Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

Exploring how school leaders address underrepresented student voices, meaning those of marginalized experiences along the continuum of social identity including though not limited to race, class, gender, immigration, and LGBTQ issues in schools is more essential than ever following the novel coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19). Principals' social identities (i.e., race, class, and gender), and their connected social locations and personal histories reveal how their leadership styles can contribute to the support of marginalized communities. Hence, this qualitative research study employed a case study methodology to investigate whether and how the social identities and lived experiences of principals in the Brooklyn and Bronx school districts of New York City inform their school leadership practices and help them navigate the policies in place to address social constructions of difference and other critical issues in highly diverse schools. Guided by the critical case sampling method, a total of five principals native to four different countries were selected for their diversity and years of experience in NYC school leadership were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol. Both the research questions and study protocol drew on multiple leadership theories and applied a social justice leadership lens to reveal if and how urban public-school leaders support their school communities by advocating for equity, inclusion, and diversity. Six themes intersected by immigrant narratives emerged from the data, creating a shared social identity and connected purpose among the participating principals. Each principal expressed their social identities metaphorically through their respective immigrant experiences in a sense-making process that explained their leadership styles and understanding of complex issues that occurred in their schools, pre- and post-pandemic. The leadership narratives explored may serve as resources and catalysts for school transformation (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel Diaz-Reyes PhD, JD (Committee Chair); Beryl Watnick PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Jennifer Raymond PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this qualitative participatory action research was to explore how complexity is engaged and experienced in complex regulatory systems, and to understand how cannabis might be regulated in ways that lead to socially equitable conditions. This was accomplished by studying the lived experiences of governmental leaders charged with the responsibility of establishing regulatory frameworks for legalized cannabis where none previously existed. Using the learning history methodology, the study deeply explores the ways that complex systems coexist by capturing the lived experiences of research participants and enhance theoretical understanding of complex regulatory systems. Data collection occurred through reflective interviews, followed by distillation and thematic analysis. This resulted in the creation of a data table and a learning history artifact that were validated by distribution to research participants and used as both an actionable tool for participants and an analytical tool to distill and categorize research findings. The data table and the artifact established three main findings: complexity is both a property and characteristic of systems; complexity is not a behavior, characteristic or action of “leadership” or “leaders” in complex regulatory systems; and the interplay between social justice and social equity is complex and often oversimplified. Rather than directing, participants brought about change by building interactive trust through dialogue and relationship-building in interactive spaces across and between macro, meso, and micro systems levels. Complexity arose from these participatory human relationships when both the properties and characteristics of these systems were engaged, but the theoretical construct of complexity does not explain the presence of agency within this dynamic. By recognizing agency across all systems, structural barriers may be reduced, resulting in regulatory frameworks that may lead to more socially equitable con (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donna Ladkin PhD (Committee Chair); Harriet Schwartz PhD (Committee Member); Dennis Tourish PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Epistemology; Philosophy; Public Administration; Public Policy; Social Research

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2019, Leadership and Change

Four decades of research on power distance have been applied to cross-cultural leadership studies on an inter-national level. A quantitative investigation was conducted to analyze a uniquely American narrative of power distance, which was developed through a post-structural epistemology. Using ANTi-History theory, endorsement of the Great Man Theory was argued to be a leadership ethos that is related to American power distance value. The GLOBE project's Power Distance Subscale, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner's Achievement Versus Ascription Scale, and an author-developed scale for self-reported endorsement of the Great Man Theory was deployed to investigate culturally contingent leadership ethos on an intra-national level within a representative U.S. American sample. The study was able to validate the Social Authority Scale, using items from the Power Distance Subscale and Achievement Versus Ascription Scale. Demographic measurements of 645 participants from a convenience sample were analyzed to understand how social identity influenced this leadership construct. Significant variations were found based upon American social identities. Implications for intra-national cross-cultural leadership theory are discussed, as well as empirical and theoretical based implications for leadership practitioners. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Carol Baron PhD (Committee Member); Brandelyn Tosolt PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Management; Organization Theory; Social Research

