Education Commons^™

Meet The New Boss: An Honors Faculty Member Weathers Administrative Change, Annamarie Guzy

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The author reflects on the role of honors faculty in effectively responding to short- and long-term administrative change, discussing the value of resistance to deleterious administrative decisions and offering advice for successfully navigating cyclical administrative shifts in honors.

“It Is What You Make It”: Opportunities Arising From The Unique Roles Of Honors College Deans, Jeff Chamberlain, Thomas M. Spencer, Jefford Vahlbusch

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Grounded in the shared experiences of three current honors college deans and in comprehensive interviews with another two dozen honors deans at diverse institutions of higher education across the U.S., this chapter argues that the uniqueness of honors college dean roles and work can—and indeed should—lead to innovative and transformative change and improved student experiences, outcomes, and success, not only in honors colleges and within the scope of honors education, but across entire institutions. Ultimately the chapter contends that, while there can be manifold frustrations in running an honors college, the position of honors dean is one of the best …

From The Top Down: Implications Of Honors College Deans’ Race And Gender, Malin Pereira, Jacqueline Smith-Mason, Karoline Summerville, Scott Linneman

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Most honors college deans are White males, yet most students enrolled in honors colleges are women; more often than not, there is glaring underrepresentation of diverse races and ethnicities among student populations in honors colleges. Considering these data, the authors ask whether honors colleges perpetuate the “Oxford College Don” model of White male privilege and power. Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and other students of color often look at the leaders of honors colleges and rarely see themselves, and White honors students lack the opportunity to see diverse leadership models. This chapter explains how and why faculty of color and women face …

The Role Of The Honors College Dean In The Future Of Honors Education, Peter Parolin, Timothy J. Nichols, Donal C. Skinner, Rebecca C. Bott-Knutson

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

In this chapter, four honors deans reflect on the unique aspects of the honors dean's role. The authors argue that by being responsive to the challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities they face daily, honors deans can enable honors to deliver on its promises to students and to serve the whole university community. Attentive to changing dynamics in honors education nationwide, the authors address how deans must confront myths about honors that bear the legacy of past realities while actively tending to justice in the admissions process, to recruiting and serving diverse populations, and to supporting an honors environment that addresses the …

Cultural Proficiency: The Necessary Link To Family Engagement, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Although family engagement is crucial to student and community outcomes, schools often alienate families who are not part of the dominant culture. As a result, school leaders need to become culturally proficient to systematically engage all families equitably regardless of their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and other cultural identifiers. This teaching case study raises issues related to cultural proficiency and family engagement. To help current and future educational leaders foster family engagement, I provide a cultural proficiency for family and community engagement framework. I also pose questions designed to trigger conversations and find practical solutions related to equitable family engagement.

Using A Culturally Proficient Leadership Lens To Effectively Serve Refugee Students, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This teaching case study takes place in an American middle school and tells the story of Dorah, a refugee student from the Republic of Congo who experienced severe trauma. At Lincoln Middle School, the principal and her teachers encounter difficulties serving their refugee students adequately because of their lack of cultural proficiency. This case aims to help leaders in diverse contexts understand how to embrace and advocate for different cultures, beliefs, and norms to increase the cultural wealth of their communities. To achieve this goal, I provide a cultural proficiency model and a trauma-invested framework.

The Use Of Culturally Proficient Professional Development To Enhance Learning Transfer, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The National Staff Development Council recommends that principals devote 10% of the school budget and 25% of teacher time to professional development (PD). While PD requires time, it is crucial that the time be organized, carefully structured, and purposefully led to avoid the waste of human and financial resources. Despite the millions of dollars spent on professional development nationally, student learning outcomes continue to stagnate or dwindle, discipline issues continue to skyrocket, and teacher moral plummets. This may be due, in part, to leaders paying little attention to learning transfer. Culture plays a key role in one’s ability to learn …

Changing Cultural Norms Through Educational Leadership: Voices From Ghanaian Women Principals, Corinne Brion, A. Ampah-Mensah

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this phenomenology study was to understand the experiences of women principals located in Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) district of the Central Region of Ghana, a patriarchal and traditional society. Specifically, this study examined how cultural factors positively or negatively influenced women access to the principal role and influenced their leadership experiences. Using Hofstede et al.’s (2010) six dimensions of national culture as a conceptual framework, this study elucidates the experiences of 12 women school leaders. Findings revealed that these women navigated cultural norms and beliefs in order to exercise their own leadership style and pursue their …

Trauma-Informed Leadership, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

According to recent data, over 34 million students have experienced at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma. As a result, current and prospective school leaders urgently need to develop trauma-driven skills and abilities in order to create safe schools for all students and raise academic outcomes. This teaching case study raises issues related to trauma experienced among students and its impact on students and school improvement. The author discusses one case in a fictitious district that is representative of the kind of traumas many other American schools face. I also provide additional resources for practitioners.

