Courageous Conversations: Transformational Leadership through Empathy

Format

Workshop

First Presenter's Institution

Dalton State College

First Presenter’s Email Address

acribbs@daltonstate.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Before becoming a teacher educator, Dr. Cribbs worked for 20 years as an elementary educator in Georgia’s Title I schools. Her approach to teacher training is shaped by her experiences teaching in both urban and rural systems. She works with early childhood and secondary teacher candidates at Dalton State College, Georgia's only Hispanic-Serving Institution and home to many first-generation college students with rural upbringing.

Second Presenter's Institution

Dalton State College

Second Presenter’s Email Address

mcoffey2@daltonstate.edu

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Marie is a NOYCE scholar and Math major studying for secondary education certification at Dalton State College. Her K-12 years were spent in both diverse and homogeneous school settings in Georgia and Tennessee.

Third Presenter's Institution

Dalton State College

Third Presenter’s Email Address

emcentyre1@daltonstate.edu

Third Presenter's Brief Biography

Riley is a sophomore at Dalton State College and begins the teacher preparation program in Spring 2022. She grew up and attended public school in a relatively homogeneous system in rural Georgia.

Location

Session One Breakouts

Strand #1

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Strand #2

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Relevance

This presentation is designed for leaders of diverse and at-risk students as they navigate high stakes conversations about inequity and privilege. In order to reduce achievement gaps, all stakeholders must understand and accept the forces that contribute to these gaps. This presentation is focused on increasing academic achievement by building teacher buy-in.

Brief Program Description

Are you looking to inspire academic transformation? Hear from a teacher educator and her undergraduate students about building teacher buy-in and increasing advocacy for at-risk and diverse learners. Attendees will leave with resources and strategies for diversity training, leadership and professional development.

Summary

In-service public school educators in the United States come from a wide range of backgrounds. Some have an authentic understanding of the lives of at-risk learners, while others have limited exposure to forces that shape their students’ lives. In order to close achievement gaps, leaders must recognize these gaps in teacher experience. Educators come from urban, rural, and suburban upbringing, practice various religious beliefs and hold a range of political ideals, which influences the processing of content related to diversity, inequity, and inclusive instruction. Bandura (1986) explains how individuals learn by example. Administrators must model the same type of inclusive pedagogy they ask of teachers. Issaj (2018) suggests that the tone of leadership and professional development must be informed with emotional intelligence to become transformational.

This presentation is the story of what works in diversity training. The researcher examined the shared experiences of 49 undergraduate students across three sections of a state-mandated diversity course for future K-12 educators at a small public college in the rural south during the spring and summer of 2021. Data were collected via course reflection assignment submissions, course evaluations, researcher reflections, and student surveys. Through coding, the researcher isolated student-identified characteristics that contributed to transformational learning.

The instructor of record will lead the presentation with an explanation of the basis of the course in emotional intelligence and empathy. Student presenters will follow with a summary of the strategies they identified as key to building understanding. Attendees will leave with specific techniques and resources for tackling challenging conversations about high-stakes topics related to diverse and at-risk learners. With these techniques, attendees can move teachers from awareness to advocacy and students from risk to success.

Evidence

Knowles et al. (2014) explain that white Americans often "deny, distance, or dismantle" the concept of privilege (p. 594). When this occurs, educator understanding of at-risk students is limited. Issah (2018) targets emotional intelligence as a tool of transformational leadership. By honoring educator perspectives, administrators can guide investment in the academic growth of all students.

Bandura, A. (1986) Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.

Issah, M. (2018). Change leadership: The role of emotional intelligence. SAGE Open. July-September, 1-6. DOI: 10.1177/2158244018800910.

Knowles, E., Lowery, B. Chow, R. & Unzueta, M. (2014). Deny, distance or dismantle? How white Americans manage a privileged identity. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9 (6), 594-609.

Learning Objective 1

1. Develop a bank of resources and techniques to move stakeholders from awareness to advocacy for diverse and at-risk learners.

Learning Objective 2

2. Identify and apply elements recognized by pre-service educators as practical tools to tackle challenging conversations about high-stakes topics, such as privilege and immigration.

Learning Objective 3

3. Understand the role of emotional intelligence in transformational leadership.

Presentation Year

2022

Start Date

3-7-2022 10:15 AM

End Date

3-7-2022 11:30 AM

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Mar 7th, 10:15 AM Mar 7th, 11:30 AM

Courageous Conversations: Transformational Leadership through Empathy

Session One Breakouts

Are you looking to inspire academic transformation? Hear from a teacher educator and her undergraduate students about building teacher buy-in and increasing advocacy for at-risk and diverse learners. Attendees will leave with resources and strategies for diversity training, leadership and professional development.