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

This case study explored and developed the religious racial socialization (RRS) approach of a Black Baptist pastor in Orange County, California. The aim was to assess how the pastor's direct messages about race influenced and transformed members' racial and social views and actions and examined the message alignment between what the pastor said and what church members and the leadership team heard. This study took a multimethod exploratory approach, examining multiple sources of data gathered from a Likert scale members' survey, leadership team interviews, and archival materials. To support triangulation of the data, a word query and emergent thematic analysis was conducted on all qualitative data and a descriptive analysis based on closed-ended questions from the member survey. Results indicated that members perceived the pastor as a Coach when talking about racial and social justice matters and an Inclusive Leader because of his encouragement to love everyone. Additionally, archival findings revealed the church culture as Righteous because of the pastor and members' desire for morality and justice. Moreover, findings suggest that a Pastor who coaches and educates on racial matters, and advocates for justice in and outside of the church, is progressive and effective in transforming how members respond to racism and social injustice. The study provides examples on how to approach and manage racial discussions in the church, how to create an inclusive environment where diverse groups feel safe to talk about race, and how to prepare for and manage cultural change. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Laura Morgan Roberts Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carol Baron Ph.D. (Committee Member); Margaret Moodian Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; Religious Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2020, Leadership and Change

This thesis explored social worker discourses to learn what they could reveal about professional workplace practices and experiences with race and racism. The study traced the subtle and elusive racism often found in everyday professional conversations that are not considered racist by dominant consensus. Using tools of thematic and critical discourse analysis (CDA), and van Dijk's (1993, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2011) general theory of racism and denial (1992, 2008), data from 14 semistructured interviews and one focus group with a racially diverse group of social workers was analyzed in two ways. First, thematic analysis offered a horizontal or flat exploration that illustrated various manifestations of racism, denial, and whiteness. The second, vertical critical discourse analysis took a sociocognitive approach to examine underlying discourse structures that hold racism and whiteness in place. Findings suggest the presence of subtle and nuanced racism and whiteness in social worker discourses, and I discuss how these forces work in tandem to produce dynamics that preserve hegemonic structures and support dominant status. This power analyses brought attention to often overlooked forms of counter-power and resistance embedded in participant narratives. Inferences from focus group discourse illustrated four interpersonal capacities that supported constructive racial dialogue. Findings revealed vastly different racial experiences between Black, biracial, and White social workers in their professional settings. Implications for social work (and more broadly the helping professions) education, training, and leadership and change practices are provided. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Committee: Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Chair); Donna Ladkin PhD (Committee Member); Donna Jeffery PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Social Research; Social Work

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2017, Educational Theory and Social Foundations

The focus of this dissertation is on the work processes and activities that social justice leaders engage in while creating, managing, and leading social justice organizations. I argue that it is possible to create an overarching process of work processes and activities from the successful experiences of social justice leaders that have created, managed, and led successful social change organizations. This overarching process provides current and future leaders, particularly those leaders new to creating SCOs, a road map for the work processes and activities required to be successful.

Committee: Lynne Hamer (Committee Chair); Cynthia Beekley (Committee Member); Mary Ellen Edwards (Committee Member); Dale Snauwaert (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Educational Sociology

Bachelor of Arts, Miami University, 2010, College of Arts and Sciences - International Studies

A central tenet of Miami University's mission and the goals of President David Hodge, student leadership development has become an increasingly important part of the Office Student Affairs and higher education. Nowhere is this focus more obvious than in the intentional leadership programming within the residence halls of the University. One of these residential communities, the CHANGE Living, Learning Community (LLC). works with first-year students to provide them with curricular and co-curricular experiences and to aid in their development and understandings of leadership. Despite observations and evaluations of other similar programs, additional research on these initiatives becomes a necessity in order to make changes and improvements to benefit leadership programs and student development at Miami. Chronicling the experiences of 10 students in the CHANGE LLC over a six-month period, this study examines the effects of the different components of living, learning communities. Particularly targeting students who participate in the course EDL 306: Nature of Group Leadership, this study works to construct narratives to explore the practice of leadership at Miami and how these students interact with this conceptual structure. After discussing the theoretical basis of this study, common themes and ideas expressed by participants are identified and analyzed. Finally, this paper will make recommendations to the Office of Student Affairs and other University partners in order to help improve the experiences of students in the CHANGE community and across campus. Many of these suggestions target methods for clarification, intentional programming, and ideas to help build student buy-in. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the current programs and ways in which leadership development at Miami might be enhanced.

