Maren E. Oberman
Contact
Location
1302
610 E. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1259
Dr. Maren Oberman is a scholar of teaching. Oberman’s scholarship draws from leadership theory and practice, knowledge of human development, and critical educational studies. Her praxis explores such questions as: How do we use leadership growth and development to pursue educational justice? How do we come to understand our racial identity development and apply it to our work as educators? How does an exploration of whiteness and white identity help educators combat white supremacy culture in and around schools? How does a diverse and inclusive reading of literature and reckoning with history allow us to better understand ourselves, our society, and the pursuit of justice through our work as educators? Oberman teaches both undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in the Educational Studies Department, with a particular focus on Educational Leadership & Policy, and in the Educator Preparation Program, with a particular focus on Elementary Education.
Oberman’s scholarship explores four main areas that complement her teaching: preparing novices to teach “re-membered” history; preparing novices to lead in liberatory ways; exploring young children’s notions of liberation through literature; and exploring whiteness. Oberman’s praxis centers on liberatory educational practices for pre-service teachers and educational leaders. She teaches courses that seek to promote liberation, advance justice-oriented education, interrogate white supremacy, and expand ways of knowing, including, Stories of Leadership & Liberation, Introduction to Leadership Development, Social Studies Methods, and Teaching to Transgress. Oberman also provides consultation and professional development to individuals, teams, schools, and organizations in the areas of racial identity development, intergroup dialogue, and justice aims.
Prior to joining the faculty at the Marsal Family School of Education, Oberman worked (in Massachusetts, Illinois, and California) as a K-12 teacher, an instructional coach, an administrator in schools and districts, and a teaching fellow at the graduate level. She earned her bachelor’s degree in African-American studies at Yale University, her master’s in Library Science from Simmons College, and her doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.L.D.) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, including a residency at the central office leadership level in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where her doctoral research focused on meaningful professional development for educational leaders with specific attention to reflective practice, inquiry-based improvement strategies, and criticality as documented in her 2013 capstone, “Accountability, Coherence, and Improvement: Leadership Reflection and Growth in the Los Angeles Unified School District.”