UC Berkeley

This dissertation study explores how leaders within social-justice-focused teacher residency programs conceptualize quality clinical placements and the perspectives and practices leaders embody, to design and enact clinical placement experiences for teacher candidates. Through narrative inquiry, informed by critical bifocality and boundary spanning leadership as methods and frameworks for analysis, this study examines the experiences and stories of leaders within teacher residency programs. Findings reveal that leaders conceptualize quality through adherence to state credentialing policies, alignment between institutional and placement contexts, and hold varied goals for teacher candidate development. This research illuminates how leaders leverage their awareness of systemic inequities to engage in practices such as creating intentional partnerships, maintaining strategic placement and mentor selection processes, and responding to program misalignment. Implications of this study suggest changes to state policy guiding clinical placement criteria, investing in the leadership development of teacher educators, and advocacy for resources for TK-12 schools to strengthen school-university partnerships.