Committee: Richard Nault PhD (Advisor); Jennifer Buckley (Committee Member); Andrew Beckett PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2010, Leadership and Change

The context of leadership has evolved to incorporate greater social identity differences. Therefore, learning ways to navigate differences in social identity becomes important work leaders must now do. Because these differences surface in relationship with others, examining a relational framework helps us understand the nature of what happens between people (Ely & Roberts, 2008). This study explored the processes by which Black African American and White European American women enact leadership by creating and sustaining cross-race relationships as they work to change unjust systems around them. Using grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1990), a model was developed using the metaphors of "insular bubble," "protective shell," and "ecosystem" that illuminates the processes and strategies Black African American and White European American women use to create and sustain effective cross-race working relationships. The findings also generated a typology of tools, described as "nurturing the ecosystem" that each person in the relationship can use to create space in which to demonstrate positive ways of expressing social identity. These tools can be used in intrapsychic, interpersonal, and extra-relationship arenas. Focusing on race and gender as primary social identity differences, this question also took into account the systems that create patterns of domination and marginalization around those identities. Therefore, this study contributed to the leadership and change literature by illustrating the processes by which leaders can effectively incorporate a focus on social justice into their work, specifically in cross-race working relationships. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Member); Stella M. Nkomo PhD (Committee Member); Laura Morgan Roberts PhD (Other) Subjects: African Americans; Gender; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Social Psychology; Social Research; Womens Studies

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2010, Leadership and Change

On December 14, 1957, after winning the Nobel Prize for literature, Albert Camus challenged artists attending a lecture at the University of Uppsala in Sweden to create dangerously. Even though Camus never defined what he meant by his charge, throughout history, artists involved in movements of protest, resistance, and liberation have answered Camus' call. Quite often, the consequences were costly, resulting in imprisonment, censorship, torture, and death. This dissertation examines the question of what it means to create dangerously by using Camus' challenge to artists as a starting point. The study then turns its attention to two artists, Augusto Boal and Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who were detained, tortured, and imprisoned because they boldly defied the dominant power structure. Lastly, the research focuses on a group of front-line artists, the Mississippi Caravan of Music, involved in the contemporary struggle for civil rights in the United States. The individual artists and the artist group represented in the dissertation are from different parts of the globe and were involved in acts of rebellion, resistance, revolt, or revolution at varying points in history. Portraiture, a form of narrative inquiry, is the research method employed in the dissertation. The qualitative approach pioneered by Harvard scholar Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot “combines systematic, empirical description with aesthetic expression, blending art and science,humanistic sensibilities and scientific rigor” (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997, p. 3). The dissertation extrapolates concepts from the traditional literature and expands the boundaries to make room for a more integrated understanding of social change, art, and transformational leadership from the bottom up. Artists and artist groups who create dangerously is an area often overlooked in the field. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Stewart Burns PhD (Other) Subjects: Adult Education; African Americans; African History; African Literature; American History; American Studies; Black History; History; Latin American History; Literacy; Music; Sociology; Theater

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2009, Leadership and Change

Palpable Pedagogy: Expressive Arts, Leadership, and Change in Social Justice TeacherEducation is an arts-informed ethnographic study of the pedagogy and culture engendered when the expressive arts are employed in social justice teacher education. Palpable Pedagogy is a qualitative study that examines the power of the expressive arts to identify, explore, and address issues of inequity in the context of a social justice teacher education course that I taught over three consecutive years. The literature in the field outlines the essential components for effective social justice teacher education (identity, reflection, and dialogue) and neatly explores them. However, with the exception of Art teacher education, where national learning standards require that cultural diversity be explored through the arts, little has been written about the utilization and power of the arts as a pedagogical tool in general teacher education for social justice. My objective in Palpable Pedagogy is to reveal the layers of felt meaning, transformational learning, and release of the imagination (Greene, 1995) for leadership and change that my students experienced in my social justice teacher education course, “Expressive Arts, Leadership, and Change.” The arts themselves provide a splendid methodological match for research of this kind. McNiff (1998) proposes that there is no better way to study the effects of the arts than through the arts themselves. Using an aesthetic approach in my ethnographic study, I employ participant observation, field notes, photography, videography, interviews, and student art process, and product as my data, creating a text/context of the phenomenologically understood life worlds of my students. A bricolage results, with the inclusion of my justice educator/artist self-study, situating me both emicly and eticly in the life world of my students and classroom. Readers will aesthetically experience data presented in the forms of student and researcher poetry, perfor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carolyn Kenny PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Laura Shapiro PhD (Committee Member); Maxine Greene PhD (Other) Subjects: Art Education; Education; Higher Education; Multicultural Education; Teacher Education; Teaching

