Speaker Bios
Dr. Kenneth Leithwood (OISE/UT)
Dr. Leithwood from OISE/UT
Dr. Leithwood is Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at OISE/University of Toronto. His research and writing concerns school leadership, educational policy and organizational change and is widely published on these topics. For example, he is the senior editor of both the first and second International Handbooks on Educational Leadership and Administration (Kluwer Publishers, 1996, 2003).
His most recent books include Distributed leadership: The state-of-the-science (2008) Leadership With Teachers’ Emotions In Mind (2008), Making Schools Smarter (3rd edition, 2006) and Teaching for Deep Understanding (2006). Professor Leithwood is the recent recipient of the University of Toronto’s Impact on Public Policy award and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Eric Hirsch (University of California)
Eric Hirsch from the University of California
Eric Hirsch is the Director of Special Projects at the New Teacher Center at the University of California at Santa Cruz, a national organization committed to improving student learning by supporting the development of an inspired, dedicated and highly qualified teaching force. Eric has served as Executive Director of the Center for Teaching Quality, Executive Director of the Colorado-focused Alliance for Quality Teaching and as Education Program Manager at the National Conference of State Legislatures. His work is largely focused on better understanding and improving teaching and learning conditions, recruiting and retaining teachers, and alternative compensation. He has surveyed more than 350,000 educators in 12 states over the past 4 years about their school environment.
Eric has worked with and testified to legislatures and policymakers in more than 30 states and presented at numerous conferences about issues of teaching quality and governance. Eric has authored more than 50 articles, reports, book chapters and policy briefs published by groups such as NCSL, the National Governors Association (NGA), the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the U.S. Department of Education, Congressional Quarterly, the Journal of Special Education, and the University of Pittsburgh Press. Eric received his teacher certification in Massachusetts and his M.A. from the University of Colorado.
Dr. Karen Seashore Louis (University of Minnesota)
Dr. Karen Seashore Louis from the University of Minnesota
Karen Seashore Louis is Rodney S. Wallace Professor for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota. For the past 35 years, her research has focused on school improvement and reform, leadership in school settings, and knowledge use in education. Her most recent books are Organizing for School Change (2006), and Aligning Student Support with Achievement Goals: The Secondary School Principal’s Guide (with Molly Gordon, 2006) and Professional Learning Communities: Divergence, Depth and Dilemmas (with Louise Stoll, 2007). A two-time Davis Award winner for the best article in the Educational Administration Quarterly, she has also served on the executive board for the University Council for Educational Administration and as Vice-president of the American Educational Research Association.
Dr. Alma Harris (University of London)
Dr. Alma Harris from the University of London
Alma Harris is Chair in Educational Leadership at the Institute of Education, University of London. She has previously held posts at the University of Nottingham and University of Bath. She is currently Associate Director of the ‘Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’ and she is the editor of ‘School Leadership and Management’
Her research work has focused upon organizational change and leadership. She is internationally known for her work on school improvement, focusing particularly on ways in which leadership can contribute to school development and change. Her most recent work has focused on the role of parental engagement and raising achievement in schools.
Dr. Joseph Murphy (Vanderbilt University)
Dr. Joseph Murphy from Vanderbilt University
Joseph Murphy is associate dean and professor of education at Vanderbilt University, Peabody College of Education.
In the public schools, he has served as an administrator at the school, district and state levels, including an appointment as the executive assistant to the chief deputy superintendent of public instruction in California. His most recent appointment was as the founding president of the Ohio Principals Leadership Academy. At the university level, he has served as department chair and associate dean.
His work is in the area of school improvement, with special emphasis on leadership and policy. He has authored or co-authored 15 books and two major monographs in this area and edited another 12 books. His most recent authored volumes include: “Understanding and Assessing the Charter School Movement” (2002), “Leadership for Literacy” (2004), “Connecting Teacher Leadership and School Improvement” (2005), “Preparing School Leaders: An Agenda for Research and Action” (2006) and “Turning Around Failing Schools: Leadership Lessons from the Organizational Sciences” (2008). He has also published more than 200 articles and book chapters on school improvement and leadership.
Dr. Susan Robertson (University of Bristol)
Dr. Susan Robertson from the University of Bristol
Susan Robertson is Professor of Sociology of Education, Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol. Susan has held academic posts in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK following completion of her PhD at the University of Calgary in Canada. In Bristol, she is the Coordinator of the Centre for Research on Globalisation, Education and Societies, and founding editor of the journal Globalisation, Societies and Education. She has a long-standing interest in teachers’ work and teacher professionalism. More recently this interest has taken her in the direction of trying to understand the wider global forces shaping education systems, including the negotiation around the World Trade Organization and General Agreement on Trade in Services.
