PEMBROKE— UNC Pembroke assistant professor Camille Locklear Goins is eager to return to the classroom this fall and is especially looking forward to the opportunity to implement practices and skills she gained as a participant in the Transformative Educational Leadership Program.
Dr. Goins, an assistant professor in the Educational Leadership and Specialties Department, recently participated in the year-long transformational community designed for educational leaders.
She was among 47 racially and culturally diverse educators from across the country selected for the specialized training. The Transformative Educational Leadership framework is rooted in leadership that integrates the cutting-edge application of equity, social and emotional learning and mindfulness.
Participants were comprised of educators from K-12 settings and higher education, while others serve in administrative roles as equity and diversity leaders.
Training leaders asked participants to reflect on four focus areas throughout the training–reflection from a personal, professional, systemic and community level.
“The goal was to provide participants of the program with the resources to return to our institutions and be change agents by incorporating social and emotional learning and mindfulness into the field of education,” she said.
“Addressing equity and diversity, trauma-informed practices and culturally responsive education were primary topics of discussion among the presenters. We were presented with the threads of leadership, equity, SEL, mindfulness, and systems change in a personal transformational model for educational leaders to affect the quality of the field of education and to improve the lives of children.”
She earned a certification after completing 112 hours of training and, as a result, has expanded her knowledge and is prepared to apply these practices in her teaching, service and scholarship.
Goins, a member of the Lumbee Tribe and director of the First Americans’ Educational Leadership Program at UNCP, served on an advisory board for the TEL program dedicated to various racial affinity groups.
For more information about the Transformative Educational Leadership Program, visit their website.