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2008, Leadership and Change

A new paradigm for leading social change is emerging; a worldview acknowledging the importance of leadership that is life-affirming and lasts over time. The current inquiry explored the ways in which the social reality of Life-Affirming Leadership is created and the implications those realities have for the current and future generations of social justice workers, their organizations, and the communities in which they work. The dominant paradigm for social justice work needs to be radically renovated (see Horwitz, 2002; James, 2005; Ohlson, 2006; Polansky, 2005; Utne, 2006; Wheatley, 2005; Williamson, 1997; Yahzi, 2005); as such, a re-evolution is in progress, born from the yearning for revitalization, and through the act of a conscious decision for transformation. The current study was an inquiry into the experience of social justice leaders who embody Life-Affirming Leadership in their personal and professional lives. In a general sense, this study is influenced and shaped by the inquiry approaches of Mindful Inquiry (Bentz & Shapiro, 1998), Decolonizing Inquiry (Tuhiwai Smith, 1999), and the bricolage method via Kincheloe (2001, 2005). Using the qualitative approach of hermeneutic phenomenology, a deeper understanding was gained about the experience of social justice leaders transforming the culture of social justice work. In interviews, social justice workers described the essence of Life-Affirming Leadership through their lived experiences. The interviews, in a video format, are directly accessible while reading this document and require Adobe Reader 9.0. Additional methodological expressions included an autoethnography of my own experience as an advocate and supporter of social justice workers. For those interested in learning more about Life-Affirming Leadership and the cultural transformation of social justice leadership, a blog describing my inspiration for this inquiry and insights gained are available at http://22ndcenturyleadership.blogspot.com/ This blo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carolyn Kenny PhD (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Member); Shana Hormann PhD (Committee Member); Jonathan Reams PhD (Other) Subjects: Adult Education; American Studies; Behaviorial Sciences; Business Community; Cultural Anthropology; Health; Hispanic Americans; Management; Mental Health; Native Americans; Native Studies; Occupational Psychology; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Social re

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

The racial diversity of children in US public schools continues to increase while most teachers and school leaders are White. In addition, systemic racism, whitewashing of curricula, microaggressions, and deficit mindsets persist within schools across the country. These pervasive injustices that plague the student experiences of children of the Global Majority must be addressed with focused, sustained intention. This study offers social justice school leadership as an effective strategy to dismantle oppressive approaches to schooling. Specifically, it explores how social justice-oriented school leaders set the conditions for impactful, sustained staff development in social justice practice. By employing multiple case study methodology, the experiences of leaders within two New York City public middle schools that have established commitments to culturally responsive/relevant teaching (CR/RT) will be explored. Semi-structured interviews were used to uncover how school leaders leveraged both adaptive and technical leadership to enact school-wide efforts to embed CR/RT into instructional practice. Analysis was built on an existing framework to identify specific leadership roles that best support impactful social justice professional development over time. This study seeks to understand frequently overlooked aspects of this topic by delving into mindsets and actions, acknowledging both formal and informal school leadership and how such efforts play out within multiracial staff. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive (https://aura.antioch.edu/) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Lemuel Watson EdD (Committee Chair); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Shannon R. Waite EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; School Administration; Teacher Education

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2024, Education

Beginning at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education experienced a sea change in reduced enrollment, altered course delivery models, and increased need for student support. While observing staff's actual impact on the student experience during this time, this study will address the question, “How do professional staff in small private universities a) perceive their contributions to the retention of students and b) perceive their overall value to the institutions they serve?” Owing to gaps in research on professional staff experiences, the literature review synthesizes current trends related to enrollment, retention, and persistence, focusing on small, private, non-profit 4-year institutions; discusses the disparate impact of these trends; examines the context of academic staffing trends; reviews the experiences of professional staff, focusing on critical connections between student and institution, student learning within liminal spaces, gender, and relational practice; and, examining social justice leadership in postsecondary education staffing. This qualitative study employs a constructivist grounded theory method using an initial anonymous questionnaire and interviews with volunteers for a deeper exploration of themes. The pool of nine interview participants comprises mid-level professional staff with at least three years of experience in student-supporting roles from five private universities with under 5,000 students. Potential implications relate to improving student retention practices and eliminating barriers by rethinking staff structures, resource allocation, and investment in student support areas. Further implications are related to staff role satisfaction, socially just models for professional development, and training of the next generation of professional staff. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Emiliano Gonzalez Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Douglas Judge Ph.D. (Committee Member); Cristy Sugarman Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Ethics; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Organizational Behavior

