In recent years, I have relied on multi-modal methods to compare — across different types of systems (e.g., traditional public, Montessori, charter) and different national contexts — how educational systems change culture. More specifically, I examine how school and system leaders design educational infrastructure — resources, roles, and structures that help teachers to organize and improve instruction — to improve how children are seen and taught throughout their school day. Simultaneously, I examine the implications of these system-level supports for the practice of teachers and the experiences of students. 

    • Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Attempting Equity in Classroom Practice: A Debate Across Educational Systems. Elementary School Journal, 124(1), 129-156. [LINK]

    • Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Systemic Supports for Antiracist Practice in International Baccalaureate Classrooms. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. [LINK]

    • Hegseth, W. M. (2023). Systemic Supports for Antiracist Practice in Montessori Classrooms. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. [LINK]

Increasingly, my research is done in partnership; with youth, their schools, and the communities that surround them. For example, I am presently part of a research-practice partnership, which is aimed at improving youth well-being in an immigrant-serving community. For the past two years, I helped to design and implement a youth leadership initiative. In our week-long summer initiative, we equip high school youth with research and advocacy skills to improve well-being for themselves and their peers. Additionally, I recently applied for a Spencer Vision Grant with a multidisciplinary team of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Once funded, we intend to facilitate a community of practice with stakeholders from different systems and national contexts, to convene and collaborate around how to systemically support deeper learning for students with disabilities.

    • 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. [LINK]

    • 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. [LINK]

    • 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." 

In all of my research, my disciplinary background in anthropology — paired with methods like comparative case study and video-cued multivocal ethnography — help me to understand how educational systems interact with macro-level forces (e.g., political, cultural) in ways that reinforce, ­or disrupt, longstanding micro-level practices in classrooms.

    • 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 [LINK]

    • 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 [LINK]

    • Hegseth, W. M., & Miller, A. (2024). Taking a Stance: A Comparative Study of Education-Systems-in-Environments. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. [LINK]