Janet Okoko

Dr Janet Okoko holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from the Werklund school of Education, University of Calgary. Prior to pursuing a PhD, Janet worked as an instructor at a teachers’ college, a curriculum developer, and as a monitoring and evaluation person for government and donor-funded education projects.  She received a Master of Education and a Bachelor of Education degree from Kenyatta University, Kenya. 

Her research interests include school leadership preparation and development. She is currently a principal investigator for two tri council funded research projects aimed at preparing school leaders for work with newcomers / im-migrants who are culturally and linguistically diverse. She is also principal investigator for Global Innovations research project aimed at Strengthening Instructional Leaders’ Capacity for Practitioner-Oriented Educational Research to Support Student Learning. Her other research interests are in teacher leadership, program evaluation, schools, and community partnerships.  The studies she has led in the recent past include an Action research partnership between University of Saskatchewan and Kenyatta University aimed at building capacity for practitioner-oriented and technology-mediated research among basic education (K-12) school leaders; and the evaluation of the Gender Responsive Pedagogy, Kenya Equity in Education Project (KEEP) in the refugee camps and their host community.  Janet published and presented work at international conferences on school leadership preparation and development, and the experiences of school principals with im/migrants. She is a member of the International Study of the Preparation of Principals and the International Study of Teacher Leadership.

She serves as a board member of the Global Gathering Glace, an immigrant settlement agency in Saskatchewan.

• Doctor of Philosophy - 2014

Faculty of Education, Graduate Division of Educational Research, Educational Leadership, University of Calgary

• Master of Education (Thesis) - 2000

Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Administration, Planning and Curriculum Development, Kenyatta University,        

• Bachelor of Education (Honors) - 1991

Faculty of Education, Physical Education, Kenyatta University

Undergraduate Teaching

• EDUC 425 - Legal and Institutional Context of Education
• EADM 498 - Community Engagement and Partnerships in Education
• EADM 411 - Inquiry Project and Community Learning Field Experience

Graduate Teaching

• ERES 800 - Research Methods
• EADM 866 - Practitioner- Based research
• EADM 811- History and Development of Organizational Theory
• EADM 816- Instructional Leadership for the Enhancement of Teaching
• EADM 885- Research Methods in Educational Administration
• EADM 991 - Educational Leadership Field Applications
• EADM 894 - Laboratory in Educational Administration

• School Leadership Preparation and Development
• Teacher leadership
• Newcomer/Immigrants and Minority Education
• Strengthening practitioner-based research

• The editorial board of 2 journals in the field of education (The Education Forum and the Research in Educational Administration and Leadership- REAL)
• Board of directors of Global Gathering Place (GGP), a newcomer and refugee settlement agencies in Saskatoon
• Member of the Education and Social Work adjudication committee for Social Science and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant Reviews 2019/2020 and Insight Grant Reviews 2018/2019
• Peer reviewer for the following professional journal
  • Canadian Journal of Education (CJE) 2020
  • Journal of Educational leadership (JEL) 2020
  • Research in Educational Administration and Leadership (REAL)
  • 2018 – To Date
  • Educational Management, Administration and Leadership (EMAL) 2017 – To Date
  • Canadian Journal of Education Administration and Policy (CJEAP) 2015 – To Date
  • Educational Forum 2009 – To Date
  • Interchange 2014 – To Date 
  • International Journal of Leadership in Education (IJLE) 2012 – To Date

In Progress:

Type	Name	Department	Degree	Topic	Date/ Status
Supervising	Anita Atakere	EADM	PhD		2023
	Fahmida Mazid	EADM	PhD	Framing Teacher Leadership in Bangladesh	2021 in Progress
	Solomon Menger	EADM	PhD	Teacher retention in Nigeria	2021 In deceased
	Samuel Agyare	EADM	PhD	School Dropout Amidst the Free Senior High School Policy in Ghana	2020 In progress
	Renee Cratty	EADM	EdD	Retaining Early Career Teachers	2022 In Progress
	Jill Clapson	EADM	EdD	Translanguaging Reading intervention	2022 In Progress
	Diana Jemieff	EADM	EdD	Equity Matrix as a response to restorative student discipline	2022 In Progress
	Sherry Van Hesteren	EADM	EdD		2022 In Progress
	Sandra Ihenacho	EADM	MEd	Parental engagement with school leadership in Nigeria	2020 In progress
	Mahshad Beigian	EADM	MEd		2021-2022
	Ama Prempe	EADM	MEd		2021-2022
Co-Supervising	Theodora Eshun	EADM	PhD	Gender and Educational Policy in Ghana	2016 (In Progress)
	Martyne Farris	Inter- disciplinary	PhD	Working with children from immigrant families and interrupted Education	2019-2022

 

Completed:

