Dr. Lyle Hamm, A Scholar Who Makes A Difference

Josiah Marr

Department of Education, University of New Brunswick

October 6, 2018

Introduction

Dr. Lyle Hamm has been an associate professor at the University of New Brunswick since 2013. He completed his PhD at the University of Calgary in 2010. Personally, I am thankful for Dr. Hamm and his help in creating this profile. While creating this report I was as thorough as possible in reading excerpts of Dr. Hamm’s work. Many of his works are referenced in the text, but it should be noted that Dr. Hamm may have contributed other works that I am unaware of. 

Evolution of Scholarly Work

“I have moved from studying cultural and linguistic diversity in schools and communities to focusing more on constructing professional learning and providing mentoring and coaching support for educators and leaders in diverse schools.” (L. Hamm, personal communication, September 26, 2018). Throughout his young scholarly career Dr. Hamm has identified the need that diverse schools have for growth in order to respond to their own diversity. His focus has shifted from examining diversity (Hamm, Massfeller, & Oulette, 2017b; Hamm & Cormier, 2015) to training leaders to thrive in diverse settings (Hamm, 2017; Hamm, Doğurga, & Scott, 2016). It should be noted that “Hamm et al., 2017b” (cited above) is a case study that began in April 2015, therefore plenty of time has passed for Dr. Hamm’s work to evolve. Dr. Hamm’s shift in scholarly focus is evident in his work (Hamm et al., 2016) where he mentions that he values “research activities that directly enhance professional development possibilities with teachers and administration teams” (p. 213). Another example of Dr. Hamm’s desire for constructing professional learning for educational leaders is found in his collaborative work with Cormier (2015). The scholars suggest that a combination of online (via Desire2Learn) and face to face learning and networking for teachers could be an effective means of professional development to “meet the diverse needs of their diverse student populations” (Meeting the Challenge of Infusing Relevant PD in Schools, para. 4). 

Major Intellectual Influences 

According to Dr. Hamm his major intellectual influences include: “James Ryan, Carolyn Shields, Paulo Freire, Lisa Delpit, Alan Sears, Tim Goddard, Ann Sherman” as well as “hundreds of additional ones” (L. Hamm, personal communication, September 26, 2018). Dr. Hamm’s point about having many more influences than are listed is an essential one for both academics and leaders alike. Effective leaders are effective learners as Mikkelsen and Jarche (2015) agree (The Best Leaders Are Constant Learners., para. 1). Some of Dr. Hamm’s influences are his peers in the faculty of education at UNB, like Sears (current) and Sherman (former). Some of his influences are focused on very similar topics (namely Delpit) while others are not (Freire). The reason for the previous statement is because Freire’s work wasn’t focused on training educational leaders specifically.

Philosophical Approach

In terms of his philosophical approach to scholarship, Dr. Hamm says “I consider myself and strive to be a student-focused, socially just/equity-oriented and responsive educator. I enjoy reciprocal learning relationships with students; I believe reciprocity builds trust with all students” (Hamm, 2018, p. 1). I can attest that Dr. Hamm does indeed mean what he says. During my time at UNB in my B.Ed. Dr. Hamm took me under his wing. He was the catalyst of my final project (Marr, 2015). Dr. Hamm invested time into me, he picked my brain for ideas, and scaffolded me toward a deeper understanding of culturally responsive teaching. For this I am extremely grateful.  

Research Questions

Dr. Hamm has used different research questions in his work. For example, “What forms of mentoring do vice-principals, who serve in diverse schools in rapidly changing communities, require?” (Hamm, 2017). However, the most significant research question in Dr. Hamm’s work to date is: “What is/are the impact and implications of immigration, demographic changes and increasing diversity on teachers, administrators and students in a New Brunswick high school context?” (Hamm et al., 2017b). He uses the information collected in this study to inform other articles that he has created and contributed to (Hamm, Massfeller, Scott, & Cormier, 2017; Hamm, 2015; Cormier, Massfeller, Hamm, & Oulette, 2017).  

Favorite Methodological Approach

Dr. Hamm’s preferred methodological approach is case study. He uses case study to conduct the majority of his research (Hamm, 2013; Hamm, 2017; Hamm, Massfeller, & Oulette, 2017). His most significant case study, which he has used to draw from for more recent articles involved the study of “Eastern Coastal High School (ECHS – a pseudonym)” (Hamm et al., 2017b), in New Brunswick. This study done in partnership with ECHS, began in April, 2015 and involved a shift in focus to assist the Syrian refugee students who arrived at the school in February 2016 (Hamm, Massfeller, & Oulette, 2017). 

