Symposium Highlights Intersection of Identity and Educational Leadership
The Educational Leadership Department recently held its 8th Annual Educational Leadership Symposium entitled “Leadership Identity: At the Intersection of Who You Are & What You Do.” This year’s symposium featured a variety of panels with interactive workshops, paper sessions and panel discussions led by faculty, students, and alumni. Presentation topics ranged from “Preparation of 21st Century Technological Skills for Teachers in Linked Learning Institutions” to “Helping Foster Youth Access Higher Education.”
A poster session showcased research projects by students from the Educational Leadership Doctorate program and Center for Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness faculty and student researchers from a variety of CED graduate programs. Researchers shared the results of their emerging scholarship on themes such as support systems for Black women in STEM fields, the role of the performing arts in higher education, and restorative justice.
Stedman Graham, chairman and CEO of S. Graham & Associates, a Chicago-based management and marketing consulting firm that specializes in corporate and educational markets, provided the keynote address entitled “Identity Leadership.” Mr. Graham’s inspirational address focused on the importance of identity and how we perceive ourselves for effective educational leadership. Mr. Graham suggested that to achieve our full potential as leaders, we need to be the leaders of our own lives first. Central points of the address included the importance of self-actualization, recognizing and acting upon our passions, and operating from a strengths-based approach rooted in love – for ourselves and others.
Taken together, the components of the Educational Leadership Symposium provided rich opportunities to share current research and practices; highlight our CED research culture; foster meaningful interactions amongst faculty, students, and alumni; and reflect and grow as educational leaders.
All of the proceeds from the registration fees for the symposium will go toward funding the Educational Leadership Social Justice Scholarship awarded to exemplary students in the Educational Leadership Doctorate program. For more information on this scholarship, or to make a donation, please contact the Development Office.
