Donna Breault
Ashland University, Dwight Schar College of Education, Department Member
- Since 1988, I've had many opportunities to serve as an educator. I've taught second, third, fourth, and seventh grade... moreSince 1988, I've had many opportunities to serve as an educator. I've taught second, third, fourth, and seventh grades in urban, rural, and suburban contexts. I've served as both a middle school and an elementary school administrator, and I've served in many teaching and leadership positions in five different universities. I've worked with more than 100 doctoral students at various stages of their programs, and I've taught more than 38 different courses, most of which were at the doctoral level.
Since 2013, I've shifted my focus to university administration. I've had the incredible honor of working with the amazing faculty in the Department of Childhood Education and Family Studies at Missouri State University. I then moved into a position to serve the teacher education unit at MSU as we prepared for our next accreditation visit. As Director of Program Review and Analytics, I work with faculty and administrators to embrace the new expectations of CAEP. Since August of 2016, I've had to honor of serving as the Dean of the Dwight Schar College of Education at Ashland University. It is a privilege to work with such earnest faculty and staff who are focused on creating transformative experiences for our students.
I think these are exciting times in higher education - times when we cannot be complacent. I believe we need to make program data as well as market trend data an essential part of our work. Having complicated conversations about programs, student needs, and market competition needs to be part of our everyday existence. In doing so, we maintain our active roles in charting our courses versus falling prey to the circumstances that would otherwise limit what we can do.
Throughout my work in higher education, I've tried to challenge myself in terms of research and scholarship. While the range of subjects is wide, most, if not all, connect through the influence of John Dewey's work.(Since 1988, I've had many opportunities to serve as an educator. I've taught second, third, fourth, and seventh grades in urban, rural, and suburban contexts. I've served as both a middle school and an elementary school administrator, and I've served in many teaching and leadership positions in five different universities. I've worked with more than 100 doctoral students at various stages of their programs, and I've taught more than 38 different courses, most of which were at the doctoral level. <br /><br />Since 2013, I've shifted my focus to university administration. I've had the incredible honor of working with the amazing faculty in the Department of Childhood Education and Family Studies at Missouri State University. I then moved into a position to serve the teacher education unit at MSU as we prepared for our next accreditation visit. As Director of Program Review and Analytics, I work with faculty and administrators to embrace the new expectations of CAEP. Since August of 2016, I've had to honor of serving as the Dean of the Dwight Schar College of Education at Ashland University. It is a privilege to work with such earnest faculty and staff who are focused on creating transformative experiences for our students. <br /><br />I think these are exciting times in higher education - times when we cannot be complacent. I believe we need to make program data as well as market trend data an essential part of our work. Having complicated conversations about programs, student needs, and market competition needs to be part of our everyday existence. In doing so, we maintain our active roles in charting our courses versus falling prey to the circumstances that would otherwise limit what we can do.<br /><br />Throughout my work in higher education, I've tried to challenge myself in terms of research and scholarship. While the range of subjects is wide, most, if not all, connect through the influence of John Dewey's work.)edit
Argues for educators taking on the role of public intellectual; some analysis of the decline of this role
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Educators have long operated under the assumption that principals have a signifi cant effect on schools as well as the teachers who work there. These claims have been supported through a number of recent studies (Bottoms &
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IntroductionThe Origin of the SectionTHE ARTICLE IN THIS SPECIAL SECTION are based on a symposium held at the Bergamo 2014 Conference. The origin of that symposium began at AERA 2014. Donald Blumenfeld-Jones (Donald) was telling Jim... more
IntroductionThe Origin of the SectionTHE ARTICLE IN THIS SPECIAL SECTION are based on a symposium held at the Bergamo 2014 Conference. The origin of that symposium began at AERA 2014. Donald Blumenfeld-Jones (Donald) was telling Jim Henderson (Jim) of his experience working with a colleague over how to schedule a course. (I will proceed in a more informal, first person pronoun narrative. If what follows does not appear even-handed, it is not meant to be even-handed. This voice to which I refer has long been suppressed. Freud's father taught Sigmund to be evenhanded and quiet. I, while not Sigmund Freud, as with him, refuse to be silent any longer.)I intended to offer a professional development course in the teacher prep program I had created. I had already worked out with the school administrator the schedule for this course, a schedule which did not match the university's scheduling. I approached an administrator for help: schedule the course as if it fits the university bu...