Educational Significance

The context of Dr. Hamm’s work is in culturally diverse leadership and training leaders to succeed in culturally diverse settings. Dr. Hamm’s work has primarily taken place in New Brunswick, Canada where schools are becoming more diverse. In particular, Dr. Hamm contributed to a gap in literature concerning vice-principals working in diverse schools (Hamm, 2017).

Since his associate professorship at UNB only began in 2013, Dr. Hamm is a relatively new scholar. Therefore his work has not had sufficient time to be used by other researchers. That being said, he has produced and contributed to numerous works. According to WorldCat and Google Scholar, Dr. Hamm’s works have been published in one book review, one case study (he was the principal investigator), two books, and six journals including “International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education” and “Education, Citizenship and Social Justice”. In addition, his works have been cited in 21 different papers according to Google Scholar. Dr. Hamm’s biggest years for publishing to date have been 2017 and 2018. In 2017 he contributed three works, while so far in 2018 he has contributed two. 

Legacy

The importance of Dr. Hamm’s work cannot be understated. Dr. Hamm would like his work to be remembered as “contributing to peace in Canada” (L. Hamm, personal communication, September 26, 2018). With statements like this it is no wonder that Dr. Hamm is investing his career into worthwhile work such as training leaders to thrive in culturally diverse schools. Dr. Hamm’s heart to help those in need is clearly seen through a shift in focus from simply identifying diversity to training leaders to be prepared to educate students of diverse backgrounds. I think the most commendable area of Dr. Hamm’s research is helping refugee students through his efforts to guide leaders in New Brunswick and beyond to better meet their needs (Hamm, 2015; Hamm, 2017; Hamm et al., 2017a; Hamm et al., 2017b; Cormier et al., 2017; Hamm et al., 2016). My hope is that Dr. Hamm continues to focus on practical solutions that can be used by leaders everywhere. Dr. Hamm is a new scholar with a heart for making a positive impact on people in need. It has been a pleasure to study his scholarly career to date and I am excited to learn from the work he will contribute to in the near future.   

References

Cormier, K., & Hamm, L. (2015, April 2). Meeting the Challenge of Infusing Relevant PD in Schools. EdCan Network. https://www.edcan.ca/articles/meeting-the-challenge-of-infusing-relevant-pd-in-schools/

Cormier, K., Massfeller, H., Hamm, L. D., & Oulette, K. (2017). ” The world is constantly arriving”: The intercultural diversity toolkit for educators in New Brunswick. Antistasis, 6(2).

Hamm, L. D., & Cormier, K. J. (2015). School leaders face complex racial issues in diverse schools and communities. Antistasis, 5(1).

Hamm, L. D., Massfeller, H., Scott, A., & Cormier, K. (2017a). “They Wanted to Study Us; They Didn’t Want to Help Us”: Socially Just and Participatory Research Methodologies for Demographically Changing Schools. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 12(1).

Hamm, L., Doğurga, S. L., & Scott, A. (2016). Leading a diverse school during times of demographic change in rural Canada: Reflection, action and suggestions for practice. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 11(2), 211-230.

Hamm, L., Massfeller, H., & Oulette, K. (2017b). Summative Report for Case 1 School in Collective Case Study. Unpublished manuscript. University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB. 

Hamm, L. (2013). Intercultural research and education on the Alberta prairies: findings from a doctoral study. The Journal of Educational Thought/Revue de la Pensée Éducative, 219-231.

Hamm, L. (2015). Hiring and retaining teachers in diverse schools and districts. The Complexity of Hiring, Supporting, and Retaining New Teachers Across Canada, 40.

Hamm, L. (2017). Becoming a transformative vice-principal in culturally and linguistically rich diverse schools: “Pace yourself–It’s a marathon, not a sprint”. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 6(2), 82-98.

Hamm, L. (2018). Philosophical Foundations for Lyle’s teaching, research and service. Unpublished manuscript. University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB.   

Marr, J. (2015). Considering Culturally Responsive Teaching in a New Brunswick Physical Education Context. Unpublished manuscript. University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB. 

Mikkelsen, K., & Jarche, H. (2015, October 16). The Best Leaders Are Constant Learners. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2015/10/the-best-leaders-are-constant-learners