Oral Histories of K-12 Governance and Care

Each school we study in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) of Southern California—from a public high school operating within a local school district, to a pre-K-12 independent school—shares the challenge and responsibility of caring for the health and well-being of its community members in a time of public health crisis. Yet each school community operates within differing infrastructures and thus disparate governance frameworks. 

As collaborative researchers, we share a research interest in informal education and student well-being. Together we define education expansively to include physical health and social-emotional learning through the lens of care (Mol et al., 2010; Noddings, 2005; Osher et al., 2016) and sports (Coakley, 2011; Felfe et al., 2016). Each of us have been involved in SGV schools as a former-student, sports coach, resident, parent and school board trustee. We are long-term engaged participants across multiple levels within the school communities we study.

Our research objectives delineate how different organizational infrastructures and hierarchies of decision making, governance styles, community resources, directly and indirectly affect the micro decision-making practices of educators (administrators and teachers) in situated, local spaces. By examining how a shared challenge—caring for students during the COVID-19 pandemic—is addressed locally within two SGV educational institutions through place-based practices, our project enhances fundamental understanding of everyday decision-making processes in pre-K-12 in non-traditional settings. Through interviews with administrators, teachers, and coaches, and analysis of publicly available documents and rcords, we will develop models of co-existing heterogeneity in decision-making practices.