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A new summer institute at Millersville University will focus on supporting and encouraging a “culture of inclusion” throughout K-12 schools in the School District of Lancaster. The inclusive leadership classes were developed and co-taught by Dr. Ann Marie Licata, assistant professor in Educational Foundations, and Dr. Tiffany Wright, professor and interim chair of Educational Foundations.
The institute includes a closed session targeted toward school administrators, where they will learn more about the importance of increasing inclusion within the school district. These administrators will be a part of the first cohort of this institute.
“Increasing inclusion, diversity and equity in our K-12 schools is critical and the School District of Lancaster is moving forward in creating that full inclusion model,” says Licata. “This course is designed to support current K-12 school administrators in their roles with building a culture of inclusion within their respective schools.”
Summer institutes at MU are week-long graduate courses, which can be applied toward a degree at the University or toward professional development credits. These classes are designed for educators and provide knowledgeable speakers and notable strategies to be used in classrooms and schools. This specific institute will be the first in a series of three courses, each worth three credits. This first class is titled “Supporting Inclusion as a Current School Leader – Part I.”
This first session ran from July 25-29 at the Ware Center. These summer classes are the first in a three-part series, with more classes being offered in the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023.
“The fall and spring sessions will be considered ‘Part II & Part III’ in the series and are aimed at providing intentional support on the skills and knowledge that administrators will be applying during the 2022-23 academic year,” explains Licata. “Our goal is to run this institute annually and next year, we will open it to any administrators interested.”
“Our focus, as always, is to challenge societal thinking about including all students in general education,” Licata adds. “This series of classes provides the best practices that will help administrators to fairly and equitably include all students in the general education classroom as much as possible.”
“Supporting all students in their academic needs is best accomplished by providing strong vision and leadership for the teachers, working in a collaborative environment. Participants will be exposed to even greater levels of self-reflection in becoming better school leaders.”
For more information about the institute, click here.
