Camille M. Wilson
University of Michigan, Educational Studies, Faculty Member
- Camille M. Wilson, Ph.D. is an associate professor of educational studies. Her research is interdisciplinary in natur... moreCamille M. Wilson, Ph.D. is an associate professor of educational studies. Her research is interdisciplinary in nature and chiefly explores school-family-community engagement, urban education reform, and transformative leadership from holistic, critical and culturally relevant perspectives. She is a qualitative researcher who draws upon critical and feminist methodologies. Wilson has worked individually and collaboratively to conduct research anchored in epistemological traditions that value how research participants make meaning, form identities, enact agency and resistance, and are helped or hindered as they interact within educational systems. Her current work focuses on community-based educational advocacy and activism in Detroit. She strives to develop meaningful theories and practical solutions that inform policy and practice.
Wilson is co-editor of Advancing Equity and Achievement in America’s Diverse Schools: Inclusive Theories, Policies, and Practices, which was published by Routledge in 2014. Her work has also been published in outlets such as Teachers College Record, the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Educational Administration Quarterly, and a variety of scholarly book presses.
Wilson serves in several national leadership capacities, including as a member of the executive committee of the American Educational Research Association’s Division A. She received her PhD in urban schooling from the University of California, Los Angeles, her MA in educational studies at the University of Michigan, and her BA in political science from Whittier College.edit
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In this editorial essay, the author pinpoints key insights, implications, and cross cutting themes that emerged from this special issue. These insights shed light on the interlocking connection between inequitable public education systems... more
In this editorial essay, the author pinpoints key insights, implications, and cross cutting themes that emerged from this special issue. These insights shed light on the interlocking connection between inequitable public education systems and vulnerable democracies, both of which fail to uphold their charge to be inclusive and just. Special attention is given to the harm of race-avoidant, classist, and/or public-aversive discourse and policies, the coopting of equity-oriented agendas for private interests, political underrepresentation, and the multifaceted reach of global neoliberalism. All of these factors exacerbate racial and socioeconomic disparities in education and society. The author emphasizes how these and other dynamics amount to the provision of educational equity being constrained by dominant logics of fear, scarcity, and competition; the racialization and privatization of public education access; and ultimately, the operation of elitist versus truly representative demo...
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Section I: Understanding Educational Equity and Achievement in America * A Nation (of Students) at Risk: The Political Rhetoric of Equity and Achievement in U.S. Education Reform Sonya Douglass Horsford, University of Nevada, Las Vegas *... more
Section I: Understanding Educational Equity and Achievement in America * A Nation (of Students) at Risk: The Political Rhetoric of Equity and Achievement in U.S. Education Reform Sonya Douglass Horsford, University of Nevada, Las Vegas * NCLB's Intensifying Makeover: Race to the Top's Troubling Changes to Rules, Incentives, and Practice Kevin G. Welner and Carol C. Burris, University of Colorado, Boulder/National Education Policy Center * Examining Teacher Quality, Educational Policy, and English Learners in Latina/o Growth States Julian Vasquez Heilig, The University of Texas at Austin Francesca Lopez, Marquette University Daniela Torre, Vanderbilt University * Cultural Work and Demographically Changing Schools: New Opportunities for Transformative Leadership Camille M. Wilson, Wayne State University Section II: Affirming Multiple Dimensions of Diversity in Schools * Religious Diversity, Multiculturalism, and Representation: The Challenge of Facing Islam in the Classroom Li...
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In this article, the author presents a historiography that considers the leadership that African American women, particularly mothers, played in U.S. school desegregation. Discussion moves beyond offering a political analysis of school... more
In this article, the author presents a historiography that considers the leadership that African American women, particularly mothers, played in U.S. school desegregation. Discussion moves beyond offering a political analysis of school integration politics that is male centered, bounded by a legalistic frame, or steeped within general discussions of the political clashes between integrationists and segregationists to recast significant historical events through a more nuanced womanist lens. Literature is reviewed and archival data from 1954 to 1971 are marshaled to shed light on why and how African American mothers contributed to the school desegregation movement, particularly in Greensboro, NC. The author suggests what lessons can be gleaned from the mothers’ legacy to extend conceptualizations of transformative educational leadership.
