Fall 2021 Newsletter

Webster University's EdD Newsletter Fall 2021

Dear Readers,

The EdD newsletter is designed for current and prospective students, as well as our alumni. It will keep you up-to-date on Webster University's Doctor of Education program. This includes news from our doctoral students, conference information, professional development opportunities, updates to the program, and more. It is scheduled to be published twice a year and it is available online.

Enjoy reading!

Dr. Lee-Johnson, Ph.D.

Director of Ed.D.

In This Issue 

Program Updates 

The Ed.D has undergone some exciting new changes. The program now has four emphases due to the recent restructuring of the special education program (pending the Graduate Council's approval). The emphases are:



These emphases will begin for the Fall 2022 cohort. New cohorts will begin every even year.


Even more exciting is our potential to develop an online Ed.D. program and an Ed.D. at Webster's global campus in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The online Ed.D. has been approved by the Graduate Department of Education and the Graduate Council. Final approval from the Office of Academic Affairs is pending due to the HLC paperwork needed for the addition. The Ed.D. Director, Dr. Lee-Johnson, had a meeting with the Leadership Council and colleagues in Tashkent for developing an Ed.D., which will be a breath of fresh air, as most of the existing programs follow the European model. A proposal has been submitted and is pending final approval for Fall 2023 admission.

Recent Works


Media Coverage:

Dr. Lee-Johnson, Director of the Ed.D. program, and Vincent Flewellen, doctoral student and Chief Diversity Officer here at Webster, were featured on various news outlets and public radio to discuss Critical Race Theory. Please listen to and read their discussions from the links below:


Publications:

New Book Chapter: Dr. Lee-Johnson recently published a book chapter in The Handbook of Critical Theoretical Research Methods in Education edited by Cheryl E. Matias. The chapter, Critical Chronotopic Analysis for Disrupting Whitewashedness in TESOL Teacher Education, focuses on utilizing critical chronotopic analysis as a theory and method to disrupt whitewashedness through the lens of the Bakhtinian theories of dialogism and heteroglossia. For more information regarding the book and chapter, please click here.


New (Forthcoming) Book Chapter: Dr. Roy Tamashiro, Professor Emeritus, also recently published a book chapter in a forthcoming book, Oral History and Qualitative Research: Educational Research for Social Justice, called The Layers of Oral Histories at Memorial Museums: Chronicles About Who We Are and Who We Are Likely to Become. Read more about the book here and watch this video of his presentation at the Peace & Justice Studies Association (PJSA) conference to learn about the themes he discusses in the chapter here.

In-press Article: Through a collaborative effort, Dr. Lee-Johnson and 11 doctoral students from the Transformative Learning in the Global Community emphasis have an in-press article, Adapting an Ethnographic Research to an Online Survey Amid COVID-19: Transformative Lens in Educational Research, through Sage's Doing Research Online. The article has been accepted and is currently being prepared for publication.

Book Project: Dr. Lee-Johnson is one of four editors for a book regarding the infamous Reggio Emilia approach. The book is currently under contract with Routledge.


Professional Conference Presentations:

From September 30-October 2, Ed.D. faculty and doctoral students presented at the Society of Philosophy and History of Education (SOPHE) Conference in Clayton, MO. The following are those who participated and their respective presentations:

Ed.D. Faculty:

Doctoral Students:


On October 25, Dr. Stephanie Mahfood, Associate Dean of the School of Education, and Kerri Fair, a doctoral student, presented at the Missouri Association of Colleges For Teacher Education (MACTE) Fall 2021 Conference with the presentation, "Making Lemonade from Lemons: A Redesign of the Intermediate Practicum Experience." To read an abstract about their presentation, click here.

Student Interviews

For this newsletter, we had the opportunity to interview doctoral students about their experiences during the EDOC 7901 Doctoral Apprenticeship course they took this past summer. We interviewed Jonathon Singler and Trezette Dixon, two doctoral students currently in the Transformative Learning in the Global Community Emphasis in the EdD program. Please read about their engaging experiences below. 


Jonathon Singler

Can you tell me some background information about yourself? What's your education background and your current occupation?


