Creating Shared Leadership Values: A New Take on University-District Partnerships

• In Event: Stronger Together: Partnerships for Educational Leadership Preparation

Abstract

Preparing effective principals is imperative for student success. In designing programs that support the development of equity-driven leaders, universities can bridge the gap between theory and practice by engaging district partners. Researchers agree that such partnerships are valuable in improving the design of curriculum, providing quality fieldwork experiences, and recruiting appropriate candidates; however, the literature has not addressed how university-district partnerships might be used as a tool for defining shared institutional values and context-specific dispositional expectations. In this study, the researcher uses a design-based research paradigm to investigate how co-creating leadership expectations, particularly as they pertain to equity-driven leadership, may help to build stronger ties between the university and district partners and prepare aspiring leaders to better address equity-based challenges.

Author

• Ann E. Blankenship Knox, University of Redlands