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Nos últimos dez anos, os professores da área de estudos do currículo assistiram ao encolhimento de seus programas. Em meio a estes desafios, muitos dos envolvidos no ensino do tema estão buscando um realinhamento para manter diálogos... more
Nos últimos dez anos, os professores da área de estudos do currículo assistiram ao encolhimento de seus programas. Em meio a estes desafios, muitos dos envolvidos no ensino do tema estão buscando um realinhamento para manter diálogos complicados, com risco de perderem seus programas. O presente trabalho explora os contextos histórico e organizacional para buscar trajetórias estratégicas para que os estudos do currículo se conectem em novas formas. Nosso artigo não pretende ser um tratado sobre a morte dos programas de doutorado na área de estudos do currículo, mas sim uma avaliação das mudanças drásticas que estão acontecendo na área. As preocupações em nosso trabalho estão contextualizadas na natureza mutante da educação e dos programas de doutorado. Argumentamos que os estudos do currículo não se encaixam nos novos modelos de trabalhos da pós-graduação, pois buscam sua identidade, se afastam das aplicações mais práticas da teoria para tentar reparar a lacuna que divide as várias p...
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ABSTRACT Linking democracy to education is by no means new. The “infinity” of endeavours to synchronise both notions and both forms of social practice is also obvious. The sentence “The focus of this book is on how to build a society... more
ABSTRACT Linking democracy to education is by no means new. The “infinity” of endeavours to synchronise both notions and both forms of social practice is also obvious. The sentence “The focus of this book is on how to build a society through education” in the editors’ introduction (p. 5) is evocative and telling. Although the authors do not say so explicitly at this point in the book, which addresses many social consequences and problems brought on by neoliberalism, the need to “build a society” could be understood as imperative in view of the beginnings of the epoch in question. Probably no other description or representation of neoliberalism expressed its essence better than Margaret Thatcher’s famous claim that “there is no such thing as society”.Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, talking to Women&#39;s Own magazine, 31 October 1987. This is the documented form of her assertion, but Ms Thatcher reiterated the same claim in other contexts such as press conferences, party meetings and so ...
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ABSTRACT According to the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF), university professors work long hours. In their 1998 survey, the majority of faculty reported that they worked over fifty hours a week (54.8% for males, 52.8% for... more
ABSTRACT According to the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF), university professors work long hours. In their 1998 survey, the majority of faculty reported that they worked over fifty hours a week (54.8% for males, 52.8% for females). This average is more than ten hours greater than the non-academic workers in the United States at the time. Jacobs (2004) notes that professors began working longer hours in the 1990s with the rise in public criticism regarding the actual hours professors spent in classrooms. Further, many universities began to increase their level of expectations for faculty research. Technology has also drastically altered the nature and amount of work professors do on a weekly basis. E-mail has become such an integral part of a professor´s work that it has drastically increased the amount of time that professors work from home.
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Page 1. Professional Development Schools Researching Less-ens frem the Field Rick Breuuli end Denna Adair Breuult Page 2. Professional Development Schools Page 3. Page 4. Professional Development Schools Researching ...
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ABSTRACT Researchers have long lamented the lack of research regarding the preparation of school leaders. In response, we offer lessons about school and university partnerships from exemplary professional development school (PDS) research... more
ABSTRACT Researchers have long lamented the lack of research regarding the preparation of school leaders. In response, we offer lessons about school and university partnerships from exemplary professional development school (PDS) research to inform collaborative efforts for leadership preparation. We conducted an extensive literature review of 250 studies spanning a 15-year period. Based upon three levels of qualitative meta-synthesis, we identified 49 exemplary studies from the original 250. We then identified themes involving resources, change, and relationships. Based upon these themes, we concluded the following: In partnerships, resources become a far more significant element in terms of both use and flexibility than they do in more traditional preparation programmes. The nature of change in a partnership is more idiosyncratic because of the diverse stakeholders involved. Relationships are a vital element in the success or failure of a partnership. Therefore, time and energy are necessary to develop and sustain relationships among stakeholders. Partnerships should develop enabling bureaucracies in order to promote meaningful engagement among partners. Organizational theory offers valuable insights regarding partnerships, but it remains largely an untapped resource in current partnership efforts. We conclude with recommendations for stakeholders interested in developing partnerships between leadership preparation programmes in universities and K-12 schools.
