Janet Okoko
Associate Professor, Educational Administration- Address
- 3064 Education
Research Area(s)
- School Leadership Preparation and Development, Socially Empowered Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation of Education Programs, Immigrants and Minority Education
About
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.
Education
- 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
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
Research
- School Leadership Preparation and Development
- Teacher leadership
- Newcomer/Immigrants and Minority Education
- Strengthening practitioner-based research
Service and Outreach
- 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
Graduate Supervision
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- |
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
|
Selected Publications
-
- 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
Selected Presentations
- 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