your willingness to grow has been an inspiration and let me know it's possible to work alongside coconspirators in this work. Thank you for your knowledge, history and friendship. Dr. Kikanza J. Nuri-Robins, along my journey to Dr. Ward I have met and gained many mothers. Thank you my elder for your strength, your encouragement and taking me under your wing. I appreciate you and honor your historical work through my tireless work supporting students in urban schools across this country.
Teacher Leadership: Contending with Adversity
Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation, 1996
ontario institute for studies in education at the university of toronto A life history of a male immigrant racial-minority teacher reveals not only how he makes sense of his own life but also how structural factors have shaped that life. I describe the work of such a "teacher leader"-a teacher whose relationships with students and colleagues extend beyond conventional classroom practice. I also show how his own experiences and intentions on the one hand, and administrative and collegial expectations on the other, shape the roles he plays in the implementation of equity goals. L'histoire de la vie d'un enseignant immigrant faisant partie d'une minorité raciale révèle non seulement comment il donne un sens à sa vie, mais aussi comment les facteurs structurels ont façonné sa vie. L'auteure décrit dans cet article le travail d'un tel "leader éducateur"-un enseignant dont les relations avec ses élèves et ses collègues ne se confine pas aux pratiques pédagogiques habituelles. L'auteure explique en outre comment, d'une part, les expériences et les intentions de cet enseignant et, d'autre part, les attentes de la part de l'administration et des collègues ont une incidence sur les rôles qu'il joue dans la mise en place d'objectifs en matière d'équité. Financial support for the life-history study "Racial/Ethnocultural Minority Teachers: Identities and Careers" was provided by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The larger study involved 11 teachers and half a dozen researchers; each researcher worked exclusively with one or two teachers. 3 At Edgar's request, the country is not specified. 4 These are the names (perhaps Anglicized for my benefit) that Edgar used in the interviews. 5 Although we did not specifically discuss why Edgar, a person of East Indian ancestry, identified himself as a "Black man"-a term commonly used to refer to people of African origin-I believe he used the term deliberately when he wished to describe perceptions of him by Anglo-Canadians as generic minority outsider, and to identify with other minority immigrant people.