I aim to write for several different audiences. In addition to publishing scholarly journal articles, I have written for policymakers and folks in K-12 settings. Additionally, I have published op-eds, creative nonfiction articles, and I have a forthcoming book for aspiring or current educational leaders.
Hegseth, W. M. (2026). Just talk to us normally: A leader’s guide to organizing schools that elevate students. Oxford University Press.
Peer-Reviewed Book
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Just talk to us normally assists educational leaders in critically examining their instructional supports, reflecting on how to use these supports to elevate students. This leadership guide is informed by my extensive ethnographic and comparative research in elementary schools that span different educational systems and national contexts. Focusing on the International Baccalaureate and Montessori educational systems, in particular, I demonstrate how educational leaders can change culture. Specifically, I argue that educational leaders can use educational infrastructure, both direct and indirect supports to teaching and learning, to improve the way we see and teach young people.
To support leaders in this work, Just talk to us normally provides a framework that highlights the following: there is more than one way to change culture, more than one way for leaders to use educational infrastructure to systemically improve how students are perceived and taught. Educational leaders can determine how adaptable, aligned, and specified their supports are for teaching and learning. However, these decisions leaders make around their educational infrastructure have implications for the work and challenges of leaders, the beliefs and practice of teachers, and the experiences and beliefs of children. The cases and framework presented in this book therefore provide leaders with the tools necessary for enhancing the student experience.
Hegseth, W. M., Lowenhaupt, R., Oliveira, G., Bruhn, S., & Lai, B. (2025). Toward a Framework for Educational Leadership for Well-being. Journal of Ethical Educational Leadership, 8(1), 53-78.
Hegseth, W. M., & Miller, A. (2025). Taking a Stance: A Comparative Study of Education-Systems-in-Environments. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. DOI: 10.3102/01623737241296900
Hegseth, W. M. (2024). Teaching and Learning for Mutual Respect: A Framework for Disrupting Pervasive Power Asymmetries. Educational Researcher, 53(3), 175-183. DOI:10.3102/0013189X241227445
Hegseth, W. M. (2024). Implementing Along a Continuum: Comparing the Embedded Agency of Leaders and the Coupling Orientation of Educational Systems. American Journal of Education, 130(4), 555-582. DOI:10.1086/730993
Lowenhaupt, R., Hegseth, W. M., Oliveira, G., & Lai, B. (2024). Co-Designing a Children’s Cabinet: A School District-University Partnership to Improve Youth Well-Being Post-Pandemic. Journal of Educational Administration, 62(6), 638-653. DOI:10.1108/JEA-11-2023-0290
Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Attempting Equity in Classroom Practice: A Debate Across Educational Systems. Elementary School Journal, 124(1), 129-156.
Jaciw, A.P., Hegseth, W. M., Lin, L., Toby, M., Newman, D., Ma, B., & Zacamy, J. (2016). Assessing Impacts of Math in Focus, a 'Singapore Math' Program. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, (9)4, 473-502, doi: 10.1080/19345747.2016.1164777
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Articles in Progress
Bruhn, S., Oliveira, G., Hegseth, W. M., Alford, B., Lowenhaupt, R., & Lai, B. (under review). “We Want The Bathrooms Open:” Youth Voice and Policy Dilemmas in an Urban High School."
Tasbiha, M., Ahmadi*, M., Ahmadi*, S., Karimi*, A., Nasiry*, F., Sultan*, A., Sultani*, A., & Hegseth, W. M. (under review). The Delights and Dilemmas of Respect in a Transnational, Hybrid, Higher Education Classroom.
[*] Student or former student
Hegseth, W. M., Miller, A., & O’Connor, M. (under review). Same, Same, but Different: A Comparative Analysis of How Educational Systems Survive and Thrive Post-Pandemic(s).
Hegseth, W. M. (2017). Montessori Letters. Anthropology and Humanism, (42)2, 197-209. doi: 10.1111/anhu.12184
Creative Nonfiction
Hegseth, W.M. (2024). Reimagining Leadership for Symmetry: A Framework for Embedding Mutual Respect Into School Improvement Efforts. In D. DeMatthews, & S. Kruse (Eds), Reimagining School Leadership: Sustaining Improvement Through and Beyond Uncertainty. London, UK: Emerald Press.
Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Systemic Supports for Antiracist Practice in International Baccalaureate Classrooms. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.
Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Systemic Supports for Antiracist Practice in Montessori Classrooms. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.
Writing for K-12 Professionals
Policy Reports & Professional Reports
Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Transcending Borders: The International Baccalaureate’s Systemic Approach to Educating the Whole Person. In Datnow, A., Park, V., Peurach, D. J., & Spillane, J. P. (Eds), Transforming Education for Holistic Student Development: Learning from Education System (Re)Building Around the World. Washington, D.C.: Brookings.
Newman, D., Zacamy, J., Lazarev, V., Lin, L., Jaciw, A.P., & Hegseth, W. (2015). Teacher Teams and School Processes in Scaling-up a Content Literacy Innovation in High Schools. Final Report: The Evaluation of the Scale-up of Reading Apprenticeship through the Reading Apprenticeship Improving Secondary Education (RAISE) Project. (Empirical Education Rep. No. Empirical_i3SU-7019-FR1-O.2) Palo Alto, CA: Empirical Education Inc.
Hegseth, W., Zacamy, J., & Newman, D. (2015). Case Studies of the Scaling and Sustaining of Reading Apprenticeship in Four Michigan Secondary Schools. (Empirical Education Rep. No. Empirical_ i3SU-7019-CS2-Y3-O.1). Palo Alto, CA: Empirical Education Inc.
Hegseth, W., Lazarev, V. (2012). Effectiveness of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Earobics Reach: A Study in Beaumont Independent School District. (Empirical Education Rep. No. Empirical_HMH-6035- FR1-Y1-O.1). Palo Alto, CA: Empirical Education Inc.
Hegseth, W. M. (2024). Why Cultivating Mutual Respect in Elementary Schools Is So Important to Preserving Democracy. Visible Magazine.
Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Q&A with Whitney Hegseth. Lead the Change Series, 144.