Jonathon is a 28-year-old from Texas and Spain that has had a few roadblocks along his education journey, creating a not-so-linear path. "My journey started with Webster in 2013, but it didn't work out," he stated, continuing that he then decided to attend community college in Texas to get his Associate's of Arts degree. Afterward, in 2016, Jonathon transferred to a university in Alaska, getting his Bachelor's of Arts in Liberal Studies with minors in counseling psychology and outdoor education. For his undergraduate thesis, he strayed from these disciplines and focused on his passion for chess to write about competency-based education with connections to chess education. "I realized there were gaps in the research and wanted to bring light to that," Jonathon explained.

 

With his passion for the human spirit and community work, Jonathon continued his education, receiving his Master's of Arts in Alaska, looking at after-school enrichment programs, and incorporating chess. He stated that he wanted to find out "What do children experience at the chessboard?" while looking at resilience and growth mindset within these students at the after-school enrichment programs.

 

From there, Jonathon moved to St. Louis to begin the Ed.D. program here at Webster. "It took me 8 years to finally get to Webster, but I'm glad I finally made it," he exclaimed. Alongside his studies, Jonathon is in the process of writing a book about chess education called Once-A-Pawn A Knight and developing a minor degree in chess in education here at Webster with Dr. Basiyr Rodney, Chair of the Department of Teacher Education.



Which option did you choose for the summer apprenticeship course (EDOC 7901) and why?


"There are a few contextual anecdotes I wish to share regarding the doctoral apprenticeship course designed by Dr. Lee-Johnson (Ed.D. Program Director and course professor) and the educational chess projects I worked on with others. Before attending Webster University in 2020, I had a conversation with GM Susan Polgar about chess as an academic subject in higher education. In fact, during 2013 and 2014, my attempts to join Webster University were to train as a student in her elite chess program while completing a degree - a personal dream I had since learning chess in high school. However, as mentioned, things did not pan out. Truthfully, I had personally wished a form of chess education existed for credit similar to music or other theory and performance-based degrees and struggled to find a degree program that was right for me. Now, as an education doctoral student, the inability to attend those two years for undergraduate study has come full circle. In 2019, GM Polgar shared her vision with me and spoke about establishing a chess-minor degree. She had already overseen multiple courses built for academic credit and was grateful for the university's support. As part of my undergraduate senior project at Alaska Pacific University, I had constructed a 16-week, 200-level chess course designed to be an introductory to the field. Each week was a new topic, intended to be ideas for individual courses, with unique projects for students to become knowledgeable on and off the chessboard. It is not every day you meet a hero, let alone be able to discuss and work on projects of similar interests. The courses and program were already underway before the course, but I continued working on them with other incredible people, thanks to the approval of Dr. Lee-Johnson."


With the development of the minor degree in chess in education, Jonathon chose to engage in the coursework design option, working alongside Dr. Rodney as his mentor. "For developing this degree, I used my interactions with faculty and reflections on my undergraduate research to scaffold how I wanted the courses to be executed," he explained. Given that Jonathon had already been developing the minor degree, this apprenticeship was an extension of his efforts in the prior spring. He described how there is a "big cliff" when it comes to chess education research. There is a plethora of research done for K-12 settings; however, there is a lack of research on college chess and its effects on higher education. Jonathon conveyed that his goal is to look at research in higher education and fill the gaps. "I am looking at this from an angle of passion, but the purpose is important as well."

 

In addition to working with Dr. Rodney, who did quality-controlled degree development, helped with paperwork, and attended meetings, Jonathon credited many other faculty, staff, and other professional experts who brought their unique differences to the table for this project. Such people are:

 


Can you tell me more about what you did for your project?


