Fernando F. Padró, Interim Director, Educational Leadership Programs

Welcome to Cambridge College’s Educational Leadership webpage.  These are interesting times for educators and those interested in education.  The College has much to offer those who want to pursue a career track in educational administration or in setting educational policy.  Educational Leadership programs are undergoing a transition to clarify and strengthen its K-12 administrator-based programs based on the adoption of the ELCC standards and the pursuit of TEAC accreditation.  This way we can continue to exemplify the nexus UNESCO feels that higher education institutions must have: access, equity, and quality. We offer a Master of Education (MEd), Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) and Doctor of Education (EdD) related to issues surrounding K-12 educational leadership.  These programs are based on the philosophy of social justice and the adult learning theory model.  What this means is that we strive to serve those individuals who are typically under-represented in higher education – working adults who may or may not have had the educational opportunities to help them in pursuit of their goals – and encouraging them by providing them with additional information and skills to make a positive difference in their schools and communities.  It also means that we provide the environment in which learners are able to form for themselves what Argyris and Schön (1974) call theory in action or, in other words, bring together the information and skills needed to make positive change.  However, rather than basing our professional preparation on traditional notions of classroom learning, we emphasize those elements of adult learning that Malcolm Knowles (1975, 1984) identifies as key aspects of adult learning: a practical approach to learning based autonomy, self-direction, goal- and relevancy-orientation.   Our goal is to prepare educational leaders who reflect what Harlan Cleveland (1986) identifies as important for effective future educational leaders: (1) a lively, intellectual curiosity; (2) a genuine concern for how and what other people think; (3) willingness to take risks; (4) comfort with the notion that crises are normal, tensions bring promise, and complexity is fun; (5) paranoia and self-pity are for those who do not want to be leaders; (6) the quality of optimism based on the conviction that there is a more upbeat outcome than would result from adding up the available expert advise; and (7) a personal sense of civic responsibility.  The faculty in our graduate level programs are made up of practitioners, experts, and scholars with many years of experience who truly believe along with Arthur Levine (2005) that educational leaders have to do more than manage the schools that they have to lead them “through an era of profound social change that has required fundamental rethinking of what schools do and how they do it.”  They are committed to passing their experience and their learning along with their sense of optimism and sense of personal ethics, and civic responsibility to make sure the next generation of educational leaders get schools, students, and the communities they serve to continued excellence, meaningful opportunities, and success by recognizing and eliminating those obstacles that hold individuals and systems back. For those of you interested in becoming educational leaders or supporters of P-12 education, let me invite you to look through our web pages, documents, and other information to see how our programs meet your interests and needs.  If you are interested in what you see, please contact us to see how we may be able to help you with your professional future.