Lived Experiences

In my efforts to map the lived experiences of my participants, I recognize two “resonant threads” that capture the nuances of those eight significant impartially minded school leaders. The two resonant threads the participants describe in through their lived stories are their encounters with adversity in school or without much stress. Five participants (Lisa Grant, Mia Stanfield, Bill O’Neal, John Richardson, and Lesley Kirkpatrick) experienced some kind of adversity during their K-12 and/or undergraduate school years, adversities that have somehow influenced not only the persons they have come to be but also the way each has come to lead their schools. Meanwhile, three participants reveal that to develop values of fairness and justice individuals do not have to experience the challenges of trials and tribulations in their schooling. The lived experiences of those three principals James Chambers, Sophia Thompson, and Robert Green, I believe, can also reveal noteworthy nuances. I recognize that we each have our own valued lived experiences that make it difficult to identify with the stories of others. But, I believe such “resonant threads” of experiences with …show more content…
Grant and James Chambers lived experiences mapped along critical standpoints during their lives to stand for the eight participants. The following critical standpoints are organized and presented around the themes of their experiences and attitudes in K-16, character and values, teaching and leadership, emotion toward students, and the future of their careers. My purpose for using these two stories is twofold: I hope to engage readers to take the personal journey I took in getting to closely know my eight participants through their readily sharing their hopes, desires, and trials and tribulations with me. Also, I recognize this chapter helps set the foundation for whom my participants are in the next chapters where the responses of eight participants are