VCU School of Education’s Culturally Responsive Leadership Programs
April 1, 2023
VCU School of Education’s culturally responsive leadership programs prepare ‘the leaders of the future’
New programs aim to prepare graduates to create environments that center the lived experiences of those they lead — in their classrooms, schools, organizations and communities.
A new certificate program and graduate degree concentration at Virginia Commonwealth University is developing community leaders’ skills in leading institutions and organizations — educational or otherwise — with a focus on equity.
The graduate certificate in culturally responsive leadership and M.Ed. in educational leadership with a concentration in culturally responsive leadership are two new programs offered by the VCU School of Education that will help leaders build the skills they need to address the challenges underserved communities face in the classroom, in the workplace and in society. The programs’ first students began taking courses in fall 2022.
VCU has earned recognition as a Minority Serving Institution and as a top-30 most innovative public university in the country. These new programs, the programs’ leader says, reflect VCU’s unique position as a place students can learn what today’s working environments, communities and classrooms demand from their leaders.
“Our students in these programs gain leadership development experience that will help them make a difference beyond the classroom or the board room,” said Lacey Seaton, Ed.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at the School of Education who leads the graduate program and certificate program.
Seaton and her fellow School of Education faculty members who teach in the programs — Kimberly Bridges, Ed.L.D.; Andrene Castro, Ph.D.; and Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Ph.D. — say they saw “a huge gap these programs could fill.” The programs have launched at a time when the U.S. is more racially and ethnically diverse than it was a decade prior — both in the classroom, according to National Center for Education Statistics data from 2022, and in the general population, according to U.S. Census Bureau analyses released in 2021.
“The classes are designed to explore what it means to lead with cultural relevance at the center of practice and from a number of vantage points, including not just classroom teaching or school culture building but also system-level organizing and advocacy, policymaking and community engagement,” said Castro, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership. “This is leadership development that interrogates current barriers to inclusion and justice and that supports leaders in fully valuing the experiences of all people and centering their needs and strengths in decision-making.”
Graduates of the M.Ed. in educational leadership program concentration and the certificate program will be able to analyze research related to race, ethnicity, culture and class; engage in critical self-reflection and action; develop relationships with schools, communities, nonprofits and other community-based organizations to advocate for transformative, justice-centered practices in education; and implement place- and people-based education strategies to empower communities for social change.
“Students will benefit from working with culturally responsive leaders who can advocate for and implement culturally responsive practices that address the inequities communities face,” said Siegel-Hawley, an associate professor who is teaching in the programs this spring. “The classes are designed to offer experiential learning that students can apply to their own settings and organizations. We are expecting our students to produce work and build relationships that will have a positive impact on marginalized student populations as well as diverse communities.”
The programs are open to students with a bachelor’s degree in an appropriate discipline and are geared toward current and aspiring leaders in pre-K through 12 education, higher education and education-related nonprofits. The training in this program could benefit leaders in other fields too, said Andrew Daire, Ph.D., dean of the School of Education.
“At the VCU School of Education, we prepare leaders for all workplaces by rooting our curriculum in the study and practice of inclusive excellence. These programs are evidence of that commitment,” Daire said. “Our graduates are the leaders of the future and leave VCU prepared to solve the unmet needs of communities that are underrepresented, underserved and historically marginalized in urban and rural settings and in education, nonprofit and business environments.”
The M.Ed. with this concentration can be completed full time in as little as one calendar year, while the 15-credit certificate program can be completed part time in as little as three semesters.
“We hope these programs give students in the working world an opportunity to explore how they can lead differently, with evidence-based lessons that will benefit them and those they lead,” said Bridges, an assistant professor who taught some of the first courses available in the programs last semester.
Applications for fall admission for both programs are due May 1, 2023.
