Using Collaborative Inquiry to Transform Teaching, Learning, and Inquiry About Leadership - The Transformational Learning of Our Educational Leadership Faculty Team as We Developed Assessments for an Equity-Centered Pedagogy

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by moss~

The article documents transformational learning within an educational leadership faculty team as they designed and refined assessments for an equity-centered pedagogy. Grounded in broader research on new leaders’ action research, the Equity Plan engages emerging school leaders in identifying equity concerns, collecting site-relevant data, and enacting collaborative inquiry cycles to produce actionable recommendations. Through this process, faculty shifted from instructors to facilitators, aligning their teaching practices with socially responsible leadership and continuous transformative learning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Transforming Our Pedagogy

Using Collaborative Inquiry to Transform Teaching, Learning, and Inquiry About Leadership: The Transformational Learning of Our Educational Leadership Faculty Team as We Developed Assessments for an Equity-Centered Pedagogy Michelle Collay California State University, East Bay Peg Winkleman California State University, East Bay Ray Garcia California State University, East Bay Judy Guilkey-Amado California State University, East Bay This article describes the transformational learning of our educational leadership faculty team as we developed assessments for an equity-centered pedagogy. This piece is taken from a larger study of new leaders’ action research projects. The Equity Plan is designed to disrupt inequitable schooling practices by engaging students of educational leadership in identifying a challenging equity concern at their site, collecting relevant data, enacting a collaborative inquiry cycle, and creating recommendations to address the concern. In designing, refining and examining the pedagogy, we as faculty members interrogated our own practices as we moved from instructors of students to facilitators of equity-focused leadership actions by school leaders. Introduction Unabated pressure to improve achievement of the lowest-performing students amid chronic failed reforms has forced school leaders to both learn new information and to continually examine existing assumptions about leadership, learning and change. Educational leadership faculty face challenges similar to the aspiring school leaders. We are often criticized for poor outcomes: producing leaders who are not effective change agents in the nation’s lowest performing schools (Levine, 2005). As scholar-practitioners who support new urban school leaders, we agree the challenges are overwhelming. Powerful leadership on the part of these courageous indi CAPEA Education Leadership and Administration, Vol. 21—2009 ©2010 DEStech Publications, Inc. 27 28 CAPEA Education Leadership and Administration viduals is imperative. We embrace the challenge to support school leaders and share in this article a transformative journey through our own cycle of inquiry. This paper describes processes used by one faculty team to design and implement equity-centered common assessments for emerging school leaders. First, we present a theoretical basis for our transformative, equity-centered work. We present the context for our collaboration within a department whose members define themselves as bold, socially responsible leaders (5 Mindscapes or department program goals) . Second, we report on our own processes as a collaborative inquiry team undergoing its own transformation along with our students to enact these values. Our collaborative efforts to design and refine the Equity Plan transformed us from instructors of coursework to facilitators of bold, socially responsible leadership. Finally, we assert that faculty must continuously engage in transformative learning to facilitate the development of bold, socially responsible leaders who can change the world of schooling. Transforming Our Pedagogy A transformational pedagogy (Baxter Magolda, 1998; Brown, 2004; Cranton, 2002; Mezirow, 1997) addresses both what leaders know and how they know it, or informational and transformational learning. Kegan (2000) and Drago-Severson (2004) suggest that learning involves increased knowledge and skills, which are important in learners’ capacities to change attitudes and competencies. Transformational learning theory provides a framework to develop adults’ capacities to integrate the complexities of leadership (Collay & Cooper, 2008) . As we strive to facilitate more transformative learning in our students who are emerging school leaders, we are compelled to examine“how we know”within our own practice. We describe our journey as faculty colleagues who designed and implemented an equity-centered pedagogy for emerging school leaders. We present a parallel journe

FAQs

What is the purpose of the Equity Plan described in the article?

The Equity Plan aims to disrupt inequitable schooling practices by engaging educational leadership students in identifying an equity concern, collecting relevant data, and creating recommendations through collaborative inquiry cycles.

How does the article define collaborative inquiry?

Collaborative inquiry involves refining a focal question, gathering and analyzing data, and defining actions needed based on that analysis.

What transformation do the faculty experience while developing the assessments?

As they designed and examined the equity-centered pedagogy, faculty interrogated their own practices and shifted from instructors of students to facilitators of equity-focused leadership actions by school leaders.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by moss~