A CASE STUDY of an AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE PRINCIPAL PARTICIPATING in an ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY DISSERTATION Presente
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A CASE STUDY OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE PRINCIPAL PARTICIPATING IN AN ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By April L. Peters ***** The Ohio State University 2003 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dr. Cynthia Uline, Adviser Dr. Valerie Lee _____________________ Adviser Dr. Frank Walter College of Education Copyright by April L. Peters 2003 ABSTRACT This study examines the leadership experiences of an African American female principal within the context of an Administrative Leadership Academy. The current context of education requires that principals not only be responsible for management of schools but for instructional leadership, as well. Several tools can be employed to facilitate the development of instructional leadership skills. These tools include effective mentoring, portfolio development and other professional support and development. This study examined ways in which the tools provided within the context of an Administrative Leadership Academy were utilized in the participant’s instructional leadership practice. Although the challenges of leadership are many, they can prove even more daunting for nontraditional leaders, who often lack access to the conventional networks of information and support. It is important to study the experiences of such leaders. For African American female administrators this research is particularly compelling, given that the experiences of such leaders are not often reported. This study utilized the complementary theoretical frameworks of Afrocentric feminist epistemology and feminist poststructuralism to understand and explicate the experiences of this leader as she employed tools of instructional leadership within her school context. ii DEDICATION This effort is dedicated to two of the strongest, most beautiful Black women the world has known. From Black Bean Soup To Seafood Gumbo, From Baked Alaska To German Chocolate Cake From Sweet Rolls To Homemade Biscuits From Suburban New Jersey To Rural Louisiana, Where North Meets South I stand, The intersection Of beauty and strength Humility and pride Grace and power Grandmother And Big Mama THANK YOU!! Yvonne A. Range Echols-- “Grandmother” (1928-1988) Grandmother, I hope after all these years I’ve made you proud. Thanks for the beauty and the talent you possessed and shared. Your style and grace have been models to follow. Thank you. Irma Dean Brown Bickham-- “Big Mama” (1915 -2002) Big Mama, thank you for the shining example of spirit, courage, wisdom, and communion with God. You lived the life of the virtuous woman. I can only hope to follow in your footsteps. Thank you. iii Thank you both for your strength, courage, wisdom, spirit and beauty. These were the foundations that you laid in this realm, the example that you guide by from the next. You are loved and so very missed. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To the One who is at once the Creator, Savior, Deliverer and Comforter, I humbly say THANK YOU! Through You all things have been made possible. Thank you for every mountain you brought me over, for every trial you’ve seen me through, for every blessing, Hallelujah—for this I give you praise. I’ve learned that weeping may endure for a night (many of them, if you’re a doctoral student), but joy comes in the morning. Throughout this process, I have relied heavily on Romans 8. I’ve paid particular attention to verse 28, which informs us that ALL things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. Moreover, verse 37 lets me know that I’m more than a conqueror. Therefore, throughout this I’ve tried to pray as if it were all up to the Creator and work as if it were all up to me. I sincerely thank my adviser, Dr. Cynthia Uline. She consistently challenged me to do my best. Thank you for your hard work and dedication in seeing this project through to its completion. