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Running head: Transformative learning curriculum
Transformative learning curriculum for the development of teacher leaders:
The role of critical reflection in creating a leadership identity
Excerpts from a paper presented by
Michelle Collay
Associate Professor
Department of Educational Leadership
CSU East Bay, Hayward CA
e-mail:
v: 510.967.2934
At the AERA Special Interest Group
Research on Women and Education
2008-11-02
Washington, D.C.
Abstract
This article describes a transformative graduate curriculum that explicitly addresses leadership development of teachers. Transformational learning theory informs the curriculum design which is constructivist, emphasizes dialogue and narrative, and is grounded in leading for social justice. Participants, particularly women of color, benefited from structured critical reflection about their own experiences as often-marginalized students. Use of critical reflections about leading for equity guided teachers to connect their individual experiences with institutionalized patterns race, gender, and language exclusion. Individual critical reflections demonstrate the power of linking past personal experiences with present leadership practice.This study illuminates the role of critical reflection in creating and strengthening leadership identity.
The face of school leadership in urban areas is more and more frequently a woman of color. This emerging class of leaders joins a profession that has often marginalized them from their earliest years in school. Lacking complete acceptance as students and with few contemporary role models during their schooling, women of color are served in important ways by a leadership curriculum that is both informational and transformational (Kegan, 2000). Brooks (2000) described the importance of transformational learning for women, who “may not experience transformational learning as the existing theories suggest” (p. 139) and defines transformational learning as“lead[ing] to some type of fundamental change in the learners’ sense of themselves, their worldviews, their understanding of their pasts, and their orientation to the future” (p. 140). The article describes the key assignments that support critical reflection about such transformation. The text in these proceedings are from “Steppingstones.”
Theoretical framework
This teacher leadership programreflects tenets of adult learning pedagogy, specifically “transformational learning” (Baxter-Magolda, 1998; Brooks, 2000; Cranton, 2005; Kegan, 2000). Within the larger pedagogy there is a deliberate focus on critical reflection (Brown, 2004).The reflections are framed within program standards designed to support the development of “bold, socially responsible leaders” (Szabo, et al. 2002) and individual written reflections on program standards are a regular part of the principal preparation program. Teacher leaders come to the program familiar with its reputation and eager to engage in the work of leading for equity.
Research Method
This is a descriptive piece, containing an overview of assignments analyzing the elements that make them transformative and constructivist. All student responses from 2 cohorts were evaluated through the lens of critical reflection on leadership. Responses from one representative studentwere chosen to demonstrate the quality of critical reflections generated by the cohort.The complete assignments include Steppingstones, Equity Plan, End of Year One Reflections, Gatekeeping Inquiry, and End of Year Two Reflections. Excerpts from Andrea’s reflections about her Steppingstones (turning points in her educational career) follow.
1) How did your cultural knowledge support you or limit your ability to make sense of what happened?
I would have to say the experience with my second grade teacher had the most profound impact on my life and career as an educator. As a young child, it was difficult for me to understand the influence her criticism would have on my language development in Spanish. Although I am fluent in Spanish language, I would probably be more fluent if this teacher had not made my mother feel that speaking her native tongue to me would limit me as a student. I noticed how shameful my mother and I became about speaking Spanish in public. I was frightened by my teacher and would rarely speak in class at all. I wanted to so much to be White and a fluent English speaker. I began denying myself and was so embarrassed by my parents if they spoke to one another in public. I did not understand that the teacher was wrong for what she said. My mother had allowed her to intimidate her and when I grew older and realized what had happened, I was resentful of my teacher and sometimes my mother for listening to her.
2) How did your experience shape your own beliefs about teaching and learning?
Having experienced this made me a much more sensitive teacher. I can relate to the second language, female immigrant child who hopes her teacher will be welcoming and kind. Working in [district] as a bilingual educator is wonderful and yet challenging occupation. Because of all the criticism bilingual teachers receive by those against Bilingual Instruction, I have had to learn to defend and advocate for those parents who are unaware of their rights. They need to be encouraged rather than condemned for wanting their children to maintain their native tongue while acquiring another language. I am very passionate about bilingual education and see it as a privilege to be able to offer my experience and knowledge of the language to students.
3)How did that experience or other experiences influence your decision to become a leader for equity?
Although there has been some progress made in education, unjust experiences such as mine are happening behind closed doors everyday. There are no checks and balances to assure students receive an equitable and education in a safe and culturally sensitive environment. Therefore, there is much work to be done. Many district leaders fail to ask important questions and discuss issues of racism and discrimination that our students and their families experience every day. I have been a part of the Equity Task Force for the district for the past two years and have had many courageous conversations about topics that I thought I would never have the opportunity to address as a teacher. Making the decision to become a part of the Master’s Program seemed like the next step in my career. I hope to have even more brave conversations about the injustice in education. Whether I become an administrator is uncertain, but what I hope the experience in this master’s program offers me are the tools necessary to become a better leader in the classroom.
Andrea was courageous in her “deep examination of personal assumptions, values, and beliefs,” linking her own life challenges to her now focused and deliberate decisions as a leader. Leadership development is a lifelong endeavor that commences in childhood and youth, and occurs in social contexts that are influenced by race, gender, class, home language and culture. School leaders who have thoroughly examined the roots of their practice are powerfully positioned to disrupt inequity and effect change in communities that most need their hard won vision of what schooling can be for the next generation.
References (Bibliography)
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Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2004). Evolution of a constructivist conceptualization of epistemological reflection. Educational Psychologist, 39(1), 31-42.
Brookfield, S. (1995) Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Brooks, A.K. (2000). Transformation. In Hayes, E. & Flannery, D. (Eds.), Women as learners: The significance of gender in adult learning (pp. 139-154). San Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass.
Brown, K. (2004) Leadership for social justice and equity: Weaving a transformative framework and pedagogy. Educational Administration Quarterly. 40(1), 79-110.
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Cranton, P. (2005) Understanding and Promoting Transformative Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Kegan, R. (2000). What form transforms: A constructive-developmental approach to transformative learning. In Mezirow & Associates (Eds.), Learning as transformation. (pp. 35-69). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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Szabo, M., Gonzales, S., Hoagland, G., Hopkins, P., Kass, M., Lopez, J. Rodriguez, G., & Storms, B. (2002) Teaching Bold, Socially Responsible Leadership. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association.