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learning Community

Programs of study in Leadership, Policy and Administration lead to the master of arts degree, the education specialist degree and the doctorate in educational leadership. These programs are designed to prepare qualified persons for leadership, management, and administrative roles in schools, community, corporate, and public agencies or in any organization whose goal is to promote lifelong learning and development.

The course of studies in each of the degree programs challenges students to:

• Sharpen critical thinking about the theory and practice of leadership and administration in schools and other educational setting

• Improve skills of communication, decision making, collaboration, evaluation and research.

• Examine ways to provide quality education that is sensitive to race, ethnicity, gender, social class and special needs of learners.

• Strengthen understandings and applications of learning theory, curriculum development and instructional strategies basic to providing maximum educational opportunities for all learners.

• Develop supervisory, financial, legal, political, public relations and other specialized skills needed to lead and administer a school, program or agency.

• Deepen commitment to ethics rooted in the values of a democratic and pluralistic society.

Core Assumptions

In our degree programs (Master of Arts, Education specialist, and Education Doctorate) and other efforts to assist educational leaders in clarifying their own rationale for practice and in developing a strong foundation in leadership, we are challenged by our assumptions that:

• Fostering lifelong learning and exploring and celebrating our differences are enduring commitments.
• Understanding our pluralism and interdependence constitutes a central challenge for our times and require from us deliberate action.
• Furthering the belief that educational leadership is an intellectual and moral practice grounds our teaching, research, and service.
• Learning is best facilitated under the following conditions:
  
  
  • When a diversity of perspectives, disciplines, voices and expressive modes is present and highly valued.
  • When it fosters an awareness of connections and interdependence.
  • When the interplay between theory, practice, and research assists students in a reflective, critical exploration and understanding of educational practice.
  • When open discussion and respectful, critical conversation together are an important foundation for promoting intellectual and moral growth, questioning conventional wisdom, and strengthening affiliations between learners.
  • When invitation, hospitality, generosity, and caring are emphasized and learning is celebrated within a community of inquirers.