Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

Impactful Leadership of Schools of Education in Difficult Times

Catherine Wong, Associate Director & Manager of Programs attended a virtual workshop with Kevin Kumashiro, Ph.D. on transformative frameworks for educational leadership

What if the very act of supporting a scholar through their graduate school application is fundamentally transforming educational institutions? That’s the powerful realization that emerged from Catherine Wong’s three-day virtual intensive with Kevin Kumashiro, Ph.D. this January. Over the course of the workshop, “Impactful Leadership of Schools of Education in Difficult Times,” Kumashiro didn’t just share leadership strategies, he challenged participants to fundamentally rethink what it means to lead for justice. His central provocation? That we must name and engage with contradictions rather than resolve them, that resistance is inevitable and must be worked through rather than avoided, and that transformative change happens through collective movements, not siloed actions. For those of us committed to supporting aspiring scholars at IRT, these insights landed with particular resonance. After all, when we sit with a scholar crafting their personal statement, aren’t we doing exactly what Kumashiro describes: historicizing their journey to reveal enduring paradoxes, reframing their experiences to illuminate what others might miss and creating space to work through the discomfort of unlearning limiting narratives about who belongs in graduate education?

The IRT Effect: Charting Ph.D. Completion

Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ’91
Education Programs Specialist, Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

Recently, I was chosen to participate in the 4^th annual cohort of the Phillips Academy Head of School Leadership Development Program (HOS-LDP) alongside 11 other individuals from the following schools: Pomfret School, St Paul’s School, Deerfield Academy, Lick- Wilmerding High School, and Phillips Academy. The 8-month program consisted of an in person, two-day leadership retreat, twice-monthly cohort meetings with guest lecturers and readings, 10 hours of professional coaching, the opportunity to enroll in a leadership course taught by Harvard’s online Business School, a capstone project and presentation that addressed a departmental or institutional priority, and a closing dinner including a certificate award ceremony.

Moments of Joy, January 2026

What were the moments that made you smile, instances that brought you joy or accomplishments and success that buoyed your spirits this past year? Your joyful memory is a reminder of the bright spots within our community and important to highlight. A collection of these positive experiences are below. If you have a moment of joy that you would like to share in an upcoming issue, please let us know!

Alan Gao, IRT ’25
Here’s a photo of me making dumplings with my family. Every time I go home, we make dumplings together and it brings me a lot of joy, especially because food is an important love language for my family.

IRT Alumni Access to Career Pages

The online IRT Alumni Network is an exclusive space for alumni engaging with each other in many ways. Did you know there is a job board, which includes postings from schools and institutions within the network that you can use to reach our online community or apply for a position yourself?

A Note of Gratitude to Our SOP Advisors

As our IRT Cohort submits their final applications and awaits responses from graduate programs, please join me in pausing and celebrating this past year’s Statement of Purpose Advisor’s (SOPA’s), the incredible mentors who walked alongside our aspiring scholars through this transformative journey.

Your impact shows up in every reflection since our first advising meetings. Scholars recognized that their research holds value even while in progress, that their community work carries equal weight to institutional opportunities, and that their varied experiences aren’t fragmented but intentional. You helped them honor strengths they’d overlooked and reclaim narratives about experiences they’d been taught to diminish.