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	Solomon Menger	EADM	PhD		2021 In progress
	Fahmida Mazid	EADM	PhD		2021 in Progress
	Samuel Agyare	EADM	PhD	School Dropout Amidst the Free Senior High School Policy in Ghana	2020 In progress
	Sandra Ihenacho	EADM	MEd		2020 In progress
Co-Supervising	Theodora Eshun	EADM	PhD		2016 (In Progress)

 

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

• • 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
  • Mwingi,M., Wachira,N., Abdulla,M., Okoko, J. M., & Webber, C. (2019). Contextualizing School Leadership Preparation in Tanzania 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., Scott, S., & Scott, D. (2015). Perceptions of school leaders in Nairobi about their leadership preparation and development. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 17(1) 1-26. doi: 10.1080/13603124.2013.877160
  • Webber, C., Mentz, K., Scott, S., Okoko, J.M., & Scott, D. (2014). A cross–cultural Analysis of principals’ preparation in Kenya, South Africa and Alberta, Canada. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 27(3).
  • Okoko, J.M. (2011). Experiences of School Principals with Newcomers from War-Affected Countries in Africa. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 5(4), 22-234. doi: 10.1080/15595692.2011.606001

• Okoko, J.M (April, 2022) Leading Out-of-School Instruction to Support Immigrant and Migrant Families symposium AERA, Sandiego April 21- 26, 2022
• Okoko, J. M (May 12-18, 2022) Leading out-of-school instruction to support newcomer families during the COVID 19 pandemic, CSSE,
• Okoko, J.M (April 21-26, 2022) Strengthening School leadership to Support Ethno-Culturally Diverse Immigrant Students: Insights from Barriers to Parental Engagement, AERA, Sandiego April 21- 26, 2022
• 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), Marakech, Morocco, 6-10 January 2020
• Okoko, J.M. (May 2019). Towards School Leadership Development: The Essence of Working with Saskatoon Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Newcomers at the 14^th International Congress on Educational Administration, Cesme-Izmir, Turkey, 2-4 May 2019.
• Arden, C. H., & Okoko, J. M. (May 2019). Exploring Cross-Cultural Perspectives of Teacher Leadership among the Members of an International Teacher Leadership Research Team: A Phenomenographic Study at the International Congress on Educational Administration, Cesme-Izmir, Turkey, 2-4 May 2019.
• Okoko, J. M. (August 2018). Framing School Leadership Preparation and Development for Kenya Context Matters. World Educational Research Association (WERA) World Congress, in Cape Town, South Africa 1-6 August 2018
• Okoko, J. M. (May, 2018). An analysis of school leaders experience with the English As an Additional Language Newcomers through elements of cultural proficiency. Culture and Symbiosis Education conference conducted at Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China   
• Okoko, J. M. (April, 2018). Preparing Leaders for work across the Dissimilar Socio-Economic divide in Kenya. In Sarah Nelson Baray (Chair). International Study of School Principal Preparation: Research across borders. Symposium conducted at the American Educational Research Association Conference, New York, and USA                                         
• Okoko, J.M. (November 2017). Accounting for Context: Lessons from a multi organizational initiative that evaluated a Teacher Education project in the refugee camps and their host communities in Kenya. American Evaluation Association, Washington DC, USA
• Okoko. J.M, Wallin D., Hellsten, L (August 2017). Effectiveness of the Gender Responsive Pedagogy: Kenya Equity in Education Project. Presented at the European Educational Research Association (ECER) Copenhagen Denmark
• Okoko, J.M, Wallin, D., Hellsten, L & Mousavi, A, (May - June 2017). Researching gender responsive pedagogy in the refugee camp and host community schools in Kenya. Presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), Toronto, ON, Canada
• Okoko J.M. (May 2017). Using Participatory and Child friendly methods to evaluate gender responsive pedagogy in the refugee camps and their host communities in Kenya. Presented at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign IL, USA

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).