Education
- Ed.D. 1999 – Temple University, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
- M.A. 1995 – Rowan University, Educational Administration
- B.A. 1989 – Immaculata College, Psychology and Theology with an Elementary Education Concentration
Areas of Expertise
- Social Justice and Equity
- Diversity and Cross-Cultural Understanding
- Principal Preparation Programs
- Social Foundations
- Middle Schools
- Educational Leadership
- School Administration
Background
Kathleen M. Brown brings 15 years of teaching and administrative experience to the professoriate, having served as a middle school teacher and elementary and middle school principal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey.
Brown promotes effective, site-based servant leadership that connects theory, practice and issues of social justice to break down walls and build a unified profession of culturally aware educators working toward equitable schooling for all. She approaches education from an ethic of social care and works personally and professionally toward changing the metaphor of schools from hierarchical bureaucracies to nurturing communities. She is committed to fostering a more humane, more responsive and much less technocratic approach to educational leadership.
Research
A skilled methodologist, Brown conducts well-crafted empirical studies that employ intensive interviewing and/or case study techniques triangulated with survey, observation and/or document analysis data.
By focusing her attention more squarely on the expansion of theoretical bases, Kathleen Brown is working on an original, creative and interdisciplinary research process in the field of educational leadership. The struggle for social justice in schools has become clearer in her research as she has sought greater understanding and solutions to a range of equity issues. This theoretical piece represents adult learning theory, transformative learning theory and critical social theory. While many agree that theory, research and practice should be intertwined to support the type of schooling few scholars offer ground-breaking, pragmatic approaches to developing truly transformative leaders. From a critical theorist perspective, her research offers a practical, process-oriented model responsive to the challenges of preparing educational leaders committed to social justice and equity.