Xiu Cravens

Bringing School Principals Together

Doctoral student Xiu Cravens focuses her Ph.D. studies in Leadership and Policy specializing in Educational Leadership. Cravens also participates in Peabody’s ExPERT program, a nationally funded pre-doctoral training program which gives students the opportunity to engage in rigorous, field-based, experimental research—along with interdisciplinary discussion and study of important educational problems.

“Working with colleagues from each of Peabody’s departments has given me the opportunity to work with students with a variety of interests and backgrounds,” Cravens says. “The experience, while quite challenging at times, has been a great asset in my development as a scholar.”

A native of China, she was instrumental in organizing the Educational Leadership Learning Exchange, a collaboration of Peabody College, South China Normal University and Metro Nashville Public Schools. The exchange includes reciprocal visits and information sharing between principals in Nashville and those in Guangzhou in Guangdong Province .

“The work I have done with the Learning Exchange has been one of the more rewarding experiences supplementing my training as a researcher. The global context in which schools find themselves will continue to increase in importance,” according to Cravens.

Xiu Cravens

• Ph.D., Leadership and Policy Studies, Educational Leadership and Policy, 2008
• Undergraduate Institution: Peking University, Beijing, China
• Hometown: Beijing, China
• Favorite Thing to Do in Nashville: Frist Center art exhibits, meeting friends for tea