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Contents: The Transactional Spaces of Curriculum: Rethinking "Community" and Re-Engaging Educators - The Aesthetic Moment in Education - Disrupting our Imagined Communities: The Role of Ritual in Promoting Cosmopolitan... more
Contents: The Transactional Spaces of Curriculum: Rethinking "Community" and Re-Engaging Educators - The Aesthetic Moment in Education - Disrupting our Imagined Communities: The Role of Ritual in Promoting Cosmopolitan Curriculum Communities - Re-Assessing and Re-Capturing Space Through Radical Curriculum - Urban Spaces - Curriculum as Transactional Aesthetic.
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Series Foreword Part I: Introduction 1. History and Hope of Urban Education 2. Making a Difference in Urban Schools Part II :3. Contexts and Challenges: Beginning the Conversation 4. Educators as Architects of Reform: Continuing the... more
Series Foreword Part I: Introduction 1. History and Hope of Urban Education 2. Making a Difference in Urban Schools Part II :3. Contexts and Challenges: Beginning the Conversation 4. Educators as Architects of Reform: Continuing the Conversation 5. Transformative Action Plans: Enacting the Conversation Part III :6. Politics and Policies: Beginning the Conversation 7. Building Blocks for Reform Coalitions: Continuing the Conversation 8. Agents of Change: Enacting the Conversation Glossary Resources
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Background According to Bolman and Deal (2003), policymakers often step in to make changes when management fails, and these efforts rarely have the desired effect within organizations. This phenomenon has been experienced in Illinois in... more
Background According to Bolman and Deal (2003), policymakers often step in to make changes when management fails, and these efforts rarely have the desired effect within organizations. This phenomenon has been experienced in Illinois in recent years regarding the professional development of teachers. The State’s policymakers responded to calls from the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (1996) regarding teacher quality and followed suit by establishing Illinois Professional Teaching Standards as well as additional legislation to increase the degree to which Illinois teachers engage in professional development (Bradley, Beckwith, & Price, 2001). In 1997, the Illinois legislature passed House Bill 542 (Public Act 90-548) which changed teacher tenure requirements to a four-year, multitiered system that called for the accumulation of professional development credit for all teachers. According to the Bill, all Illinois teachers had to have Certificate Renewal Plans appr...
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"The Red Light in the Ivory Tower: Contexts and Implications of Entrepreneurial Education" critically analyzes the operational behaviors of prestigious and prestige-seeking universities, particularly within the context of budget... more
"The Red Light in the Ivory Tower: Contexts and Implications of Entrepreneurial Education" critically analyzes the operational behaviors of prestigious and prestige-seeking universities, particularly within the context of budget shortfalls and increasing competition. The book challenges entrepreneurial activities within universities by exploring the costs of such ventures in terms of honoring commitments to faculty and students while maintaining integrity of institutional purpose. The book offers six case studies that illustrate the organizational behaviors influenced by prestige indicators. Ultimately, the book challenges readers to address the complex issues of leadership and power within the context of social, political, economic, and historical influences within higher education. By asking difficult questions about the entrepreneurial behaviors of prestigious and prestige-seeking universities, stakeholders can reimagine and reclaim a sense of purpose that can ultimately influence organizational identities and thus the degree to which their universities support and serve their students, faculty, and community.
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... Seventeen Effort: The Outgrowth of Individual Interest 57 Robert C. Morris Eighteen Growth ... of Pennsylvania Indiana, Pennsylvania J. Wesley Null The University of Texas-Austin Austin, Texas Maria ... Introduction Rick Breault and... more
... Seventeen Effort: The Outgrowth of Individual Interest 57 Robert C. Morris Eighteen Growth ... of Pennsylvania Indiana, Pennsylvania J. Wesley Null The University of Texas-Austin Austin, Texas Maria ... Introduction Rick Breault and Donna Adair Breault John Dewey is more than a ...
