THE INTERCULTURAL ASPECT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN GREECE: A CASE STUDY OF EXPLORING EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP’S REPRESENTATIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Intercultural education in Greece has recently been brought to the foreground, due to the worldwide migrant/refugee crisis. However, the COVID-19 pandemic outburst in 2020 forced distance education and, hence, technology utilization upon all stakeholders. In this regard, by adopting a qualitative approach and by exploring educational leaders’ representations, this paper aims to investigate whether intercultural and distance education principles can be combined in order for students with a different cultural background to continue attending their lessons, as most native students do. The findings of this study demonstrate that intercultural principles are hard or in some cases impossible to be applied in distance learning and consequently, refugee/migrant students end up falling behind or being entirely excluded from the educational process.

Turning Our Gaze toward Transgender Educators: Fostering Social Justice Leadership in Educational Institutions

The purpose of this study is to find key supports for educational leaders to provide for transgender educators to succeed in an educational workplace setting. By being and becoming aware of the issues involved and conceptualizing interventions to help transgender educators function at their full potential in the workplace, a school’s leadership fosters social equity while also increasing the effectiveness of its organization. This paper draws from a mixed-methods case study that included a quantitative survey conducted with 27 transgender teachers and school principals and focuses on three qualitative in-depth cases. The results show that while some educational administrations support transgender educators in theory, they lack the proper tools to do so; alternatively, many other administrators remain openly hostile toward transgender educators, forcing some to find other work settings. For transgender educators of color, this task is more daunting because they face exponentially higher rates of violence and discrimination. To properly support and supervise transgender educators and principals, educational administrators must learn the necessary skills to provide a more welcoming environment for transgender educators, many of whom experience a myriad of personal struggles. These findings and the insights acquired have implications for transgender educators as well as state, district, and school administrators who wish to better support this growing segment of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Burnout and Online Education: Adaptation and Validation of scale during Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, online education represented a serious alternative to continuing working life in higher education institutions (HEIs). Teachers around the world embraced a new role, adopting and using a wide range of technological and virtual tools to continue performing their activities and with the aim to interact with students and to continue teaching. For this reason, research related to seek and identify factors for the teachers’ well-being is essential for educational leaders. Regarding these ideas, this paper aims to test the construct validity of a Mexican version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (MBI-ES) of Maslach et al. (1997), adapted to online education. Participants consisted of 406 Mexican university teachers who emergently switched from traditional to online educational practices during the SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak. In order to test the factor structure of three alternative models based on Szigeti et al. (2016), the authors performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (Ferrando & Lorenzo-Seva, 2018). Results showed that the model with three domain factors has the best fit. Besides, our findings show that the three-factor structure of the Mexican adaptation of MBI-ES is valid and reliable for the analysis of online education because the loading of all factors was representative.

Towards an Anti-Racist, Culturally Responsive, and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education

This chapter summarizes the ongoing efforts of faculty to develop a program of study embedded in an educational doctorate (EdD) program intended to develop critically conscious educational leaders and change agents. It discusses how courses were collaboratively developed as well as how faculty decided on and began to employ an experimental self-study action research Dissertation in Practice. This chapter then outlines what was learned as a team of collaborators about the best ways to establish coherence and cultivate deep learning to support students' ability to work with adults in the context of instruction and curriculum to address historically entrenched inequities that differentially disadvantage some students while granting privileges to others.

Creatively Cultivating a Culturally-Responsive Mathematics Classroom

This chapter explores ways to cultivate a culturally responsive math classroom for in-person and remote learning. In doing so, readers will analyze examples and non-examples of culturally responsive teaching at work. The author will examine a conducive math classroom whose environment and climate is rooted in establishing a healthy and safe math community. She will also dissect texts and curriculum that reflect a culturally responsive math classroom or the lack thereof. In addition, this chapter will identify creative strategies that promote cultural and responsive principles for in-person and remote learning. With these five domains, environment, climate, text, curriculum, and strategies, educational leaders will become equipped to cultivate a culturally responsive math community in their classroom suited for diverse learners.

K-12 Educational Leadership and Autism

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that about 1 in 54 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism occurs among all ethic, socioeconomic, and racial groups. With this nationwide prevalence, educational leadership, Principals, Vice Principals, and parents must be in a continuous state of learning about autism and the unique needs of their autistic learners. The chapter is dedicated to helping parents and educational leadership to understand each other's roles and responsibilities in regard to serving children and youth on the autism spectrum. First, the chapter will explore literature regarding unique leadership characteristics needed to support youth on the autism spectrum. Next, an overview of literature available regarding educational leaders' perspectives and strategies in supporting youth on the spectrum. Finally, suggestions and strategies for developing educational leaders that understand and cherish youth on the autism spectrum are given.

PBIS in Schools

Educational leaders have implemented positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) in schools across the nation to address behavior competence. Most educators have witnessed the evidence of its success in both managing behavior and improving academic outcomes. PBIS is a framework that incorporates evidence-based practices to support students by addressing their mental health and social/emotional needs. Using a culturally relevant and trauma-informed approach, PBIS can help support Students of Color, disciplinary sanctions, and the penal system. The proactive framework has been around for more than 20 years, teaching students behavioral expectations and reinforcing their positive actions. Despite this empirical approach, some teachers remain in favor of the punitive way of disciplining students. In contrast, others have adapted their mindsets to embrace rethinking discipline as a teaching opportunity like learning to read and write. These teachers agree with many scholars that social behavior is learned.

Intersectionality

Women continue to be underrepresented as P-12 school administrators, and this marginalization is more conspicuous in Appalachian Kentucky public schools. This chapter presents a review of extant scholarship on the intersectionality of the focus population as women, educational leaders, and residents of Appalachia Kentucky. The critical consciousness of administrators was examined in both male and female participants. Personal and school predictor variables served as additional variables in the prediction model to better understand the context of the participants. Comparisons of means and multiple regression analysis were utilized to potentially create predictive equation of social justice leadership propensity of school administrators and to determine differences between gender and if personal and school predictor variables had any effect on the critical consciousness of the sample. This chapter reveals the importance of context, intersectionality, and need for more inclusive quantitative instruments for the study of social justice leadership.

Culturally Competent Practices and Implications for Special Education Leaders

The over-identification of minorities in special education in the Unites States continues to exist. Such over-representation separates these students from their general education peers to the degree that they may not have access to challenging academic standards and effective instruction. Factors impacting these students include a systemic lack of understanding of cultural frames of reference and curriculum and leadership issues that influence the referral and placement processes in special education. This chapter will address the five culturally competent practices with regard to inclusion and special education. Implications for educational leaders will be discussed.