Joseph Flessa

PhD (University of California at Berkeley)
Associate Professor

E-mail: joseph.flessa@utoronto.ca
Tel: 416-978-1187

Dr. Flessa received his PhD in Educational Policy Research from the University of California, Berkeley. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor, Policy and Politics, Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education and has been a faculty member since 2005.

Professional Commitments:

Flessa is committed to the study of urban educational policy and politics for several reasons. Considered broadly, the field of urban education provides a useful context for examining a classic tension facing all educators and policy makers: how much of what happens in schools is determined outside of the schools themselves, in structures of opportunity or discrimination, and how much of what happens in schools is the result of the micro-level, hands-on work of educators? Much of Flessa's current work focuses on the ways that school site principals and other leaders in urban schools and districts describe and seek to address social and educational inequalities. This work is informed by his own prior experiences as an inner city school teacher and as the headmaster of an international school in Mexico. Flessa is also a member of the Triangle Community Council.

Teaching:

Flessa has taught a number of graduate courses, addressing topics such as Politics and Education, Administrative Theory and Educational Problems, Leadership Theory to Practice, Applied Research, Organizational Theory, Urban Education, and the Philosophy of Education. He also teaches School and Society within the Initial Teacher Education Program.

Research:

The major emphasis of Flessa’s research is urban education. He is a researcher at OISE/UT’s Centre for Urban Schooling and at the Centre for Leadership and Diversity. Current major projects include: case study research focused on schooling and poverty, case study research on the implementation of Ontario class size reduction, policy analysis of various assessment and evaluation strategies for parental engagement, and action research with a small set of urban school principals embarking upon an ambitious school reform agenda.

Selected Publications:

Flessa, J. (in press). Principals as middle managers: School leadership during the implementation of Primary Class Size Reduction in Ontario. Leadership and Policy in Schools.

Flessa, J. & Gregoire, H. (2011). Policy aspirations and dilemmas of implementation: Leadership for partnerships in Ontario, Canada. In Auerbach, S. (Ed.). School leadership for authentic family and community partnerships: Research perspectives for transforming practice. New York: Routledge. Pp. 117-132.

Flessa, J. (2009). Urban school principals, deficit frameworks, and implications for leadership. Journal of School Leadership, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 334-373.

Flessa, J. (2009). Educational micropolitics and distributed leadership. Peabody Journal of Education. Volume 84, Number 3, pp. 331-349.

Flessa, J., & Ketelle, D. (2007). Persuasive, Pervasive, and Limiting: How Causal Explanations Shape Urban Educational Research and Practice. International Handbook on Urban Education, edited by William Pink, pp. 793-814. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

Flessa, J. (2007). The Trouble with the Ed.D. Leadership and Policy in Schools. Vol. 6, No.2, pp. 197-208.

Grubb, W.N., J. Flessa (2006). “A job too big for one”: multiple principals and other nontraditional approaches to school leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, Vol. 42, pp. 518-550.

Research Reports & Technical Writing:

Flessa, J. with Dehli, K., Farmer, D., Kugler, J., McCready, L., & Riviere, D. (2007). Evaluating and Assessing Parental Involvement: Critical Analysis. Ontario Ministry of Education.

Flessa, J. (2006). Poverty and Education Literature Review. Toronto: Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario.