Failing with proof: Considerations of queerly failing in visual research

Journal of School Leadership

Stasicky

2023

Self Cite

How do school leaders make sense of the mess of the regimes of the normal (Warner, 1993) when they themselves are beyond the norm? While we may be beyond the normal, we are also “awash in the flow of the everyday” (Manalansan, 2018, p. 2). Though we may resist and see ourselves as beyond the norm (Weiser et al., 2019), we are never “in a position of exteriority in relation” (Foucault, 1978, p. 95) to the norms of power. Using data from several different projects collected over the past several years, we conceptualize a new way to consider not only data, but also how embracing new formations of leadership, which may appear messy, can work toward liberatory praxis. Drawing upon our archive of previous projects (DeMartino & Weiser, 2021; Weiser, 2018; Weiser et al., 2019, DeMartino, 2020) that have been published, as well as completed but not-yet-published projects, we funk (Warner, 1993) up our relations to these archives (Cvetkovich, 2003; Manalansan, 2014) to uncover how we have been engaged in the act of making a mess through our research. Parallel to the idea of failure as distinctly queer (Halberstam, 2011),we aim to understand how engaging in the messiness of identity-based research using art and visual methods (Leavy, 2017) can provide pathways forward for educational leaders who are willing to get dirty in order to support members of the educational community who do not fit cleanly into cisheteropatriarchal standards.

Section: Funking Up Our Research: a Methodological Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Like a Pig in Mud: Rejecting the Manicured Boundaries of the Patriarchy

Journal of School Leadership

Stasicky

2023

Self Cite

“…Using a bricolage approach to method, in an attempt to create multiple avenues for interpretation of the data was crucial to capture a more indepth understanding of the experiences of participants. However, anytime photos are involved in research, ethical concerns must be addressed, and we must engage in continuous and ongoing consent (Weiser, 2020). This additional element of the project adds depth and nuance to our understanding of the responses, both individual and institutional, and also local and nationally, to the pandemic.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Administrative Leadership in Times of a Global Health Crisis: Voices and Images From the Field

2021

Front. Educ.

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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic took the world into crisis. We saw the virus alter a multitude of spheres worldwide, including our healthcare, economies, politics, social processes, and education. In fact, the impact of COVID-19 on educational administration took our leaders into forced emergency measures. Our study aims to better understand the experiences of educational administrators under crisis to ascertain what might be learned on how educational institutions may better respond to the crisis in the future. These stories were collected from educational leaders, both from K-12 and higher education, throughout the United States. In brief, this article is framed in the theory and literature associated with the complexity of leading in times of crisis. We explore the resiliency of leadership forged in crisis and the rethinking of administrative as administration as a caring and trustful acts. Our research began as a hermeneutic phenomenological interview study, but transitions into a two-round project, where after the first interview, participants were invited to share some images that typify and speak to the experiences being educational administrators during this time. We are engaged in sensitive topics that are ongoing and changing. Moreover, throughout, we are asking for images that speak to their experiences. Across both K-12 and higher education, our results indicated varied responses, from immediate to delayed administrative action. However, albeit they looked contextually different, there are clear indications the participants valued continuous, transparent communication, authentic caring, trust, and agency. In our discussion, we elaborate on the distinction between what the institutional response was as compared to what was valued by our educational leaders. Finally, as a contribution to the field, we seek to provide guidance for future administrators in crisis based on our own experiences and the recommendations provided by our educational leaders.

Striving for Equity in Pandemic Times

Handbook of Research on Inequities in Online Education During Global Crises

2021

This chapter considers the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the reality of educational administrators in U.S.-based institutions of education. Looking closely at 17 educational administrators from both K-12 systems and institutions of higher education, the authors come to a more comprehensive understanding of crisis leadership and its impact on equitable educational practices – both for students as well as for the administrators themselves. This chapter is based on a larger project the authors undertook to explore through narratives and photography the experiences of administrators during the global COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020. This chapter illustrates the ways that communication, support, and equitable solutions for the learning community are and are not well articulated by leaders. The authors close out this chapter with recommendations for educational leaders during times of crisis as well as for potential follow-up research.