Jessica A. Heybach
Jessica Heybach is Professor of Educational Leadership in the Department of Educational Leadership, Research, and Technology at Western Michigan University. She is currently serving as Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Education and Human Development. Her scholarly interests center on social foundations of education, democratic education, philosophy of education, Deweyan aesthetics, and critical leadership studies. Her work is committed to bridging the gap between theory and practice, and advocates for the development of more democratic forms of leadership, school policy, and practice. She has published in such journals as the Critical Questions in Education, Education and Culture, Education Policy Analysis Archives, Educational Philosophy and Theory, Educational Studies, Health Education Journal, Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education, and Philosophical Studies in Education. She co-edited Dystopia and Education: Insights into Theory, Praxis, and Policy with Eric C. Sheffield (2013, AESA Critics Choice Award Winner), and Making Sense of Race in Education: Practices for Change in Difficult Times with Sheron Fraser-Burgess (2021, SPE Book Award, 2021 AESA Critics Choice Award). She co-edited the Cambridge Handbook on Ethics and Education (2024) with Sheron Fraser-Burgess and Dini Metro-Roland. She is the President-Elect of the John Dewey Society, Program Chair of the Dewey Studies SIG of the American Educational Research Association, past-president of the Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society, and the Southeast Philosophy of Education Society.
Books by Jessica A. Heybach:
More than a century after William James published his provocative critique The PhD Octopus in 1903, his warnings about the corrupting entanglements between institutions and graduate students remain strikingly relevant. Doctoral Studies as Educational Industrial Complex revisits James’ concerns through a contemporary lens, offering a critical examination of doctoral education in the field of education in what feels like perennial crisis. Throughout the volume, contributors grapple with the tensions James identified: the obsession with credentials over genuine intellectual work, the “tyrannical machine” of institutional demands, and the misalignment between doctoral preparation and actual career paths. These tensions are particularly acute in practitioner-oriented EdD programs designed to produce scholar-practitioners who often remain in their local communities rather than entering the academy. Yet research-oriented PhD programs face their own crisis, as they continue to prepare scholars for a tenure-track job market that has dramatically contracted. With only 32% of faculty holding tenured or tenure-track positions in 2023—down from 53% in 1987—the traditional pathway to academic careers has fundamentally eroded. The book speaks to multiple audiences: faculty who supervise doctoral students and seek to understand the challenges they face; doctoral students navigating alternative program formats and uncertain career prospects; administrators responsible for program design and accreditation; and scholars interested in the future of higher education and professional preparation. By centering faculty expertise and critical analysis rather than external market demands, this volume offers a necessary counter-narrative to prevailing trends in doctoral education reform. Ultimately, this book argues for a reconsideration of what doctoral education should accomplish and for whom, grounding these questions in both historical perspective and contemporary realities.
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A 2021 SPE Outstanding Book Award Winner
Making Sense of Race in Education: Practices for Change in Difficult Times takes a fresh look at the perennial issue of race in American schools. How do educators, in all settings, confront the issue of race with students and colleagues, given the contemporary backdrop of social movements for racial justice and change? How do educators affect change within their everyday classroom practices without fostering further alienation and discord? Although much has already been written about race and racism in school, this book addresses racial incidents directly and offers practical insights into how P-20 educators can transform these events alongside students and colleagues. Each chapter provides detailed analysis of curriculum, instruction, practices and pedagogical strategies for addressing race while at the same time wrestling with theoretical conceptions of race, justice, and fairness.
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E-books are now distributed via VitalSource
VitalSource offer a more seamless way to access the ebook, and add some great new features including text-to-voice. You own your ebook for life, it is simply hosted on the vendor website, working much like Kindle and Nook. Click here to see more detailed information on this process.