Dr. Festus Obiakor's Philosophy on
Education
I am a pragmatist who believes in learning, listening, and doing. I believe everyone can learn, but those who can, teach, serve, and lead. My role as an educator is to uplift humanity. To achieve this goal, I must be knowledgeable about my subject matter, value individual differences, and respect multidimensional voices as I look for innovative strategies to reach all students, including atypical students who have potential to be misidentified...
Leadership
As a leader, I am a pragmatist who believes in listening, learning, and doing. My vision is to work within the frameworks of my organization, with particular attention on its mission, vision, values, goals, and strategic plans. My goal is to value all voices, even those that appear heretical. As a leader, I will work with students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community stakeholders to advance the institution’s mission.
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Research Agenda
My areas of research interests are multicultural psychology and special education, culturally and linguistically diverse learners (e.g., African American/Urban learners) in general and special education, using cases and personal narratives in research, comparative /international special education, crises intervention/behavior management, and school reform