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In this concluding chapter, the author discusses key insights gleaned from the previous chapters to identify authors’ shared themes and some distinct contentions. These insights call for educators to reject deficit-based ideologies about... more
In this concluding chapter, the author discusses key insights gleaned from the previous chapters to identify authors’ shared themes and some distinct contentions. These insights call for educators to reject deficit-based ideologies about students and families, understand schools as contested cultural sites, unmask schooling’s racist and colonial legacies, validate familial and communal knowledge via culturally relevant instruction, and conduct innovative, collaborative, and critical family-centered research. The author then pinpoints implications for enacting transformative family-school partnership practices. Along the way, she suggests how to conduct research on and with families to better understand the most equitable and effective ways of collaborating with them to enhance students’ learning and overall well-being. She further links such transformation to countering divisive and exclusive cultural politics, sharing power, promoting the structural inclusion of diverse families, and honoring families’ agency, resistance, and leadership.
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In this article, we draw on critical philosophies and theories related to diversity, leadership, and learning to suggest that successful school–family partnerships not only encompass collaborative structures but involve educators who... more
In this article, we draw on critical philosophies and theories related to diversity, leadership, and learning to suggest that successful school–family partnerships not only encompass collaborative structures but involve educators who reject deficit-based views of diverse families. We marshal data from our studies of school–family relations in two states to explain the benefits of educational leaders developing a critical epistemological stance that compels them to learn and lead with diverse families. We assert that educators must revisit, rethink, and extend what they know about families’ strengths and limitations and reconsider the nature of leadership and learning to build partnerships amid communities of practice.
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This article describes how African American students’ success can be improved via the increased support of Black churches and their partnerships with public schools. Findings and implications from a comparative case study of two North... more
This article describes how African American students’ success can be improved via the increased support of Black churches and their partnerships with public schools. Findings and implications from a comparative case study of two North Carolina churches that strive to educationally assist African American public school students are detailed. Both churches have outreach programs in local schools, and their activities indicate the value of faith-based partnerships embodying “prophetic activism” that benefits broader communities and empowers African Americans overall. We draw upon the study’s findings to recommend partnership strategies for church and public educational leaders.
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This article discusses themes emerging from studies of Black educational activism conducted in London, Toronto, and Detroit. A critical meta-analysis reveals that Black educational activists resist racism and other forms of oppression;... more
This article discusses themes emerging from studies of Black educational activism conducted in London, Toronto, and Detroit. A critical meta-analysis reveals that Black educational activists resist racism and other forms of oppression; act as border crossers and/or boundary spanners as they navigate complex community-based, institutional, and political terrains; serve as change agents from the grassroots to institutional level; and, develop and enact distinct types of social capital to yield community versus individual uplift. The authors conclude that activists should be valued as leaders and strategically engaged in K-12 public school systems to combat racism and build effective school-community alliances.
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In this article, authors offer a CRT-driven analysis of in-depth interview data from two African American principals charged with turning around poverty-impacted, largely African-American populated schools. Both served as social... more
In this article, authors offer a CRT-driven analysis of in-depth interview data from two African American principals charged with turning around poverty-impacted, largely African-American populated schools. Both served as social justice-oriented leaders who countered traditional administrative approaches and disrupted racially and/or socioeconomically biased practices. Their leadership and student advocacy methods clashed with district ideals and policies, and each faced severe repercussions. The authors highlight why supporting and retaining such school leaders is necessary, and offer strategies capable of helping the educational community move forward in supporting a vulnerable leadership population commonly assigned to improve the most challenging U.S. schools.
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Creating desirable academic departments for individuals’ well-being and quality scholarship is an important effort as well as a novel idea. The focus of this reflective article is twofold: (a) We present a social capital theory of social... more
Creating desirable academic departments for individuals’ well-being and quality scholarship is an important effort as well as a novel idea. The focus of this reflective article is twofold: (a) We present a social capital theory of social justice covenants as a product and process of community building, and (b) we share the multiple lived experiences of three scholars within the
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This article discusses themes emerging from studies of Black educational activism conducted in London, Toronto, and Detroit. An analysis of narrative data reveals that Black educational activists resist racism and other forms of... more
This article discusses themes emerging from studies of Black educational activism conducted in London, Toronto, and Detroit. An analysis of narrative data reveals that Black educational activists resist racism and other forms of oppression; act as border crossers and/or boundary spanners as they navigate complex community-based, institutional, and political terrains; serve as change agents from the grassroots to institutional level; and develop and enact distinct types of social capital to yield community versus individual uplift. The authors conclude that activists should be valued as leaders and strategically engaged in K-12 public school systems to combat racism and build effective school-community alliances.