For the apprenticeship project, Jonathon focused on developing 5 courses for the minor degree. The first course he worked on was the introductory course, Intro to Chess in Education. According to Jonathon, this course serves to look at chess from not only a competitive side but also an academic side. "I started developing this course in undergrad actually and have been refining it ever since." The course provides students an educational overview of chess in education while exploring chess as a professional field. The next course, Chess and Artificial Intelligence, focuses on chess and its technology regarding an online education context. Jonathon co-created this course with Andrea Manzo, an International Master of chess from Italy. Chess and Artificial Intelligence is an introductory course to chess technology compared to the third created course, Chess Engine Analyses, which Mr. Manzo polished and taught with demonstrated expertise. "This [Chess Engine Anaylses] is the most academically rigorous course in the whole degree though an elective," Jonathon stated. The course teaches students to understand and manipulate computer thinking to maximize their learning potential based on their chess strength. While developing the fourth course, Chess Through Psychology, Jonathon reviewed psychology research in chess while reflecting on his undergraduate academic work in counseling psychology. Jonathon believes chess is a tool of self-discovery and how we can improve our lives one move at a time. Jonathon stated: "When a player begins to test their mettle and what they have learned competitively, many subjective truths manifest in an objective arena. Factors like memory, pattern recognition, decision-making, time management, strategic assessment and foresight, calculation, physiological response (emotions), and physical and mental health all compound into the result of each move and subsequently the game." The last course pays homage to Jonathon's community work background in his MA. Service Learning Project: Community Chess is a course that benefits communities and teaches students tangible networking skills and obtaining specific chess certifications. The course is designed to take place over an entire semester and ends with students presenting a project in a Socratic-style open forum where the audience is involved. "Each student's needs are different, so the projects are broad and abstract, but the core principles are still the same."

 

The minor degree in chess in education Jonathon is helping to develop will be an 18 credit program with 15 credits of core courses and 3 credits of labs presented as electives. The core courses focus on chess basics, education, teaching, history, psychology, business, and technology. Also, the degree is project-based, meaning that students are continuously creating a portfolio to use for future careers within the field of chess. Jonathon described how there is no clear definition of what a "chess educator" is and that what jobs are available in the field are quite limited. "I want to transform the students who take these classes from chess enthusiasts to chess educators." A degree such as this one has never quite been done before, so model programs, textbooks, research, etc., are essentially non-existent. "We are casting a wide net of academic options while ensuring practical growth is available for all students, whether experienced chess players or new enthusiasts. If approved at Webster University, this degree will build a foundation for others wanting to build a similar chess degree and even improve it based on what their students, communities, and institutions need," Jonathon happily noted.


What did you learn from this experience? How will this experience tie into your dissertation or career?


"Doctoral Apprenticeship was by far the most academically, professionally, and critically challenging eight-week course I have ever taken, where students were able to combine first-year knowledge into a tangible product." Jonathon described how he wished there was more time for the apprenticeship course to develop the courses further and a future course to revisit and continue the projects. Quoting his dad, he mentioned how you cannot strive for perfection since there is always room for improvement and that sometimes you have to start and finish with what is good enough. Additionally, Jonathon noted how he realized just how difficult developing coursework can be and that it should not be tackled alone. "You need to seek out others' experiences and thoughts," he explained, putting emphasis on the value that comes from doing so.

 

Regarding his dissertation, the courses and degrees he is helping to develop will help address the gaps in research. "You can't frankly discuss best practices because that assumes a lot of research has been done that can be read from, which isn't the case. There is only one chess journal dedicated for research," Jonathon elaborated. His goal is to find the most impactful and look at three different groups through a qualitative lens: 1) students, 2) faculty/staff of the degree courses, and 3) communities where students' projects overlap. For students, Jonathon hopes to see how the degree not only transforms them but also empowers them. "You need more than transformation. You need empowerment, too." With the faculty and staff in charge of teaching the degree's courses, he wants to define better the role of a chess educator given the lack of one currently. Lastly, the communities involved will have their needs heard and understood with students, considering that every community's needs differ.



**To learn more about Jonathon and his research, please visit here.


Trezette Dixon

Can you tell me some background information about yourself? What's your education background and your current occupation?


Trezette holds a B.A. in Communication and an M.Ed. in Adult Education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Transformative Learning in a Global Community emphasis in Webster’s Ed.D. program. Along with being a doctoral student, Trezette is the current director of the internship program in the School of Communications here at Webster. “I have over 20 years of experience in career development and higher education,” she explained. 


