Emily White

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” (Gandhi) Learning from experience begins at mistakes. But experience is educative only if certain conditions apply: authentic tasks, time, teamwork skills, trust, reflection. Too often, adults and teams are expected to be effective without these. Much of my work focuses on professional learning communities to address this need. Our environments are dynamic, demanding, and potentially growth-producing. Every organization needs to be a learning organization. Most organizations face the paradox of people with basically good intentions working at cross-purposes. Problems often lie not simply with individuals but with patterns, misaligned structures, goal confusion, and inequities in which people unwittingly participate. It takes more for good intentions to be a reality: multiple perspectives, distributed leadership, and skills for exploring the gaps between what is needed and what actually occurs. We need systems thinking.

• Developer/director of small schools and innovative programs (all levels).
• Teacher of English and Social Studies
• Curriculum developer/trainer in socio-emotional learning: advisory, conflict resolution, peer mediation, diversity.
• Consultant/Trainer on project-based and integrated curriculum.
• Educator and designer of physician-training (internships and interdisciplinary teamwork).

• Consultant. Professional learning communities, facilitative leadership. (NYCDOE, cultural, health organizations)
• Trainer/Designer: inquiry, collaborative assessment
• Consultant. System-wide strategic planning (Chicago Magnet schools, Colorado early childhood)
• Co-developer of project/presentation on “Art, hope, and learning in post-Katrina New Orleans.” (Leadership in the Arts 2010-11, UCEA 2011).

Selected Publications

• White, E., (2011). Dusk.  In G. Noppe-Brandon (Ed.),  One vision, many voices: A multicultural and multigenerational collection (pp. 261-269). Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.
• White, E. (2006, January)  Top-down and sideways: Diffusion of learning and critical friends work with district leaders. Paper presented at the meeting of National School Reform Faculty Conference, Denver, CO.
• White, E. (2004).  The Microlab: Exploring race, class, and gender.  In Cambron-McCabe, N., Cunningham, L., Harvey, J., & Koff, R. (Eds.). A school superintendent’s fieldbook: A guide for leaders of learning.  (pp. 158-161).  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
• White, E.& Crow, G.,  (1993, April).  Rites of passage: The changing role perceptions of interns in their preparation for principalship.  Paper presented the meeting of American Educational Research Association Conference,  Atlanta, GA.
• Bernard, H.S. & White, E. (1986).  The relationship between person-role conflict and systemic dysfunction. Group & Organization Management. 11(1), 5-25.