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Valerie Lee, and Dr. Franklin Walter. Thank you for serving on the committee and encouraging me through this process. I wish to thank the participant of this study, Ms. Sanders. She continuously opened up her school to me throughout the research process. She was available and very helpful. I can’t say thank you enough. I also need to thank Ms. Jones, the mentor in this v study. Ms. Jones helped me make sense of much of the regional Academy processes. I would also like to thank the key informants for taking the time to speak with me: Mrs. Templeton, Mrs. Salley, and Mrs. Somerset. In addition, a special thank you to Dr. Robert Ransom (Dr. Roberto!). Thank you for your unyielding patience and dedication to students of color in the College of Education. You have shown me how to not take myself too seriously. Thank you so much for always being there and listening. I will always remember you for this. Thank you to Dr. Phillip T. K. Daniel for your encouragement throughout this process and particularly through the last leg of this journey. Thank you for your sage words of wisdom. You are one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. Thanks for being a “life line.” I would like to thank my family for their patience, encouragement and faith in me. I could never have gotten to this point without you! I love you all. All my life I have strived to make my parents proud. I appreciate the love and sacrifices that they made to help me to get to this point. They have truly been inspiration. I wouldn’t be here were it not for them. Thanks Mom and Dad for your hard work in raising me. Thank you doesn’t seem like a big enough word to use to capture the gratitude and humility I feel when I reflect upon where I am in life and the fact that it is because of you that I am here. I hope you are proud of what you’ve done. I would like to thank my father for the many life lessons and mother wit. He was the first person to discuss with me the significance of being female and Black in this society. Thank you. He taught me that a job worth doing is a job worth doing right. He taught me that nothing beats a failure but a try. He taught me the value of recognizing vi and heeding consensus—in his words, “everybody ain’t lying!” Daddy, I listened more than you thought I did. I hope I’ve made you proud throughout my life and especially in this endeavor. I love you. I thank my mother. Without her I wouldn’t be here. I thank her for always being my biggest cheerleader and showing me the way. I thank her for always telling me to do my best and believing that I would. Thank you, Mother for steering me in the right direction and making sacrifices to ensure that I would get here. Through all the times when I wasn’t sure whether I could do it, my mother’s imperative advice was that I most definitely would do it. She often said there’s no room for failure. Mom, I honor the life lessons, the support and the faith you’ve had in me and instilled in me. I hope I’ve made you proud. I love you. I would also like to thank my sister, Angel, for her support and encouragement throughout this endeavor and in so many endeavors before this. She always provided laughter to help me to not take myself, other people, or this process too seriously. Her humble spirit and caring generosity are models for others to follow. Thanks, sister for who you are—you’re my hero in so many ways! I would like to acknowledge and thank my grandfather, Vernon Echols, the family patriarch, for his support, wisdom, strength and caring. He has unwaveringly supported the family and me throughout the years. You have been a shining example of a gentleman, and the benchmark by which I judge all others. Thank you for your love and guidance. I love you! I need to thank the many other members of my family who have encouraged and supported this effort along the way. I am so proud to be a Bickham, Range, Echols, vii Peters, etc. and I acknowledge you for the strength, courage and wisdom that you’ve imparted to me. Thanks to my aunts: Sherri, Bonnie, Cheryl, Hazel, Faye and Mary. Thank you to my uncles, Charles, Carl, Lloyd, Willard, David (Range), Walter (Echols), James (Echols), Arthur, George, and Christian. Thank you also to the many cousins who supported and encouraged me. There have also been many individuals who provided support through this endeavor in myriad ways. I wish to thank them as well. Some of these individuals made it easier to be here in Columbus and at The Ohio State University. Special thank you to Tyree Ayers and Rhea Butler, both of whom made being at Ohio State a little easier the first year. Thank you to Jeff Carson, Jennifer, Marcus, Imani and Briana Steele, Javonne Paul, Brian Harper, Ben Pinson, Erica and Bill Brown, Anya and Anthony Beckley, Dr. and Lady Washington, Trina Washington, Jonathan Truesdale, Tammy Van Pelt, Stephen Hancock, Syretta Bates, Michelle Chambers, Stacyanne Headley (thanks for all the formatting help!), Dr. Cynthia Tyson, Dr. Samuel Hodge, and the Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus. Also thank you to those individuals (family and friends) whom I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for many years: Valarie Bickham, Lani Bickham, Tamika Bickham, Leslie Andrews, Jasmine Hood, Quiana Hood, Crystal Hood, Christopher Gill, Eric Echols, Lynette Ray, Tami Byrd, Valerie Mitchell, Joyce Schmidt, Diane Anderson, Zamantha Gobourne, Princess Little, Angela Gabriel, Mandy Blake, Kimelan M.