Which option did you choose for the summer apprenticeship course (EDOC 7901) and why?


When beginning her new role as director in March 2020, Trezette developed a five part success plan, published on Starfish, that creates a clear path from the moment students express interest in pursuing an internship to the preparation, the search, and the course, all the way to completion. “There was even a Webster Today article published about the new plan,” she elaborated. This article ended up catching the eye of the Webster international campus in Accra, Ghana. Last year, the Ghana campus implemented their own formal academic internship and were eager to develop a more structured academic program. “When brainstorming what my focus would be for my summer project, I thought this would be a great opportunity to engage with our Ghana campus, develop stronger relationships with our international campus colleagues, learn more about the international perspective on internships, and share my best practices,” Trezette exclaimed. “I truly believe I didn’t choose this summer project; this summer project chose me!”


Can you tell me more about what you did for your project?


To start the project planning process, Trezette conducted her first meeting with the Ghana campus representatives to pitch her ideas regarding the summer project in order to determine its feasibility. Then, she met with her mentor, Dr. Emmanuel Balogun, and Dr. Lee-Johnson to ensure she was heading down the right path. With everybody’s approval, Trezette was able to meet weekly with the representatives at the Ghana campus, serving as a “consultant” for advancing the Ghana campus’s internship program. “My goal was to learn about their current internship program, potential interns, internship partners, and aspirations for their program,” she noted. Through this process, Trezette was extremely cautious in being culturally sensitive, making sure that her new implementations would work specifically for their program and the students they serve.

 

“I even had the opportunity to meet with the students via Zoom, who had completed internships or were interested. We received their feedback and used it when shaping the internship,” she explained when describing two of her meetings with the Ghana campus. “The meetings with the students were essential to moving forward with the program changes.” As stated previously, Trezette wanted to find out what was relevant for these students before suggesting and implementing new changes to the program. The most surprising revelation during these meetings was she realized that the students were highly interested in professional development skills needed to succeed in a professional work setting. “They included CV/resume writing, interviewing, and networking.” Such feedback allowed Trezette and the Ghana campus representatives to critically review the current internship program and tailor it to these students’ experiences. 

 

At the Webster’s home campus in St. Louis, Trezette executed a five step plan, called the Internship Program Success Plan, via Starfish. However, upon further discussion, it was concluded that World Classroom/Canvas would be a better platform for the Ghana campus since there were limitations that arose with Starfish. “We decided that creating an organization for the Ghana Internship Program was the best resource for executing the program,” Trezette elaborated. By using World Classroom/Canvas for this part of the process, several benefits were uncovered:


 

Through completing her project, Trezette discussed how other challenges arose as time went on. Some of these challenges were student engagement and employer relations. These challenges derived from the fact Webster was one of the most recently established private universities in Ghana. “One of the strategies I shared for improving employer relations was to discover established partners and allow students to pursue those companies,” Trezette explained. She shared with the Ghana campus representatives that other American universities, such as NYU and Loyola Marymount, that have a current presence in Ghana have created lists of internship partners that could be a great start for them to start establishing employer relations.  

 

Despite these challenges, the two parties also discovered some positives within the area of professional development, given the plethora of resources available to students at Webster. According to Trezette, much of these resources are provided by the Career Planning & Development Center. Some of the resources include resume and cover letter writing, networking, and interviewing tips, as well as a virtual resource called My Interview Practice. “Their online Interview Simulator offers students a platform to prepare for their interviews,” Trezette included. “Students can record a practice interview and share with their support team, advisor, professor, family, and friends to gain feedback.” There were also many online professional development events that were the result of the pandemic pushing national employers to host virtual events through a service called Handshake. Handshake is available to any student through their Webster email. “Before our partnership, students were not using any of these resources available to all Webster students.” Trezette’s goal was to help find resources such as these that were easily accessible to students, but were not currently being used by them. 


What did you learn from this experience? How will this experience tie into your dissertation or career?


