Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2023, Educational Leadership

This study examines the professional experiences of three teachers in a national network of urban, low-income serving, Catholic high schools. These teacher-participants were chosen to participate in this study because they engaged in experiential, community-based pedagogy within this national network and exemplified a commitment to social justice through their teaching practice. As detailed in Chapter One, such teaching practice resembles critical pedagogy and aligns with best practice in quality civic education. Therefore, by examining the experiences of critical educators, this study aimed to illuminate ways we can enhance civic learning for K-12 students by enhancing support for and removing the barriers to critical educators' distinct pedagogical practice. This is particularly important for Students of Color, who have faced historical exclusion from formal and informal modes of civic learning (Campbell, 2012; Lo, 2019). Critical theory (Freire, 1970/1993; Giroux, 2003; Horkheimer, 1972[1992]) and social reproduction theory (Bourdieu, 2016; Bowles & Gintis, 2016) were used to frame this study, which employed qualitative portraiture methodology (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997) to answer two key research questions. The first question— Why do teachers in this Network engage in experiential, community-based pedagogy? —drew attention to the internal and external factors impacting my participants' practice. This set up inquiry into the second key research question: How do these educators exhibit civic and/or critical consciousness about and through their work? Findings from this study revealed that both internal and external factors contributed to the choice teacher-participants made to engage in experiential, community-based pedagogy. Professional ecology, consisting of local school and corporate cultures, were particularly influential on these teachers. That ecology functioned in distinct ways at each study site to both aid and obstruct the critical teaching (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Érica Fernández (Committee Chair); Kathleen Knight Abowitz (Committee Member); Thomas Misco (Committee Member); Lisa Weems (Committee Member); Veronica Barrios (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Mathematics Education; Religious Education; Secondary Education; Social Studies Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2017, College of Education and Human Services

The purpose of this historical case study was to explore, through the lens of knowledge transfer, answers to the following two questions: how did the Sister-educators from one community in Northeast Ohio prepare themselves for leadership, and when it became clear that the future of their urban school depended on transitioning to lay leadership, how did Sister-principals prepare their religious communities and their school communities for that change. This qualitative study focuses on six members of one active, engaged, service-based community which has supported schools Northeast Ohio for over a century. The research revealed that a successful Sister-to-laity leadership transition will have its foundation in charismatic love, encourage faith-filled mentoring of faculty and students, honor the mission of the founding community, and support an overarching leadership culture of magnanimity to all stakeholders. This model can be employed in other educational and nonprofit settings where non-hierarchical servant leadership would be an effective approach.

Committee: Marius Boboc Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Catherine Hansman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Lehfeldt Ph.D (Committee Member); Adam Voight Ph.D (Committee Member); Matt Jackson-McCabe Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education History; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; School Administration; Teaching

PHD, Kent State University, 2009, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services

This foundational study was designed to track the decline of urban Catholic parochial elementary schools in the former steel-production center of Youngstown, Ohio — a situation that I examine from historical, sociological, and philosophical perspectives. While my study employs standard historical research methods, it also features a strong theoretical dimension that draws on literature pertaining to American Catholic identity. The study will argue that Catholic disunity — a product of both sociological trends and religious reforms — played a significant role in the decline of urban parish schools. While the fragmentation of U.S. Catholic identity has often been addressed in general studies of American Catholicism, it has been discussed less frequently in research concerning the decline of one of the Catholic community's most iconic institutions: the urban parochial school. Hence, this study of Youngstown's parochial schools draws upon two distinct bodies of literature — dealing with American Catholic identity and American Catholic education, respectively — in an effort to identify and interpret factors contributing to the decline of a once robust system of parochial education.

Committee: Natasha Levinson PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Averil McClelland PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Joanne Dowdy PhD (Committee Member); Paul McBride PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; American History; Education; Education History; Educational Sociology; Elementary Education; History; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Religious History