Facilitating the Growth of Equity-Centered Leaders in a University/District Partnership Program

• In Event: Leadership Preparation, Change, and Organizational Conditions

Abstract

Little is known about the mechanisms and approaches utilized to facilitate the development and growth of aspiring equity-centered leaders during leadership preparation programs. To address this gap, we conducted interviews, examined student work, and analyzed pre- and post-assessments to understand the knowledge, practices, and dispositions that aspiring leaders obtained during the program, as well as the learning experiences that facilitated student growth and their areas still in need of growth. We found that aspiring leaders learned to build stakeholder relationships, enact shared leadership, leverage data, and disrupt inequities, with this learning being facilitated by students’ course-based learning experiences, their summer internships, and their leadership of equity visits, among other program requirements. Students requested more learning in having difficult conversations.

Authors

• Rebecca Ann Thessin, The George Washington University

• Jennifer K. Clayton, The George Washington University

• Shaun D Shepard, The George Washington University

• Abebayehu Aemero Tekleselassie, The George Washington University

• Leslie Trimmer, The George Washington University