General Description Linking to Conference Theme and UCER Social Justice Network

The 2016 UCER theme recognizes the ever present force of “short-term and performance oriented of accountability and tendencies of privatization and commercialization in educational research” that in many countries, has become the dominant political landscape of educational leadership programs.  In her recent book, Moller concurs, “Norway as in many other countries, school headmasters are increasingly experiencing a work environment in which benchmarking and test scores take centre stage” (Mueller & Stransky, 2013, p. 68).  In traditional educator preparation programs students engage in coursework on an individual basis through a milieu of prescribed classes to prepare them for an array of educational leadership roles focused on accountability measures such as standardized testing, improving rigor, and closing achievement gaps of student sub-populations.  This one sided emphasis often detracts from the training of future educational leaders to engage in pedagogical practices incorporating the critique of social, cultural, and political dynamics of educational systems.  Hargreaves argues in his book, The Fourth Way that we “must reconceptualize the fundamental nature of teaching and learning itself, and not just the mechanisms for delivering it” (Hargreaves & Shirley, 2009, p. 85).

As researchers we are called to examine such issues from multiple lenses to unearth the complex nature and interplay of these dynamics to contribute to the good of all learners and leaders. The topic of interest of this study is to explore how the unique pedagogical practice of engaging in a two year autoethnography process from an individual and collective manner served as a primary pedagogy for ongoing leadership transformation focused on social justice.  It views transformation as a process by which the individual is able to internalize how their cultural identity shapes pedagogical practice and through critical reflection we become aware of the cognitive dissonance between beliefs and socially just educational practices.  This differs from traditional pedagogy in that it moves beyond evaluating the effectiveness of specific teaching skills and directs educators to grapple with how this tension, when unrecognized, can contribute to social injustice and an adherence to uniformity over diversity. 

Objective and Research Questions

The objective of this study is to explore the perceptions of Educational Leadership graduate students as related to their unique pedagogical experience in a social justice transformational cohort model.  The research questions guiding the study include:

1.  Do students perceive specific differences between traditional and transformative cohort   models? 
2.  Do students experience different types of transformation?
3. Do students identify experiences, situations, or influences that contribute to transformation?
4. How do transformations influence pedagogical practices, decisions, and/or leadership skills?
5. Upon completion of graduate school, how enduring are perceived transformations?

Theoretical Framework

This study is grounded in Transformative Learning theory that asserts adult learners are “empathetic and open to other perspectives; are willing to listen and to search for common ground or a synthesis of different points of view; and can make a tentative best judgment to guide actions” (Meizrow, 1997, p. 10). This research is unique in that it examines the longevity of the ethnographic experience related to ongoing professional practices where an individual's cultural lens plays a critical role in professional pedagogy.   In studying ethnographies of graduate student practitioners, Hughes (2008) asserts that the autoethnographic process can "inculcate and model by breathing self-critical attitudes, offering self-disclosure in teaching and learning" that serves to check "inequity and oppression in our classrooms (2008, p. 127).  As thoroughly documented by Valenzuela (1999) and Friere (1970) education plays a crucial role in encouraging or excluding cultural identify as part of the learning process.  Thus, it is imperative educators follow sound methods of illuminating cultural identity that highlights resulting professional behaviors.  

References Freire, Paulo. (2000). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing. Hargreaves, A. & Shirley, D. (2009). The fourth way. Thousand Oaks: California: Sage. Hughes, S. (2008). Toward “good enough methods” for autoethnography in graduate education course. Educational Studies. 43(2) 125-143. Meizrow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 1997(74) 5-12. Moller, J. & Skedsmo, G. (2013). Transnational influences on values and practices in Nordic Educational Leadership. Copenhagen, Denmark: Springer. Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive Schooling: U.S. – Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany: State University of New York Press.