Dean's Lecture Series: The Work of Connection: Research, Leadership and the Conditions for Thriving in Education

The Work of Connection: Research, Leadership, and the Conditions for Thriving in Education

What does it take for people, institutions, and fields of inquiry to thrive, particularly in periods of uncertainty, contestation, and change? Drawing on nearly three decades of experience as a researcher, educator, institutional leader, and now executive director of the American Educational Research Association, she will explore the role of connection in creating educational environments and professional communities in which people and ideas can flourish.

The lecture will draw connections among research on social identity, motivation, belonging, and educational climate; lessons from leading institutional change and advancing equity; and the responsibilities of researchers, educational leaders, and professional associations in the current moment. She will engage attendees in considering what research teaches us about the conditions that enable individual and collective thriving, how leaders can translate that knowledge into institutional practice, and how the education research community can strengthen the relationships, structures, and public engagement necessary to sustain consequential scholarship and advance the public good.

Rather than offering a single prescription, the lecture will invite reflection on the choices, commitments, and forms of collective action needed to ensure that education research - and the communities and institutions it serves - remains relevant, rigorous, connected, and capable of meeting the challenges ahead.