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My dissertation: 2000, Georgia State University
Addresses issues regarding the organizational culture and structure of PDSs. Explores how the intensification of the professoriate has impacted PDS work. Address tensions between school and university partners. Applies the organizational... more
Addresses issues regarding the organizational culture and structure of PDSs. Explores how the intensification of the professoriate has impacted PDS work. Address tensions between school and university partners. Applies the organizational analysis to Coburn's framework for going to scale. Argues for more research on PDS systems using scholars from leadership. a b s t r a c t This article addresses the challenges PDS partnerships face as they go to scale. Based on Coburn's (2005) notions of scale, the article uses organizational theory to analyze data from a ten-year qualitative meta-synthesis of PDS partnership research. Based upon the analysis, the article offers four recommendations: PDS partnerships should sustain strong trajectories of research regarding their work; Stakeholders in PDS partnerships need to ensure that faculty and staff have adequate support to thrive; PDS partnerships need to be based upon enabling bureaucratic structures; and PDS partners need to create opportunities to engage with each other in positive, normative spaces.
This book attempts to re-imagine the purpose of the doctorate, which has historically been used to prepare leaders who will work to improve the sciences (social and physical), humanities, and professions, while articulating curriculum as... more
This book attempts to re-imagine the purpose of the doctorate, which has historically been used to prepare leaders who will work to improve the sciences (social and physical), humanities, and professions, while articulating curriculum as a living shape where students, faculty, and institution melded in a humanist and creative process. This idea, seriously eroded by the explosion in doctoral degrees between the early 1970s (20,000 doctorate per year) and last year (to over 46,000)—and an explosion in doctoral and research universities that has created a crossroads for the doctorate in America. We believe the value of a doctorate is Intellectual Capital, and are particularly interested in encouraging refl ection as an important characteristic of a successful quality doctoral program. We posit that a " good doctoral " experience fosters active engagement in refl ection on all elements of our work— the intellectual, advisory, and pedagogical work of faculty, curricular opportunities, as well as the intellectual of the doctoral candidates through an avocation that drives research and theory in our fi elds. Specifi c issues raised in this edited volume include comprehensive analysis of programs, rethinking evaluation and programmatic coherence, doctoral degrees beyond the discipline, subject, and fi eld, and implications of individual identity. Along with authors' chapters, we paid attention to encourage refl ection as an important characteristic of a quality doctoral program; positing that " good doctoral " experiences foster active engagement in refl ection on all elements of the doctoral experience, including program and curricular issues, personal relationships, work, and the creation of a community of scholars. S e n s e P u b l i s h e r s DIVS
E ducators have long operated under the assumption that principals have a signifi cant effect on schools as well as the teachers who work there. These claims have been supported through a number of recent studies (Bottoms &
A publication in C & P's annual book in 2010.
This was a piece written in one of C & P's annual publications around 2006.
This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities educators face with the Common Core Standards and it argues that in order for the Standards to be implemented well, educators must embrace third-order curricular change. This requires... more
This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities educators face with the Common Core Standards and it argues that in order for the Standards to be implemented well, educators must embrace third-order curricular change. This requires an explicit ideological shift. That that end, the paper offers Dewey's theory of inquiry as a theoretical framework through which these shifts can occur.
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Paper presented at AERA in 2011
Schools and school systems are bureaucratic organizations. I doubt that many folks would argue against this statement. Throughout history, particularly during what Kliebard refers to as the height of the social efficiency movement of... more
Schools and school systems are bureaucratic organizations. I doubt that many folks would argue against this statement. Throughout history, particularly during what Kliebard refers to as the height of the social efficiency movement of early industrial America, we can see evidence of schooling as a bureaucratic machine. Even in more recent years when the corporation may be a more apt metaphor for schooling than a factory, the qualities that Weber (1946) associated with bureaucracy are clearly evident within schools – and none more so than large urban districts. For example, like Weber's bureaucracies, urban districts are governed by rules and regulations, and there is an hierarchy of power to oversee the compliance of subordinates. As we can see with the fallout of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the tight controls of prescribed curriculum and the culture of surveillance, control over and compliance among teachers is the order of the day. More specifically, while there has always been bureaucratic authority within schools, current efforts within NCLB make the authority far more explicit and give that authority far more power over the daily lives of teachers and students. The locus of control of that authority has moved from an operational to an institutional context wherein teachers who were once free to exercise judgment are now micromanaged to the point where in many urban schools we see what Haberman refers to as a " pedagogy of poverty. " When the operational center of bureaucratic practices shifts from a system level to a school level, distinctions in operations can and do emerge among schools within a district. Thus, as we see in Atlanta and elsewhere, schools within districts that
A paper from AERA 2003