RESEARCH PROJECT: Leading as Co-Conspirators: Discovering the Prismatic Equity Work of Activist School Leaders

Optical Glass Triangular Prism

YES! Principals are ACTIVIST

School Leaders committed to Equity work

But what are your Stories?


This Research project aims to shine a prism, a paradigm shift, on Principals’ experiences and stories of their Equity work.

Cropped Image of Office Workers Attaching Wooden Gears to Each Other on a Desk in the Office.
Storytelling on a Blue Background

Some of the questions being investigated are:


  • How is equity as an activist leadership competency embodied by leaders in schools?
  • What can we learn from the stories of principals in the field engaging in equity work that would inform leadership practices and ongoing professional learning?


Become a Research Participant

We are looking to have conversations with Principals and Vice-Principals.

Woman with a Beige Hijab Working on Her Laptop

Option

#1:

Online Focus Group

Spring 2024

Woman Wearing Teal Dress Sitting on Chair Talking to Man

Option #2:

1:1 Story-telling Conversation (Interview) with the Research Team

Spring / Summer 2024

A Man Talking to a Woman

Optional Next Step:

Equity Talk Video recording of your story hosted on OPC’s website

Fall 2024

Choose Option #1 or #2.

Video recording is an optional next step and can be decided upon later.

Get to Know Our Research Team

Ken MacKinnon, EdD

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education


University of Prince Edward Island

Erin Keith, EdD

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education


St. Francis Xavier University

Donna Kowalchuk, EdD

Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Education


Trent University

Dr. Ken MacKinnon (he/him) is currently a professor of educational leadership in the Faculty of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island. Ken was a teacher, vice principal and principal with the TDSB for 21 years prior to joining the faculty. He is interested in how school leaders practice leadership through an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and equitable lens.

Dr. Erin Keith (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at St. Francis Xavier University (StFX). Her teaching and research focuses on inclusion, EDIIADB literacy related to inclusive education, equity-based praxis, and decolonizing pedagogies that center heartwork, ethics of care, and listening. Erin is an Ontario Certified Teacher with extensive work supporting students with diverse and complex needs through an empathetic, culturally-responsive, strength-based lens that honours and engages families as partners in learning, belonging, and flourishing. Erin’s reflexive research is rooted in decolonizing methodologies inspired and guided by many Indigenous, Black, and racialized scholars whose rich knowledge guides and grows her own cultural humility, (un)learning, and renewed understanding of educational transformation.

Dr. Donna Kowalchuk (she/her) is an Adjunct Professor in Graduate Studies and a Faculty Advisor with the School of Education at Trent University. She is also an educator and administrator with over thirty years of experience in leading rural and urban elementary and secondary schools in Ontario from a critical and anti-racist pedagogy. Her research interests include investigating how social and historical constructions of education policy and leadership intersect with critical theory and the practice of social justice.

We would love to listen to your stories. Contact us.

Laptop placed on white table in creative workplace

Ken Mackinnon, Primary Investigator

kenmackinnon@upei.ca

Erin Keith, Co-Investigator

ekeith@stfx.ca

Donna Kowalchuk, co-Investigator

donnakowalchuk@trentu.ca

The research ethics protocols being strictly followed for this project have been approved by both UPEI and StFX’s Research Ethics boards. This research investigation is in partnership with the Ontario Principals‘ Council (OPC).