College of 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

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

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-
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

 

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 & Leadership4(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

In the News

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).