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2024, Education

This study addresses university leadership and the need to affirm diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to institute organizational change for social justice. My key research question is “What are effective ways for leaders to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion with the goal of achieving social justice?” There is much research in the areas of racial equity, Critical Race Theory, and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies, but the connection to leadership development models is new terrain. This study will add a Connective Leadership Theory framework to the lens of Critical Race Theory to analyze the potential of university leaders to enhance organizational change for diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics. The study will be explanatory mixed methods research including both Likert Scale surveys and follow-up interviews. The implication of this research is to create a template for university administrators and employees on how to use diversity, equity, and inclusion measures to work toward organizational change and social justice. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Emiliano Gonzalez Ph.D. (Committee Chair); John Scott Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gary Delanoye Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

This dissertation connects the recent DEIB movement within organizations to larger social justice movements, specifically those that impact workers and the workplace. Critical human resource development (CHRD) professionals, who serve as “insider activists”, are highlighted due to their work to continue movement objectives within organizations. Through testimonios and critical platicas, this study explores how Black and Latino/x LGBTQ+ CHRD professionals, in particular, are experiencing the workplace, especially as it relates to their engagement with how DEIB is practiced within organizations. Through this study, these professionals provide insights into the ways that workplaces can be redesigned and reimagined to be more critically conscious and equitable spaces, especially for those from marginalized backgrounds. Their reflections can work to enhance the ways that DEIB is practiced within organizations. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Chair); Lemuel Watson EdD (Committee Member); Kia Darling-Hammond PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black Studies; Ethnic Studies; Gender Studies; Glbt Studies; Hispanic American Studies; Hispanic Americans; Management; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

Organizations including institutions of higher education recognize the importance of increasing gender diversity, equity, and inclusion in leadership ranks among women, especially if they want to be top competitors in their industries. Gender diversity increases collaboration, innovation, varied perspectives, increased staff retention and buy-in for new employees determining if they want to work for an organization in question, and a more comprehensive talent pool (People Management, 2021). Previous strategies used to increase gender diversity in leadership have included providing professional development or mentorship opportunities for all women; however, these strategies fail to take into account an intersectional lens and the various ways in which non-white women are affected by discrimination and inequity. “White women have it both ways, they may be may victimized by sexism, but racism enables them to act as exploiters to Black people” (bell hooks,1984 as cited in Kilpatrick, 2020, para. 2). Race and gender in particular create additional barriers to Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) and their advancement. “White female racism undermines the feminist struggle (bell hooks, 1984 as cited in Kilpatrick, 2020, para. 2)”, further alienating or distancing BIWOC in organizations. Given the additional barriers BIWOC confront, what can organizations and institutions of higher education do to further support opportunities for advancement, that may thereby increase their sense of trust, belonging, and organizational commitment? This Critical Hermeneutic Phenomenological Action Research study explored the lived experiences of current and former Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) higher education leaders, defined as director and above, and their perceptions of and access to opportunities that support positional advancement, including formal or informal mentorship and sponsorship. The frameworks used to inform the study include Critical/Critical Ra (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Meredith Wronowski Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lisa Borello Ph.D. (Committee Member); Leslie Picca Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Black History; Education; Educational Leadership; Gender; Management; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Religion; Religious History; Systematic; Womens Studies

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2022, Educational Leadership

Asking the question, “Am I racist?” is a hard thought to process, one that can even be offensive to some, unthinkable to others. However, considering recent events like the #SayHerName movement and other demonstrations that bring racial justice and implicit bias to center stage again, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was shared with the nation, educators find themselves asking, “What more can we do?” This research is about finding the answer to the question how do we identify and change our own implicit bias as educators, how can we use this knowledge to improve education today and, in the end, make us all more comfortable? Using a participatory action research model, 15 educators and one researcher set out to find ways to work together to tackle this topic in ways that can be reproducible for the next set of courageous role models. Using surveys, focus group discussions, case study scenarios, and exit tickets, ideas of how to incorporate bias training for teachers and teachable moments for students were discovered. Combining ethnographies, transformative leadership, critical race theory, implicit bias, social justice theory, and a willingness to change, this research shows one way that the status quo can be altered. By setting up small focus groups, trustworthy dialogues were able to occur and common themes such as childhood experiences, workplace experiences, classroom trust, and fear emerged from the conversations, leading to pathways that can be recreated by others.

