Please select ONe Candidate for the run off 2020 ICPEL Board election
![]() Athanase Gahungu
Video Introduction: http://somup.com/cYjfD160To 1. Briefly summarize your professional educational experience as (a) a practitioner (if applicable) and your professorial experience. Use the reverse order as the most recent first, etc. I am professor of Educational Leadership and Administration and facilitator of Principal Preparation at Chicago State University. A graduate of l’ Université du Burundi (1983), I hold a postgraduate Diploma in English Language Teaching from the School of Education at Leeds University, UK; and a master’s degree and a principal certificate and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University (with emphasis in Educational Administration and Educational Foundations. Upon graduation from Northern Arizona University, I worked as a principal investigator for several research projects for the Institute for Human Development, an Arizona University Affiliated program. I also taught several graduate and undergraduate level courses. I have been with the principal preparation program at Chicago State University (CSU) since January 2001, where I have served booth in instructional and leadership positions. I have taught many courses both at the master’s and doctoral level, including Educational Policy and Politics of Education, Qualitative Research, Dissertation, Integration of Technology in Curriculum and Instruction, Principal Internship, School Supervision, Grant Writing, Educational Research, and Supervision and Administration of Literacy and Numeracy. I served as the project coordinator for the Chicago Public Schools/CSU Certification Program for retired Military Personnel. I was instrumental in developing CSU’s first doctorate—Ed.D. in Educational Leadership—and the Illinois Superintendent Endorsement program—as well as in redesigning CSU’s principal preparation program. The development of an Ed.D. program at Chicago State University would not have been possible without the generosity I received from a number of prominent members of then NCPEA who volunteered sample curricula, policies, handbooks, and advice. I assisted CSU in writing the proposal for the Teaching and Learning Materials Program (TLMP) program in Ghana. In addition to working in higher education, and prior to moving to the United States, I was a secondary school teacher of subjects including Mathematics, English as a Foreign Language and Civic Education in Burundi. From secondary education, I became an instructional leader and researcher in Burundi’s curriculum and research development for secondary schools (Bureau d’ Etudes et de Programmes de l’ Enseignement Secondaire, as well as assistant director in Burundi’s curriculum research for technical education (Bureau d’ Etudes de l’ Enseignement Technique). My major administrative assignment was that of Director of Cabinet in the Ministry of the Interior in Burundi, where I coordinated public administration for the ministry. I wish everybody in school administration would have an opportunity to step outside and work in publica administration. I think the experience taught me how to “get things done,” and build more relationships and network than we do in higher or secondary education. Besides attending several annual conferences of the National Council for Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a presenter, I became a reviewer of the Council’s Educational Leadership Review and the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation (IJELP). I also have reviewed manuscripts for the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and a number of textbooks. I am a past recipient of the British Council Scholarship and the Fulbright Scholarship. I have received a few awards, including the College of Education’s Distinguished Educator, CSU’s Global Ambassador, CSU/Chicago Teachers’ College Alumni Association’s Outstanding Professor, CSU’s Faculty Excellence Award, and College of Education’s 2019 Educator of the Year. 2. Summarize your most important and/or recent publications and presentations and indicate your current research interests or focus. These past few years, I have been involved in exploring issues and new developments in 3 areas: (1) school disciplines, with emphasis on non-exclusionary discipline practices, (2) international collaborative research and service, and (3) the integration of culturally displaced families and their children in the U.S. educational system. All three topics are dear to me, both personally and professionally. I have bits and bits of drafts, concepts, and leads I would like to pursue. In addition to these three topics, I have been involved in partnerships. I have led the principal preparation program, the College of Education and the University in creating partnerships with school districts and schools. For example, we currently have a very promising principal endorsement pipeline with the support of the Chicago Public Education Fund. We regularly host conferences and workshops on current issues facing educational leadership. Thus, these past two months, I hosted two timely workshops on integrity in leadership and optimizing learning for students during the coronavirus pandemic. 3. Briefly indicate your experience with ICPEL and the larger profession and any organizational roles you have held in the past in professional associations. Ever since I joined NCPEA, then ICPEL, I have been a reviewer for the Council’s publications. I have also had several manuscripts published by NCPEA/ICPEL. 4. Briefly indicate why you wish to serve as a member of the ICPEL Executive Board. If I join the Executive Board of ICPEL, my first priority will be to strengthen collaboration among individual and university members on program development, best practices in educating school leaders, and dissemination of information. I would like to encourage course offerings, partnerships in internships, memoranda of understanding in and with overseas universities and cooperation agencies. I will work to encourage and provide assistance collaboration and networking between ICPEL members and our colleagues around the world. I would like to promote discussions on strengthening social foundations of education in leadership preparation, particularly in countries where school administration is not an academic discipline yet. I do believe I could put my past experience as a curriculum research and development professional in my native Burundi, as well as my recent collaborative work in South Africa, Ghana and Ethiopia to good use. |
