Julia Mahfouz is an assistant professor in the Leadership for Educational Organizations program, School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado-Denver. She has a Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in Educational Leadership with minors in Comparative International education and Curriculum & Instruction. Her research agenda has been shaped by her educational work as an international educator in the capacity of high school teacher, department chair, principal (K-12), and curriculum director. Her research explores the social, emotional, and cultural dynamics of urban and rural educational settings and their effects on school climate and school improvement utilizing qualitative and mixed methodologies. Her work seeks to deepen our understanding of social emotional learning (SEL) through lenses of intervention implementation, school improvement efforts, and preparation of school leaders to create spaces equitable for all where all could flourish utilizing policy as a lever for change and as a powerful context that shapes education at multiple levels of the system.
Areas of Expertise
- Social Emotional Learning
- School Improvement
- Principal Preparation programs
- Leadership Development
- Qualitative & Mixed Methods
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- Ph.D., Educational Leadership The Pennsylvania State University
- Minors: Curriculum & Supervision
- Comparative & International Education
- M.A., English Literature, American university of Beirut
- Post B.A. Teaching Diploma, American university of Beirut
- B.A., English Literature, American University of Beirut
Resumes/CV:
Awards
- Donald J. Willower Award of Excellence in Educational Administration, The Consortium for the Study of Leadership and Ethics in Education (2019)
- Dissertation of the Year Finalist of Leadership in School Improvement SIG (2018)
- Donald J. Willower Dissertation Award in Educational Leadership (2017)
- Recipient of Dissertation Research Initiation (2016 - 2017)
- David L. Clark Scholar (2016)
- Barbara Jackson Scholar, UCEA (2015 – 2017)
- Recipient of Robert Mitstifer Memorial Award (2016)
- Recipient of Robert F. Nicely, Jr. & Donna C. Nicely Doctoral Student Research Fund in Education (2016)
Affiliations
- University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA)
- American Educational Research Association (AERA)
- Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)
- American Mindfulness Research Association (AMRA)
- Consortium for the Study of Leadership and Ethics in Education (CSLEE)
- American Educational Studies Association (AESA)
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- The Maxine Greene Center for Aesthetic Education and Social Imagination
Publications and Presentations
- Mahfouz, J., Gordon, D.P. (2020). The case for focusing on school principals’ social-emotional competencies. Management in Education, 1-5. doi.org/10.1177/0892020620932351
- Anthony-Stevens, V., Mahfouz, J., & Bisbee, Y. (2020). Indigenous teacher education is tribal nation building: Stories of capacity building and capacity strengthening in Idaho. Journal of School Leadership.
- Richardson, J., & Mahfouz, J. (2020). At the crossroads: Well-being and principalship preparation. Journal of Research on Leadership Education. doi.org/10.1177/1942775120933914
- Scheef, A., & Mahfouz, J. (2020). Supporting the post-school goals of youth with disabilities through use of a transition coordinator. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership,5(1), 43-69. DOI:10.30828/real/2020.1.2
- Mahfouz, J., & Anthony-Stevens, V. (2020). Why trouble SEL? The need for cultural relevance in SEL. Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, 43, 1-14. Retrieved from https://educate.bankstreet.edu/occasional-paperseries/vol2020/iss43/6
- Mahfouz, J., El-Mehtar, N., Osman, E., Kotok, S. (2020). Challenges and agency: Principals responding to the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanese public schools. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 23(1), 24- 40. doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2019.1613570
- Mahfouz, J. (2020). Principals and stress: Few coping strategies for abundant stressors. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, EMAL.,48(3), 440-458. doi.org/10.1177/1741143218817562.
- Karami, R., Mahfouz, J., & Mansour, S. (2019). Sustaining school-based improvement: Considering emotional responses to change. Journal of Educational Administration, 57(1), 50 - 67. 10.1108/JEA-01-2018-0022.
- Levitan, J., Mahfouz, J., & Schussler, D. (2018). Pragmatic identity analysis as a qualitative interview technique. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 19(3), 1-22. DOI:10.17169/fqs-19.3.3032
- Mahfouz, J., Sausner, E. B., & Kornhaber, M. L. (2018). U.S. international schools overseas and the common core. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 22 (4), 406 - 420. doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2018.1481529
- Mahfouz, J. (2018). Mindfulness training for school administrators: Effects on well-being and leadership. Journal of Educational Administration, 56 (6), 602-619. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-12-2017-0171
- Mahfouz, J., Levitan, J., Schussler, D., Broderick, T., Dvorakova, K., Argusti, M., & Greenberg, M. (2018). Ensuring college student success through mindfulness-based classes: Just BREATHE. College Student Affairs Journal, 36 (1), 1-16. DOI:10.1353/csj.2018.0000
- Broderick, P., Frank, J., Barrena, E., Schussler, D., Kohler, K., Mitra, J., Khan, L., Levitan, J., Mahfouz, J., Shields, L., Greenberg, M. (April 2018). Evaluating the quality of mindfulness instruction delivered in school settings: Development and validation of a teacher quality observational rating scale. Mindfulness, 10 (1), 36- 45. DOI: 10.1007/s12671-018-0944-x
- Mahfouz, J., Barkauskas, N., Sausner, E., & Kornhaber, M. (2017). Leadership roles of administrators under the common core reform. Education and Urban Society, 50(9), 793 - 817. DOI: 10.1177/0013124517714309
- Schussler, D.L., Frank, J., Lee, T.K., & Mahfouz, J. (2017). Using virtual role-play to enhance teacher candidates’ skills in responding to bullying. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 25(1), 91-120.
- Mahfouz, J. (2020). Neoliberalism—the straw that broke the back of Lebanon’s education system. In Arar, K., Örücü, D., & Wilkinson, J. (Eds.), Neoliberalism and education systems in conflict: Exploring challenges across the globe. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
- Arar, K., Örücü, D., & Mahfouz, J. (2020). A comparison of social justice leadership meaning and praxis: The interplay of unique social cultural contexts in Turkish, Palestinian, and Lebanese high needs schools. In Woods P.A. & Barnett, B. (Eds.), Educational Leadership for Social Justice and Improving High-Need schools: Findings from 10 Years of International Collaboration. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
- Levitan, J., Schussler, D., Mahfouz, J., Frank, J., Kohler, K., Broderick, P.C., Mitra, J., Oh, Y., Berrena, E., & Greenberg, M, (2018). Evaluating student cognitive and social-emotional growth during a high school mindfulness course using mixed-method design. SAGE Research Methods Cases. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE publishing.10.4135/9781526446428
- Mahfouz, J., Greenberg, M.T., & Rodriquez, A. (2019). Principal’s social and emotional competence: A key factor for creating schools. Edna Bennet Pierce Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University. https://files.constantcontact.com/df591f85401/fcf51355-841d-4b20-8a39-3c9203ae9d90.pdf