Committee: Joel Malin (Committee Co-Chair); Sherrill Sellers (Committee Member); Lucian Szlizewski (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Teacher Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

This dissertation used interpretive case study methodology focused on the story of rebuilding the national education system of Afghanistan destroyed by decades of conflict. The study documents the challenges and progress in preparing adequate and qualified teachers for the nation. The dissertation is based on critical analysis of available documents tracing events, policies, and programs. The research asks: What are the critical leadership strategies and organizational frameworks that promote or impede institutional change? What are the barriers to change in teacher education in a conservative Islamic society? The dissertation is unique in that this story of educational intervention in a small war-torn, socially fragmented, and politically fractured nation is documented by a participant observer who is both of the nation and from the nation. The study records the steps and missteps of the changes and leadership processes implemented by both international donor-advisors and national leaders to restore education to Afghanistan in a critical contemporary time. The story encompasses many aspects of education in Afghanistan, past and present, including urgent efforts to fulfill the promise of the new Constitution for universal nondiscriminatory and free education for all, not only of a population in residence but of the masses returning from exile expecting schools for their children. The central core of the dissertation is a focus on the national effort to recruit and train teachers, competent in subject knowledge and teaching methods. A basic and recurring theme is the education of girls and women and their role in this society. Although gender equity is a priority theme through the dissertation, the central message of the dissertation is the evolution of teacher training. This story is framed against the larger picture of historical traditions, the disruptions of conflict, and recent overall national education reconstruction, expansion, and reform. The record of cult (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Edna Mitchell PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Teacher Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

The intent of this qualitative critical incident study was to explore the interpretation of equity by White equity-trained suburban educators (WETSE) and minoritized parents (MP) in a Midwestern suburban school district to address and change inequitable student outcomes. WETSE and MP participated independently in focus groups. The research design used critical incident technique (CIT) as the methodology; focus groups as the data collection tool; and thematic analysis (TA) as the analytical tool. Zones of Mediation (ZONE) and Transformative Leadership Theory (TLT) were used to distill and categorize the research findings. WETSE and MP established an agreement on four themes thought to represent impediments to achieving equity in schools (implicit bias, White privilege, diversity, and power). Two divergent themes (WETSE—deficit thinking and MP—stereotyping) and one emergent theme (Equity Training) were generated. The singular stand-alone theme, assimilation, was a complete outlier, and it was generated by MP. All themes were categorized as “normative” or “political” elements of ZONE, demonstrating that technical changes are disconnected from WETSE and MP equity perspectives. Transformative leadership theory (TLT) is composed of eight tenets. WETSE and MP prioritized two of the eight tenets as essential to achieving equity. These findings indicate that changing mindsets (tenet #2) and redistributing power in more equitable ways (tenet #3) are central to achieving equitable school conditions. This study contributes to existing, albeit minimal, literature detailing longitudinal equity training's effectiveness at deconstructing beliefs and ideologies of White equity-trained suburban teachers and comparing them to minoritized parents' interpretation of equity using critical incidents. There is a disconnect between this study's findings and what researchers and practitioners are doing to achieve equitable school outcomes. This dissertation is available in open access at AUR (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donna Ladkin Ph.D (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre Ph.D (Committee Member); Carolyn M. Shields Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Education History; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

This dissertation examines the experiences of five civil rights-era rabbis (William Silverman, Randall Falk, Alfred Goodman, Irving Bloom, and Burton Padoll) to highlight their contributions, leadership approaches, struggles, and achievements with a particular emphasis on social justice. As each of the rabbis drew from their understanding of the richness of the Jewish textual canon, the study includes a survey of Biblical, Talmudic, and contemporary Jewish sources that laid the groundwork for their rabbinic activism and which compel rabbis today. The study dramatically highlights those texts as providing applicable strategies with regard to leading a congregation with a “prophetic” voice, knowing when to speak out, and how to do so, strategies that inspired—and inspire—rabbis to engage in work intended to make their communities more just and equitable. Each of the five rabbis featured in the dissertation produced vast amounts of correspondence, sermonic materials, and other writings, making archival research a particularly useful methodology to explore the volumes of primary sources and provide insight into the individual and collective experiences of these rabbis. Particular attention is further paid to context as a means of highlighting and distinguishing the choices that these rabbis made as leaders of and within their communities. The dissertation contributes to the leadership legacy of these rabbis by contributing new and relevant materials to scholarship around the civil rights movement, the American Jewish experience, and the intersection of the two. Four contemporary leadership theories are highlighted through their experiences (Transformational Leadership Theory, Servant Leadership Theory, Relational Leadership Theory, and Courageous Leadership Theory), which, in turn, makes current scholarship in the field of leadership and change accessible to clergy. Additional theories of leadership are also explored through these exemplars, as is the introduction of a (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: S. Aqeel Tirmizi Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Donna Ladkin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rabbi Samuel Joseph Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clergy; History; Judaic Studies