Education Commons^™

Exemplary Middle School Principals Leading Through Conversation, John Ashby

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe the behaviors that exemplary middle school principals practice to lead their organization through conversations using Groysberg and Slind’s (2012) four elements of conversational leadership: intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative study described the lived experiences of exemplary middle school principals in Orange County, California. The researcher was part of a thematic research team of 12 peer researchers and 4 faculty advisors. Through purposeful sampling, the researcher selected 10 exemplary middle school principals who met at least 4 of 6 criteria identifying someone as exemplary. Data collection …

Is Diversity Enough? Exploring Intergroup Friendships In Italian Multiethnic Schools, Cinzia Pica-Smith, Rina Manuela Contini, Bob Ives

Human Services and Rehabilitation Studies Department Faculty Works

Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural-linguistic practices interact daily. Thus, these spaces provide fertile ground for a continuum of relational experiences from positive intergroup relationships and friendships to tensions and experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Research has demonstrated that diverse spaces can be ideal for positive intergroup contact, intergroup dialogue and the formation of intergroup friendship, which have been associated with prejudice reduction and a decrease in intergroup anxiety. Employing a theoretical framework based on intergroup contact theory (Allport, 1954) and research on intergroup friendships, (Pettigrew & …