Melissa Riley Bradford is a senior professional lecturer in the department of Leadership, Language and Curriculum. She teaches educational leadership, research methods, curriculum studies, and value-creating education and coordinates the education doctoral program. Melissa not only teaches at DePaul; she is also a 2018 graduate of the DePaul’s doctoral program and brings that experience to her mentorship of doctoral students.
In 2008, she founded Tallgrass Sudbury School in Riverside, IL, and currently serves as the president of its board of directors.
In 2024, Bradford was honored with the DePaul University Quality of Instruction Council Excellence in Teaching Award.
Education
- PhD, Curriculum Studies, DePaul University
- MS, Education and Social Policy Northwestern University
- BA, Philosophy Northwestern University
Courses Taught
- A&S 493 Data Driven Decision Making
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A&S 496 Stakeholder Relationships
- A&S 499 Planning for Professional Development
- A&S 590 Organizational Development
- A&S 801 Leadership Theory and Practice
- A&S 812 Assessment, Accountability, and Evaluation in Higher Education
- A&S 843 The Politics of Schooling
- CS 704 Curriculum Discourses and Perspectives over Time
- CS 754 Curriculum Theorizing: Multiple Lenses
- SCG 701 Seminar: Philosophy of Education
- SCG 745 Qualitative Research Methods 1
- SCG 765 Qualitative Research Methods 2
- SCG 775 Foundations of Inquiry and Educational Research
- SCG 785 Foundations of Reviewing Educational Research
- VCE 532 Daisaku Ikeda's Educational Philosophy and Practice (2) Dialogues
- VCE 560 Dialogue and Education
Research Interests
- Democratic education; dialogue and civil discourse; Ikeda/Soka Studies; qualitative research methodologies; Self-Directed Education; value-creating leadership
Selected Publications
- Shumski, Matthew & Bradford, Melissa Riley. Schools: Studies in Education entitled: Features of the Self-Directed Education Environment: Learning from Practitioner-Experts.
- Bradford, M. R., & Inukai, N. (2024). Intellect, Emotion, and Will: A Duoethnography on Human Education. Educational Studies, 60(5), 495-510.
- Bradford, M. (2022). Creating the [insert name here] methodology: A doctoral journey into value-creative dialogue. Conceptual analyses of curriculum inquiry methodologies, Sandy Watson, O. Wiliams-Duncan, S. Austin, S. & J. Bell (Eds.).
- Inukai, N., & Bradford, M. (2022). Authentic care in a virtual environment: A self-study of Buddhist compassion. Care After COVID: Reconstructing understandings of care in teacher education. Angela Webb and Melanie Shoffner (Eds.).
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Bradford, M. (2021). Imparting hope and inspiring joy: Practicing value-creative dialogue in educational leadership. Hope and joy in education: Engaging Daisaku Ikeda across curriculum and contexts. Isabel Nuñez & Jason Goulah (Eds.).
- Nagashima, J., & Bradford, M. (2021). Belonging, places and digital spaces: A value-creative inquiry. The Journal of School and Society.
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Bradford, M., & Shields, M. (2017). Resistance to neoliberal ways of thinking through Soka and EcoJustice teaching traditions. The Journal of School and Society.
Presented Papers and Keynotes
- “Changing Paradigms and Starting a Democratic School” Keynote at the 2025 Global Citizenship Education Conference, Soka University of America, July 11-13.
Honors and Awards
- DePaul University Quality of Instruction Council Excellence in Teaching Award, 2024
- Faculty Recognition Award, DePaul University’s Latinx Graduating Class, 2022
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Ikeda Center Education Fellowship Recipient, 2015