Meet VICE PRESIDENT DR. MÓNICA BYRNE-JIMÉNEZ
How do you perceive your role as a scholar and academic?
My first step on the path to becoming a scholar was as a 4th grade bilingual teacher in the Bronx. My belief that our work as academics can make a difference in schools is rooted in my years as a practitioner. In conversations with my graduate students, I often tell them that I am still a practitioner, it is just that my “practice” is different. I am still a teacher, I still care about the learning and success of my students, I still want to strengthen school communities, and I still want to transform schools into places of joy and learning. This has not changed because I now work in a university setting. What has changed are the tools at my disposal and the network of people engaged with me in that work. I think, as a field, we need to stay focused on the dreams of the children and adults in schools so as not lose sight of what really matters and why we do our work.
Please tell our members a bit about yourself and your research interests.
I have always been curious about how schools foster the conditions that help educators – leaders in particular – to learn. Again, if I think back to my experiences as an early career teacher, I did not get many chances to reflect, collaborate, or receive substantive feedback on anything that I was doing in the classroom. There was no thought about my own professional learning and certainly no evidence of organizational learning. The other area I explore is the relationship between identity and leadership, particularly among Latinx leaders. It is important for leaders to know how and from who they learned leadership across their entire lives. Our understanding of leadership reflects deeply held values and the perspectives of family and community. These need to be explored as both sources of strength and as beliefs that may need to be overcome. As I tell my dissertation students, “research is mesearch.” So knowing the roots of our questions and areas of inquiry tells us who we are and allows us to be guided by our passion to answer a question or set of questions. Rather than shying away from these opportunities for self-inquiry, we should embrace them as an important part of our work.
What are some of your previous experiences in Division A and AERA?
Like many of us, as a graduate student AERA was the first experience in which I was socialized into the field. I will never forget my first AERA in New Orleans where I felt like a kid in a candy store. I had no idea that so many people were developing, researching, discussing so many big ideas. It was powerful and inspiring. Since then, my experience has not changed and every AERA I go to some sessions that have nothing directly to do with my own work but that expand my thinking and worldview. That to me is the most exciting thing about being a member of AERA and Division A.
What inspired you to run for your position?
Simply put, I was inspired by the people in Division A. There are so many doing the day-to-day work of understanding what is happening in schools/districts/communities and preparing new generations of school/district leaders. These individuals do their work with such deep commitment and high standards that who would not want to contribute to that! And if in some small way I can create conditions and develop relationships that amplify this work, I will have been successful as VP.
What do you hope to accomplish in your position?
As the Vice President, I hope to continue to build on the work of past Division A VPs. Primarily the work of the VP is to strengthen our community of scholars and find ways to grow and deepen our membership. This includes making sure that more voices are heard and that we purposefully create spaces where more and more scholars and practitioners feel welcome. A second role of the VP is to represent and advocate for the interests of Division A within the larger AERA organization. Educational leadership spans across the many disciplines and interest groups within AERA, and could unite a wide range fields in the face of increasingly hostile educational policies – policies that dehumanize children, families, and educators alike. Even as we “study” school leadership, it is equally important that we take active steps in becoming leaders ourselves. Lastly, I would like to strengthen our ties with other educational leadership organizations, nationally and internationally (the University Council for Educational Administration, the International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership, and the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society, among others). We need to forge these relationships both to inform and be informed by others doing similar work in other contexts.
What would you like the readers to know about you and your journey regarding leadership and Division A?
It is safe to say that the journey towards leadership never ends. Just when you think you have learned something about leadership, be it school leadership or your own, you realize that you have something more to learn. We are seekers of knowledge, after all! My leadership has been and will continue to be grounded in the hopes and needs and dreams and pain of the Latinx community, beginning in my own family (which crosses several borders) and moving outward. My stance is always invitational and I welcome others to learn about my experiences, worldview, and leadership as much as I seek to learn from others about theirs. I use this same approach to my research, teaching, and relationship building. I hope to build on this to create a more inclusive, responsive, and equitable community within Division A.
What is your vision of the education leadership professoriate? What role should Division A play in making this vision a reality?
When I was an undergrad I thought I could change the world for the better. As a professor, I think we can still do that but my definition of the “world” has changed or narrowed to focus on education. We, as a community, have the opportunity – and responsibility – to make the world a better place for the learning and development of children, educators, and families. If the teacher walkouts this past spring did nothing else, they should remind us that our goals and the goals of millions and teachers and leaders across the country are tightly intertwined. So we must work with “practitioners” to create the schools we want for our own children. As one of the voices of scholars in educational leadership, Division A should find ways to connect what we learn through our work to the work of teachers and leaders in communities.