After completing her summer project, Trezette found a myriad of connections between it and her dissertation. “This project gave me a global perspective on internships and revealed student and administrative perceptions of academic internship experience,” she elaborated. With the engagements of her colleagues at the Ghana campus, the students there that gave her feedback, and the enlightening conversations with her mentor all in mind, the following are topics Trezette wants to include in her research:



**To learn more about Trezette and her research, please visit here.

Student Updates

In this section, we will take a moment to highlight some of the personal updates and achievements of our current doctoral students. Please take a moment to read about their hard work and dedication.


John Link

We are proud to announce that John Link is one of the recipients of the Gorlok Greats Award for Fall 2021. An internal news article has been published and we are waiting for the Webster Today publication. A link to the Webster Today article will be added once the news is published.

Bio of John Link:

"John Link is an associate adjunct professor and Director of Webster University's Career Planning & Development Center in St. Louis, Missouri. John is a certified digital career strategist and professional resume writer with over a decade of experience helping students explore and define their personal career goals while developing the skills and confidence necessary to succeed. John's media credits include features in St. Louis Magazine, Saint Louis Public Radio, an NPR affiliate, and Education USA, providing expert perspective on a wide selection of career development topics and US labor market trends.

A native of Indiana and two-time alumnus of Indiana State University, John is a long-serving member of the Miss Indiana State University Board of Directors. John's currently completing his Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership at Webster University, and enjoys spending time with his friends, family, dog, Charlie, and cat, Peppermint."

upcoming conferences

A few conferences that may be of interest to current or prospective students, or alumni. These conferences provide professional development and networking opportunities. Conferences are also a great opportunity for students to present their research. Please note that some of these conferences are offering in-person and virtual events. Updated information will be provided as it is made available. 


CEC (Council of Exceptional Children) Convention & Expo

January 16-19, 2022 (in-person)

February 1-4, 2022 (virtual)

Orlando, FL

https://exceptionalchildren.org/convention 


LDA's (Learning Disabilities Association's) 59th Annual International Conference

January 27-30, 2022

New Orleans, LA

Theme: Building Connections: Creating Opportunities

https://ldaamerica.org/events/annual-conference/ 


CARLA's 8th International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education

March 5, 2022

Salt Lake City, Utah

Theme: Embracing Languages and Cultures for a Better World

https://carla.umn.edu/conferences/index.html 


ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) Recharge & Reconnect

March 18-21, 2022 (in-person)

April 20-22, 2022 (virtual)

Chicago, IL

https://events.ascd.org/annual-conference


AAAL (American Association for Applied Linguistics) 2021 Virtual Conference

March 19 - 22, 2022

Pittsburgh, PA

https://www.aaal.org/events/2022-aaal-conference#%23 


TESOL International Association International Convention & English Language Expo

March 22 - 25, 2021 (hybrid)

Pittsburgh, PA

https://www.tesol.org/convention-2022 


International Transformative Learning Conference

April 6-9, 2022

Michigan State University

https://education.msu.edu/hale-happenings/2021/2022-international-transformative-learning-conference/ 


AERA Annual Meeting

Theme: Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century

April 21-26, 2022 

San Diego, CA

https://www.aera.net/Events-Meetings/Annual-Meeting 


54th IATEFL International Conference and Exhibition  

May 17-20, 2022

Belfast, Ireland

https://www.iatefl.org/conference/home 


NAFSA 2021 Annual Conference & Expo

Theme: Designing Our Shared Future

May 31 - June 3, 2022

Denver, CO

https://www.nafsa.org/conferences/nafsa-2022 


ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Live 22

June 26 - 29, 2022

New Orleans, LA

https://conference.iste.org/2022/ 


Contact Us 

Feel free to reach out to the Director of the EdD program or the Research Assistant if you have any questions.

EdD Director: Dr. Yin Lam Lee-Johnson

Webster University - Webster Groves Campus

314-246-7643

yleejohnson31@webster.edu

Executive Editor of the EdD Newsletter: Cheyenne Vaughn

Research Assistant: Cheyenne Vaughn

573-576-4462

cheyennevaughn@webster.edu

*All photos (except the microworld model photo) are property of Webster University's Global Marketing & Communications Department's photo archive.