![]() Denver Fowler
Video Introduction: https://youtu.be/7H7HgBxyknw 1. Briefly summarize your professional educational experience as (a) a practitioner (if applicable) and your professorial experience. Use the reverse order as the most recent first, etc. From 2003-2015, I served in the PreK-12 educational setting as a coach, teacher, athletic director, technology coordinator, and school administrator in the state of Ohio, receiving tenure as a teacher in 2010. During this tenure, I was named the State Administrator of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators, and was nominated by NASSP for the National Administrator of the Year in the United States. I received this award and nomination for leading a school turn- around initiative in which my school building went from B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s to all A’s on our state report card. To this day, I remain a licensed Superintendent, Principal and Teacher in the states of Ohio and California. In the higher education setting, I have served as an Adjunct Instructor and Lecturer, Professor of Educational Leadership, Graduate Program Coordinator, Doctoral Program Chair, and I have served as Interim Chair of a School of Education. Below I have highlighted my tenure in the higher education setting. 2019-Present Franklin University, Doctoral Program Chair (Ed.D. Program) & Professor 2017-2019 California State University, Sacramento, Program Coordinator (Graduate Certificate Programs); Assistant Professor 2015-2017 The University of Mississippi, Assistant Professor 2014-2015 University of West Florida – Adjunct Professor 2012-2014 Bowling Green State University – Adjunct Professor 2009-2015 The Ohio State University – Adjunct Professor 2. Summarize your most important and/or recent publications and presentations and indicate your current research interests or focus. To date, I have written two books (three more in-contract), published seven peer-reviewed chapters in books, 12 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and 12 articles in practitioner magazines on the topic of educational leadership. I have presented in 19 U.S. states (including the District of Columbia) and nine countries (Spain, Africa, China, Greece, Italy, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Turkey, & England), also on the topic of educational leadership. My research is focused on: (1) the ethical leadership perspectives of superintendents/principals and how they vary according to their leader demographics and state/school/building district characteristics; (2) equitable and social justice leadership practices in the PreK-12 educational setting; and (3) how educational technology is utilized effectively in the PreK-12 educational setting. Selected recent publications include: Fowler, D. & Graham, S. (2019). Leadership practices for supporting equity in the PreK-12 educational setting. In R. Papa (Ed.). The handbook on promoting social justice in education. Berlin, Germany: Springer. (Blind Peer Review) Fowler, D. (2019). Ethics and the superintendency. In M. Mountford & L. Wallace (Eds.). The contemporary superintendent: (R)Evolutionary leadership in an era of reform. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. (Blind Peer Review) Brown, K. & Fowler, D. (2018). Data-driven decisions: Using equity theory to highlight implications for underserved students. AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 15(4), 17-27. Fowler, D., Edwards. R., & Hsu, H. (2018). An investigation of state superintendents in the United States: Ethical leadership perspectives, state leader demographics, and state education characteristics. Athens Journal of Education, 5(3), 209-246. 3. Briefly indicate your experience with ICPEL and the larger profession and any organizational roles you have held in the past in professional associations. I have been a member of ICPEL since 2014. I have attended and/or presented at every conference since 2014. From 2015-2017, I served as the elected-President of the Mississippi Association of Professors of Educational Leadership (MAPEL) – a state affiliate of ICPEL that I helped to launch with ICPEL Executive Director, Dr. James Berry and University of Central Florida, Professor Emerita, Dr. Valerie Storey. In this role, I was also fundamental in launching the Mississippi Journal of Educational Leadership (connected to MAPEL). Other organizations that I serve/have served as an active member and in leadership roles include WERA, AERA (& 3 SIGs), UCEA (UCEA-CSLEE), AASA, ACSA, AMLE, OCPEA, CAPEA, ANAHEI, OASSA, BASA, MASA, CFA, ASCD, and others. 4. Briefly indicate why you wish to serve as a member of the ICPEL Executive Board. By serving on the ICPEL Executive Board, I will have the opportunity to work closely with other board members in an asserted effort to help further support our nation’s professors of educational leadership (in the higher education setting) as well as practicing school leaders (in the PreK-12 educational setting). In addition, I see this service as an opportunity to help further close the gap between theory and practice, and continue my support for professors and practitioners in the areas of ethics, equity, inclusion, social justice, innovation, and excellence. |