Ed Leadership Dept. Announces New Podcast Series on Equity-Minded Leadership

The Department of Educational Leadership in the College of Education and Integrative Studies has officially launched a new podcast program that explores approaches to equity-minded leadership within schools and campuses.

The podcast is titled “Equity-Minded Leadership,” and it showcases what measures educators are taking to help bridge equity gaps.

“Researchers repeatedly emphasize the importance of equity-minded leadership and yet exemplars of what that really means in action are often not shared,” said Betty Alford, podcast host, as well as professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership. “These podcasts feature our doctoral graduates and discuss how they transferred their research on social justice issues to practices that are making a difference in schools and communities.”

The show was created to serve as an educational resource for school administrators and current students in the department's educational leadership programs, Alford said.

“Equity-minded leadership is an enormous focus in our public schools, particularly at this time as we emerge out of the pandemic while also recognizing more fully the need to focus on increasing the educational opportunities and success of all students,” said Alford. “We must look for ways to move research into positive actions through policies, processes and practices that really exemplify equity and open opportunities for all students to succeed to high levels. This podcast will address some of those strategies.”

The podcast series is part of a larger research project funded by the Barbara Nakaoka Education Foundation, an organization that seeks to promote equity and social justice in K-12 schools.

“Educational equity is a core belief for our faculty,” said Alford. “The funds we received from the Barbara Nakaoka Education Foundation have been instrumental in helping us engage in conducting and sharing research of ways that equity-minded educational leaders execute policies, practices and processes that enhance learning opportunities for all students. Through our podcast program, we look forward to continuing to share tangible practices and processes that serve as exemplars of equity-focused educational leadership.”

The first episode of the podcast series is available now and features doctoral alum Adriana Gonzalez, principal of De Anza Middle School in Ontario. In this episode, Gonzalez shares how she was able to strengthen a school-wide culture of equity and quality at her school site. New episodes of the podcast series will air every Tuesday on the department's podcast web page.

For more information about the Department of Educational Leadership, visit www.cpp.edu/ceis/edleadership.