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Servant Leadership Institute
Dr. Kent Schlichtemeier
Director, Servant Leadership Institute
(949) 214-3256
[email protected]
By Dr. Belinda Karge Posted on 4/15/2025 - 5 minute read
The last three years it has been my honor to serve as a leadership coach for the Servant Leadership Institute (SLI) at Concordia University Irvine. The SLI was designed to bring teams of leaders from public, private, and charter schools to the university campus in Irvine, California, twice during a year for professional learning related to servant leadership.
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By Dr. Sara Morgan and Robin Gomes Posted on 4/2/2025 - 6 minute read
Trust, courage, and bravery. Patience, stillness, and hope. Repentance, humility, and obedience. Virtues such as these are taught to us from the inception of our faith. Models of a righteous walk with God. So, too, are the antithesis of these ways portrayed to illustrate the emptiness and unfulfilled life of those who journey a different path. And, of course, there is the in-between, where most of humanity finds a connection.
By Dr. Kara Bratton Posted on 1/28/2025 - 8 minute read
Dr. Kara Bratton serves as an Assistant Professor in the School of Education in the doctoral programs at Concordia University Irvine, teaching special education and research classes and working as a dissertation chair. Previously, she was a special education director for 11 years and spent 11 years teaching K-8 special education in Lutheran Schools . Kara also serves on the board of directors for the Indiana Non-public Education Association and is co-author of Resilient Minds: Christ-centered Mental Health Curriculum, which is available from Concordia Publishing House.
By Magazine Editorial Team Posted on 1/10/2025 - 4 minute read
Bill Selak, adjunct faculty member in Concordia’s MAEd: Learning, Design & Technology program and Director of Technology at Hillbrook School, a private K-12 institution in San Jose, is an early adopter of technology, which befits his role teaching college students and children of high-level tech employees in Silicon Valley. In Selak’s view, generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already changing society and classrooms as much as electricity did more than 100 years ago.
By Miranda Gasenica Posted on 12/23/2024 - 9 minute read
Since the pandemic, the increase in individuals’ desire to look a certain way has changed many lives, mainly those of our youth. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, eating disorders have increased by 50% among youth, causing alarm for many. (Rodgers et al., 2020; van Eeden et al., 202). Research shows that a few causes of eating disorders include body image and social influence, genetics, and comorbid mental health issues (Barakat et al., 2023). Therefore, as social media usage and social distancing increased during COVID-19, it is not unnoticed that these factors could have exacerbated the growth in eating disorders as adolescents who had more time to access social media networks and utilize them in ways they had not been used before, such as sharing weight-loss strategies and promoting a culture that labeled food as “good” or “bad.” This allows those who are not aware of what can cause eating disorders to be engulfed in this idolized world.
By Julie Stiegemeyer Posted on 12/11/2024 - 6 minute read
Language is essential to the human experience and carries with it great power. Ruiz (2017) highlighted this: “The word is a force; it is the power you have to express and communicate, to think, and thereby to create the events in your life” (p. 14). Perhaps our most powerful use of language is through writing. Forster (1927) wrote, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” In other words, we must write to find out what we think.
By Dr. Tim Young Posted on 9/25/2024 - 7 minute read
Recent research highlights the importance of developing a strong sense of belonging to enhance and improve student educational outcomes (Patrick et al., 2023). A sense of belonging refers to the ways students feel personally accepted, included, and supported at school. Belonging includes all school-based experiences and student relationships with teachers and peers (Allen et al., 2018). Through the lens of belonging, some students experience the academic environment as welcoming. These students are often highly engaged and involved in school. When a student experiences a strong sense of belonging, achievement and retention increase. Most educators understand that students thrive when they are part of a community, and research confirms this (Passano, 2021).
By Dr. Rebecca Stanton Posted on 8/29/2024 - 5 minute read
Six years ago, I wrote on Perfecting the Practice about my family’s experience in K-12 with my Twice-Exceptional son. During the intervening years, he attended college, struggled to find meaningful work and purpose in life, and started to find his way toward reaching his life’s dreams. Back then, I posed this question: How can you convince the schools that your child needs help when they are so accelerated in the things that the schools seem to care most about? That question can now be updated to this: How do you convince society to give your Twice-Exceptional (2E) young adult a chance when they are capable but quirky?
By Briana Dewees Posted on 7/31/2024 - 10 minute read
Currently, there exists a gap in which pregnant and teen mothers are not equally or equitably served through support in public schools when looking at systems as a whole. Many school sites will describe their experience working with pregnant students as minimal- only a couple of students (Dewees, 2024). Considering school counseling interventions explore innovative strategies and support systems to help all students navigate social, emotional, academic, and career development, ensuring teen mothers have the opportunity to thrive academically and personally is ethically fundamental for school counselors (ASCA, 2019; Stone, 2017). Research suggests that school support can be paramount in student success for pregnant and teen mothers (Dowden et al., 2018; Peterson et al., 2022; Rabia, 2017). Literature can be stratified into these main topics: foundational information, significant impacts, and comprehensive care. Through analysis of the literature, the conclusions deduced articulate the sincerely productive methods that can support teen mothers through pregnancy and postpartum as they seek educational attainment.
By Dr. Tanya Tarbutton Posted on 7/1/2024 - 4 minute read
Higher education institutions across America have experienced declining enrollment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (Fischer, 2022) and the lingering enrollment cliff suggests greater challenges are looming (Bauman, 2024). Declining enrollment is of concern for all higher education institutions, including Concordia University Irvine, for several reasons, most notably the financial implications associated with student attrition and vacancies. In an attempt to strengthen and bolster existing graduate level programs universities must be committed to increasing student retention rates by way of elevating student satisfaction.