My first step on the path to becoming a scholar was as a 4th grade bilingual teacher in the Bronx. My belief that our work as academics can make a difference in schools is rooted in my years as a practitioner. In conversations with my graduate students, I often tell them that I am still a practitioner, it is just that my “practice” is different. I am still a teacher, I still care about the learning and success of my students, I still want to strengthen school communities, and I still want to transform schools into places of joy and learning. This has not changed because I now work in a university setting. What has changed are the tools at my disposal and the network of people engaged with me in that work. I think, as a field, we need to stay focused on the dreams of the children and adults in schools so as not lose sight of what really matters and why we do our work.
Please tell our members a bit about yourself and your research interests.
I have always been curious about how schools foster the conditions that help educators – leaders in particular – to learn. Again, if I think back to my experiences as an early career teacher, I did not get many chances to reflect, collaborate, or receive substantive feedback on anything that I was doing in the classroom. There was no thought about my own professional learning and certainly no evidence of organizational learning. The other area I explore is the relationship between identity and leadership, particularly among Latinx leaders. It is important for leaders to know how and from who they learned leadership across their entire lives. Our understanding of leadership reflects deeply held values and the perspectives of family and community. These need to be explored as both sources of strength and as beliefs that may need to be overcome. As I tell my dissertation students, “research is mesearch.” So knowing the roots of our questions and areas of inquiry tells us who we are and allows us to be guided by our passion to answer a question or set of questions. Rather than shying away from these opportunities for self-inquiry, we should embrace them as an important part of our work.
What are some of your previous experiences in Division A and AERA?
Like many of us, as a graduate student AERA was the first experience in which I was socialized into the field. I will never forget my first AERA in New Orleans where I felt like a kid in a candy store. I had no idea that so many people were developing, researching, discussing so many big ideas. It was powerful and inspiring. Since then, my experience has not changed and every AERA I go to some sessions that have nothing directly to do with my own work but that expand my thinking and worldview. That to me is the most exciting thing about being a member of AERA and Division A.
What inspired you to run for your position?
Simply put, I was inspired by the people in Division A. There are so many doing the day-to-day work of understanding what is happening in schools/districts/communities and preparing new generations of school/district leaders. These individuals do their work with such deep commitment and high standards that who would not want to contribute to that! And if in some small way I can create conditions and develop relationships that amplify this work, I will have been successful as VP.
What do you hope to accomplish in your position?
As the Vice President, I hope to continue to build on the work of past Division A VPs. Primarily the work of the VP is to strengthen our community of scholars and find ways to grow and deepen our membership. This includes making sure that more voices are heard and that we purposefully create spaces where more and more scholars and practitioners feel welcome. A second role of the VP is to represent and advocate for the interests of Division A within the larger AERA organization. Educational leadership spans across the many disciplines and interest groups within AERA, and could unite a wide range fields in the face of increasingly hostile educational policies – policies that dehumanize children, families, and educators alike. Even as we “study” school leadership, it is equally important that we take active steps in becoming leaders ourselves. Lastly, I would like to strengthen our ties with other educational leadership organizations, nationally and internationally (the University Council for Educational Administration, the International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership, and the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society, among others). We need to forge these relationships both to inform and be informed by others doing similar work in other contexts.
What would you like the readers to know about you and your journey regarding leadership and Division A?
It is safe to say that the journey towards leadership never ends. Just when you think you have learned something about leadership, be it school leadership or your own, you realize that you have something more to learn. We are seekers of knowledge, after all! My leadership has been and will continue to be grounded in the hopes and needs and dreams and pain of the Latinx community, beginning in my own family (which crosses several borders) and moving outward. My stance is always invitational and I welcome others to learn about my experiences, worldview, and leadership as much as I seek to learn from others about theirs. I use this same approach to my research, teaching, and relationship building. I hope to build on this to create a more inclusive, responsive, and equitable community within Division A.
What is your vision of the education leadership professoriate? What role should Division A play in making this vision a reality?
When I was an undergrad I thought I could change the world for the better. As a professor, I think we can still do that but my definition of the “world” has changed or narrowed to focus on education. We, as a community, have the opportunity – and responsibility – to make the world a better place for the learning and development of children, educators, and families. If the teacher walkouts this past spring did nothing else, they should remind us that our goals and the goals of millions and teachers and leaders across the country are tightly intertwined. So we must work with “practitioners” to create the schools we want for our own children. As one of the voices of scholars in educational leadership, Division A should find ways to connect what we learn through our work to the work of teachers and leaders in communities.