Welcome.
My name is Jennifer Friend, and my mission as an educational leader is to support equity and social justice through engaging in activities that empower and transform individuals, communities, and society at large. The purpose of this website is to share activities, ideas, and resources designed to illuminate existing inequities in education and society in order to promote academic excellence in learning environments that are inclusive of all community members.
I currently serve as the Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. I am also a tenured Professor of Education and continue to engage in teaching and mentoring students at the graduate level. Prior to transitioning to leadership and faculty roles in higher education in 2005, I served as a middle school principal and teacher for 13 years.
My research focuses on educational leadership and issues of social justice in U.S. public education. Innovative methods associated with my scholarship use advanced technologies and digital video production techniques grounded in post-qualitative and arts-based inquiry. Current projects include the Kansas City Speaks: Stories of School Desegregation oral history and digitization educational website and Road Tripping Throughout the South: Urban and Suburban Youth Exploring the Civil Rights Movement Together.
Recent publications have appeared in the open access International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER), the Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research (JULTR), the Journal of Research in Leadership Education (JRLE), and Educational Studies. From 2012 to 2016, I served as the founder and co-chair of the annual University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Film Festival featuring short films that explore the landscape of quality leadership preparation, scholarship, policy, and practice.
(c) All content Copyright Dr. Jennifer Friend under creative commons.
I currently serve as the Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. I am also a tenured Professor of Education and continue to engage in teaching and mentoring students at the graduate level. Prior to transitioning to leadership and faculty roles in higher education in 2005, I served as a middle school principal and teacher for 13 years.
My research focuses on educational leadership and issues of social justice in U.S. public education. Innovative methods associated with my scholarship use advanced technologies and digital video production techniques grounded in post-qualitative and arts-based inquiry. Current projects include the Kansas City Speaks: Stories of School Desegregation oral history and digitization educational website and Road Tripping Throughout the South: Urban and Suburban Youth Exploring the Civil Rights Movement Together.
Recent publications have appeared in the open access International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER), the Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research (JULTR), the Journal of Research in Leadership Education (JRLE), and Educational Studies. From 2012 to 2016, I served as the founder and co-chair of the annual University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Film Festival featuring short films that explore the landscape of quality leadership preparation, scholarship, policy, and practice.
(c) All content Copyright Dr. Jennifer Friend under creative commons.
Book Publications
Great Expectations: What Kids Want from Our Urban Schools
This book explores meaningful and effective use of student voice in urban school renewal efforts through strategies that include: surveys, interviews, focus groups, visual and video projects, social media, and student participation in governance. Chapters provide a definition of student voice, context for public schooling in the United States, and introduce a framework for including student voice in school improvement processes. Examples guide readers to implementation of the framework to include student voices in diverse educational settings. Authentic voices of approximately 175 students interviewed by the authors express what it is that they really want from public schools and how pre K-12 educators can provide a structure for ongoing student participation in governance and the work of the school. Foreword by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings.
Available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle from Amazon.
Available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook from Information Age Publishing.
Great Expectations: What Kids Want from Our Urban Schools
This book explores meaningful and effective use of student voice in urban school renewal efforts through strategies that include: surveys, interviews, focus groups, visual and video projects, social media, and student participation in governance. Chapters provide a definition of student voice, context for public schooling in the United States, and introduce a framework for including student voice in school improvement processes. Examples guide readers to implementation of the framework to include student voices in diverse educational settings. Authentic voices of approximately 175 students interviewed by the authors express what it is that they really want from public schools and how pre K-12 educators can provide a structure for ongoing student participation in governance and the work of the school. Foreword by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings.
Available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle from Amazon.
Available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook from Information Age Publishing.
Principal 2.0: Technology and Educational Leadership
This volume of essays provides insights into educational technology from a diverse set of vantage points. Each chapter provides school leaders with both conceptual insights and practical guides. Moreover, the authors of these insights and guides are eclectic including: current K-12 school educators and students, professors and graduate students of educational technology and educational leadership, and technology industry leaders. Our goal was to provide a thoughtful and thought-provoking set of essays that propels your own work in the world of educational technology forward.
The audience for this book includes teachers, school and district leaders, educational technologists, educational policymakers, and higher education faculty. Chapters demonstrate a number of specific uses of advanced technologies in schools, in educational leadership, and in leadership preparatory programs. Chapters are accompanied by screen-captured images and links to multimedia examples that are accessible to readers via the Internet, including digital artifacts of leadership and learning that will guide readers to implementation in diverse educational settings.
Available in hardcover and paperback from Amazon, and from Information Age Publishing in hardcover, paperback, and eBook.
This volume of essays provides insights into educational technology from a diverse set of vantage points. Each chapter provides school leaders with both conceptual insights and practical guides. Moreover, the authors of these insights and guides are eclectic including: current K-12 school educators and students, professors and graduate students of educational technology and educational leadership, and technology industry leaders. Our goal was to provide a thoughtful and thought-provoking set of essays that propels your own work in the world of educational technology forward.
The audience for this book includes teachers, school and district leaders, educational technologists, educational policymakers, and higher education faculty. Chapters demonstrate a number of specific uses of advanced technologies in schools, in educational leadership, and in leadership preparatory programs. Chapters are accompanied by screen-captured images and links to multimedia examples that are accessible to readers via the Internet, including digital artifacts of leadership and learning that will guide readers to implementation in diverse educational settings.
Available in hardcover and paperback from Amazon, and from Information Age Publishing in hardcover, paperback, and eBook.