Type	Student Name	Department	Degree	Subject Area	Time Frame
Supervised	Kareen Reid	EADM	PhD	The influence of School Leadership Practices on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Newcomer Students”	2018-2022
	Kacia Wilby	EADM	MEd	Fostering Academic Transition for Ethnoculturally and Linguistically Diverse International Students in Canadian	2019-2022
	Nadia Maqbool	EADM	MEd	Leading Authentic Assessment of English as Additional language	2017-2022
	Marsha Ree Lawrence	EADM	MEd	Influencers of International Students’ Participation in Sports	2018-2020 Completed
	Tram Nguyen	EADM	MEd	Parental Involvement with Secondary School Leadership: Experience of Vietnamese Immigrants in Saskatoon	2016-2018 Completed
	Alison   Mason	EADM	MEd	Parental Engagement of African and Carribeans in the Education of their Children	2014-2016 Completed

• • Okoko, J.M., Scott, T., & Keith, W (2023). Varieties  of Qualitative Research Methods: Selected Contextual perspectives. Springer Education textbook series, Springer Nature https://link.springer.com/book/9783031043932
  • Okoko, J.M & Hellsten, L.M  (2023). Teacher Leadership and Pedagogical Interventions aimed at Improving Learning Outcomes for Girls in Refugee and Host Communities in Kenya. Leading and Managing -Journal of the Australian Council of Educational Leaders, 29 (2)
  • Webber, C, & Okoko, J. (2021). Exploring Teacher Leadership Across Cultures: Introduction to Teacher Leadership. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 6 (1), 1-15. DOI: 10.30828/real/2021.1.1
  • Arden, C, & Okoko, J. (2021). Exploring Cross-Cultural Perspectives of Teacher Leadership Among the Members of an International Research Team: A Phenomenographic Study. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 6 (1) , 51-90 . DOI: 10.30828/real/2021.1.3
  • Okoko, J.M. (2019). Towards school leadership development: The Essence of working with culturally and linguistically diverse Newcomers Families in Saskatchewan. Research in Educational Administration & Leadership, 4(2), 196-229. https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2019.2.1
  • Okoko, J.M. (2019). Framing school leadership preparation for Kenya: Context counts In P. Moorosi & T. Bush (Eds). Preparation and Development of School Leaders in Africa. Bloomsbury Publishing https://bloomsbury.com/au/preparation-and-development-of-school-leaders-in- africa-9781350081147
    
  • Okoko, J.M. (2018). Framing school leadership preparation and development for Kenya: Context matters. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 1–18 doi: 10.1177/1741143218792913 

• Okoko, J.M, Morrison, D., Squires ,V & Ogola,  M (2023)  Strengthening School Leadership 
• Capacity for Practitioner-Oriented and Technology-Mediated Educational Research to Support Student Learning. A paper presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), Online, May - June 2023
• Okoko, J.M & Tilbury,S. (2023) The role of Central Office in championing school leadership
• that Supports Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Newcomer Families. A paper presented at the Hawaii Education Conference , January 2-6,  2023
• Okoko, J.M & Cavanaugh (2022) Leading out of school instruction to support
• immigrant and refugee families: Learning from the COVID 19 experience. A paper presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), Online, May - June 2022
• Okoko, J. M. (April 2022). Leading Out-of-School Instruction to Support Immigrant and
• Migrant Families. In Carolyn M. Shields (Chair) Leading in a Time of Crisis. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Diego, USA https://www.aera.net/Portals/38/April%2023_Saturday_1.pdf
• Okoko, J. M. (April 2022). Strengthening School Leadership to Support Ethno-Culturally
• Diverse Immigrant Students: Insights from Barriers to Parental Engagement Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Diego, USA https://www.aera.net/Portals/38/April%2022_Friday_1.pdf
• Okoko, J.M(2021 The Impact of Covid-19 on Academic and Research Agenda: Narratives
• from African Scholars in the Diaspora. Paper presented at the Annual Kenya Scholars & Studies Association (KESSA) Conference, Dallas, Texas, USA ,10-11 September 2021,
• Okoko, J.M (2020-2021) Fostering school leader’s engagement with ethnic diversity:
• An integral view of the experiences of new immigrant families in Saskatchewan, Canada. A paper presented   at the World Education Research Association (WERA) Conference, Santiago de Compostela Spain, 7-9 July 2021 (Online) https://wera-compostela.com/
• Okoko, J.M(2020). Developing school leadership to ameliorate cognitive
• dissonance and build cross-cultural understanding with newcomer families. Paper presented at the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI), Marrakech, Morocco, 6-10 January 2020

Supporting refugee children during the pandemic: Challenging but doable. (Link to STF article).

Researchers say more resources needed for English as an additional language students this fall. (Link to CBC article).