Educational Policy and Leadership

The educational policy and leadership programs prepare graduate students to assume educational leadership roles in the areas of study provided by its programs and specializations. A distinctive characteristic of the programs are their commitment to the development of professionals as agents of critical inquiry and social justice. This is done through a systematic focus on the social, cultural, philosophical and historical contexts of education. The educational policy and leadership programs seek to apply the university goals of Christian commitment and scholarship to settings related to educational practice and policy, especially in public and private schools and institutions of higher education.

The doctoral program is designed to foster the development of scholars-practitioners. It asks students not only to inquire deeply into the process of teaching and learning, but also how the organization of schooling shapes this process. In addition, the program asks students to acquire adjacent disciplinary strengths that provide contexts for considering what knowledge is of most worth, how forms of knowledge are socially distributed and what educational measures might help bring about a more just society. Students are expected to gain expertise in research that will enable them to contribute to the ways we think about education, and they are expected to develop technological and other practical skills that will enable them to implement strategies for change.