Leadership learning design principles - Co-creating dialogic and critical pedagogy within cohort and community contexts

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

This paper documents the pedagogical evolution of graduate faculty working with increasingly diverse cohort communities of early childhood professionals pursuing leadership roles with young children, families, and other adults. The early childhood leadership program offers a graduate certificate in Colorado where cohorts of 18–22 learners meet for 13 months. Through dialogic, participatory study that invites student voices, the authors introduce four leadership learning design principles and trace how survey reflections and post-program dialogues deepened shared understanding, ending with relational inquiry that places learner voices at the center.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Leadership learning design principles

Identity and agency

Socially constructed pedagogy

Contextually relevant learning experience

Appreciative stance

Acknowledgment

ISSN: 2325-3290 (online) Leadership learning design principles: Co-creating dialogic and critical pedagogy within cohort and community contexts Wendy B. Allen University of Colorado Denver, USA Rebecca Vlasin University of Colorado Denver, USA Lori G. Ryan University of Colorado Denver, USA Abstract The purpose of this paper is to share our pedagogical evolution as graduate faculty in relationship with increasingly diverse cohort communities of early childhood professionals learning across the landscape of leadership roles engaged with young children, families, and other adults. The early childhood leadership program described in this paper offers a graduate certificate where annually, a cohort of 18-22 early childhood professionals from across Colorado in the United States learn together for 13 months. As faculty, we share a strong commitment to both learning about our teaching and to inviting student voices, the early childhood professionals, through dialogic processes in participatory study as we co-learn and grow our practices of learning and teaching. This paper introduces and explores four leadership learning design principles: (1) identity and agency, (2) socially constructed pedagogy, (3) contextually relevant learning experience, and (4) appreciative stance. As we go, the story will unfold around how we engaged cohort members of the 2019-2020 program year through initial survey reflections and then deepening our shared understanding of these leadership learning design principles through iterations of dialogue after the program was concluded. We end the paper with reflections on how this process of study has ultimately brought us to an awareness and eagerness to engage in relational forms of inquiry, placing student voices at the center with even more intention and depth. Keywords: Critical Pedagogy, Dialogue, Early Childhood, Leadership, Cohort Learning, Appreciative Leadership, Socially Constructed Learning Wendy B. Allen, Ph. D. , was the Co-Director of the Early Childhood Leadership Program at Clayton Early Learning in partnership with the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development until 2022. Wendy continues to explore the tensions and possibilities of centering families through her current work with Rocky Mountain PBS KIDS. Through her public media content curation, teaching, and parenting experiences, she has deepened her commitment to embracing asset-based community-engaged practices. She continuously seeks opportunities to cultivate inquiry, collaborative partnerships, and shared study of the ecologies where children and families live, learn, and generate [knowledge together. e-mail: wendyallen@rmpbs.org](knowledge together. e-mail: wendyallen@rmpbs.org). Dialogic Pedagogy: An International DOI: 10.5195/dpj.2023.455 | Vol. 1 Online 1 No. 1 Journal | [http://dpj.pitt.edu](http://dpj.pitt.edu)[ ](http://dpj.pitt.edu)(2023) A85 Leadership learning design principles: Co-creating dialogic and critical pedagogy within cohort and community contexts Wendy B. Allen, Lori G. Ryan, Rebecca Vlasin Lori G. Ryan, Ph. D. , is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Colorado’s School of Education and Human Development. She formerly served as Co-Director of the Early Childhood Leadership Program until 2022. Lori centers her work within early childhood contexts and educational leadership environments, with a commitment to equitable and inclusive practices that promote, in partnership with early childhood communities, a strong image of children, families, and professionals as co-constructors of their own learning stories. Within each unique context, Lori’s teaching, research, and coaching are focused on building the capacity of her students, early childhood professionals, and the children with whom they work. e-mail: [Lori.Ryan@ucdenver.edu](Lori.Ryan@ucdenver.edu) Rebecca Vlasin, Ed. D. , is the Director of the Division of Early Childhood Workf

FAQs

What is the central purpose of the paper?

To share the authors’ pedagogical evolution as graduate faculty in relationship with diverse early childhood leadership cohort communities, while presenting four leadership learning design principles.

How is the leadership learning program structured?

It offers a graduate certificate in which a yearly cohort of 18–22 early childhood professionals from across Colorado learns together for 13 months.

How did the authors engage cohort members during and after the program?

They began with initial survey reflections and then deepened shared understanding through iterations of dialogue after the program concluded.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk