Michael T. O'Connor
Michael T. O’Connor, Ph.D. is the Program Director of Outreach and Professional Development at the Roche Center for Catholic Education at the Lynch School of Education & Human Development, Boston College.
A former middle school English Language Arts (ELA) teacher, instructional coach, professional learning and development consultant, and policymaker, Dr. O’Connor received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in language, literacy, and culture from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. His dissertation, under the direction of Dr. Maria Estela Brisk, explored secondary students’ language choices in authentic, community-based writing experiences and the ways in which teachers collaborated to support student writing across rural contexts. In partnership with Drs. Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley and others, he has supported educators and school leaders participating in professional learning networks (PLNs), including those involving cross-state ELA middle and high school teachers. His research has continued through the exploration of PLNs and other collaborative designs to support the professional learning and development of educators, including literacies educators. He also pursues research interests in educator pipelines and Catholic education. At the Roche Center, he leads professional development efforts for the Center, including a teacher-leadership academy; teaches in the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership program (Catholic Leadership Cohort); and contributes to Roche Center and Lynch School research projects. His published work includes Collaborative Professionalism: When Teaching Together Means Learning for All, co-authored with Dr. Andy Hargreaves (Corwin Press, 2018).You can connect with Dr. O’Connor on Twitter at @mtpoc.
Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in language, literacy, and culture, Lynch School of Education at Boston College
M.Ed., Education, University of Notre Dame
B.A., English, University of Notre Dame
Books
Hargreaves, A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2018). Collaborative professionalism: When teaching together means learning for all. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Translations in Chinese (Simplified), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish.
Journal Articles
O’Connor, M. T., & Daniello, F. (2019). From implication to naming: Reconceptualizing school community partnership literature using a framework nested in social justice. School Community Journal, 29(1), 297-316.
Bacon, C. K., Pedersen, J. M., & O’Connor, M. T. (Eds). (2017). Writing, agency, and linguistic diversity: Multilingual learners as agentive writers. Journal of Literacy Research, Virtual Special Issue. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/page.jlr/virtual-special-issue
Hargreaves, A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2017). Cultures of professional collaboration: Their origins and opponents. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 2(2), 74-85.
Book Chapters
Washington, S. A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2020). Collaborative professionalism across cultures and contexts: Cases of professional learning networks enhancing teaching and learning in Canada and Colombia. In L. Schnellert (Ed.), Professional Learning Networks: Facilitating Transformation in Diverse Contexts with Equity Seeking Communities. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.
Hargreaves, A., Washington, S., & O’Connor, M. T. (2018). Flipping their lids: Teachers’ well-being in crisis. In D. M. Netolicky, J. Andrews, & C. Paterson (Eds.), Flip the System Australia: What Matters in Education. London: Routledge.
O’Keefe, J. M., & O’Connor, M. T. (2014). Religiously affiliated schools in the USA: The current reality. In C. Chapman, Y. Waghid, & M. Reiss (Eds.) International Handbook on Learning and Leadership in Faith Based Schools. Dordrecht: Springer.
Invited & Other Publications
Hargreaves, A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2019). The 4 B’s: How to adapt other people’s practices and make them stick. The Learning Professional: The Learning Forward Journal, 40(3), 54-62.
Hargreaves, A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2018). Solidarity with solidity: The case for collaborative professionalism. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(1), 20-24.
Hargreaves, A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2018). Leading collaborative professionalism. Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series (Paper #274). Melbourne, Australia: Centre for Strategic Education.
Hargreaves, A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2017). Collaborative professionalism. World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), An Initiative of Qatar Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.wise-qatar.org/2017- wise-research-collaborative-professionalism.