Principals' Perspectives Of Mindfulness For Leadership And Equity, Corinne Brion, Gina L. Gullo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Purpose: The current study sought to explore principals’ perspectives of definitions and uses of mindfulness in their leadership and equity practices.

Design: The primary researcher observed and interviewed eleven school principals using qualitative methods during the course of this study.

Findings: Four themes developed from principals’ definitions of mindfulness: (1) awareness and attention, (2) present centeredness, (3) modeling listening and respect, and (4) decision-making processes. The principals’ actions also presented ethical mindedness in their equity pursuits and reflection in their general leadership practices, despite establishing the presence of a stigma around mindfulness.

Research limitations/implications: Beyond the limitations of qualitative …

Cultural Proficiency: The Missing Link To Student Learning, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This case illustrates why school leaders must be culturally proficient to serve all students and lead effectively. I discuss one case in Ohio that is representative of many other American schools. In particular, I examine the cultural challenges educational leaders must commonly face. This case encourages administrators to participate in meaningful conversations with stakeholders to solve complex issues. The hope is to better understand how school leaders in diverse contexts can lead and embrace different cultures, beliefs, and norms. I also pose questions designed to prepare educational leaders for similar situations where they must address issues of culture.

A Motivated Workforce: A Mixed Methods Study Of Worker Motivation At A Nebraska Manufacturing Company, Kevin Wesley

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The study of worker motivation and human motivation in general, has been the focus of psychologists, sociologists, behavioral scientists, and leadership theorists for more than a century. An understanding of the factors that motivate workers is critical not only to corporate executives who concentrate on the bottom line, but more importantly to the security of our nation as it relates to competing in the global market. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to examine worker motivation in a Nebraska manufacturing company. A pragmatist worldview informs the convergent parallel design of this study, which consists of a qualitative strand using …

The University As A Gendered Organization: Effects On Management Type, Climate And Job Satisfaction, Margaret E. Crowder

Dissertations

Numbers of women holding faculty positions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain low in university systems, despite gains women have made in achievement of advanced degrees. No one reason is clearly the culprit for the low numbers, though women in STEM have been shown to have more negative perceptions of climate, be more dissatisfied with their jobs, and have greater inclination to leave their positions than men.

As males comprise a majority of STEM employees, the masculine-genderedness of these organizations may create a more dissatisfactory work environment for women. This may, in turn, have negative impact on the …

Success And Failure In The College Presidency, Stephen Nelson

Secondary Education and Professional Programs Faculty Publications

The author presents his observations on the state of college presidency in the U.S. He mentions several successful college presidents including Carleton College’s Rob Oden, New York University’s John Sexton and University of Pennsylvania’s Judith Rodin. He discusses the failure of Duke University’s president Richard Brodhead in handling the lacrosse team fiasco. He cites the need for presidents to become true leaders of faculty colleagues.

The College Presidency: An Interview With Stephen J. Nelson, Stephen Nelson

Secondary Education and Professional Programs Faculty Publications

College presidents continue to fill prominent critical roles in colleges and universities and society. Thus an examination of the reasons for their success and failure is vital. Four major criteria are presented as a baseline for fair judgments of presidents and their leadership. Current trends in the presidency and presidential selection are explored and presented in order to increase understanding about how presidents can best "fit" the demands of these important leadership posts.

The Crucible Of Crisis: Three Presidents Confront The Perfect Storm, Stephen Nelson

Secondary Education and Professional Programs Faculty Publications

This article, based on interviews with the presidents of Dillard and Xavier Universities and Tougaloo College, examines their leadership in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The ways they led their communities reveal both points of commonality and discrete leadership styles and approaches.

Internal Journeys Of College Presidents: Diary Reflections About Leadership And Values, Stephen Nelson

Secondary Education and Professional Programs Faculty Publications

The ideas and thoughts of college and university presidents are most frequently and primarily known through their public roles and rhetoric. Over the past few years nearly three dozen college and university presidents have written diaries for public view as part of the Journal of College and Character. These presidential reflections provide a unique and rare opportunity to gain a behind-the-scenes view of the contemporary presidency, and of the leadership and values of presidents. This article is based on research of the words and impressions of these presidents in these public diaries. Using the perspectives revealed by the presidents, the …