Alexandra Lyon Perelman began her teaching career working as a Teach For America corps member in Newark, New Jersey. She continued her education at Columbia Teachers College and taught English at a public high school in New York City, where she planned and implemented lessons on literary analysis and writing skills for Women in Literature, Advanced Placement English, 11th Grade American Literature, and 10th Grade Global Literature. She also served as an English Department Chair, a teacher mentor, and was a member of the Professional Development Committee, Hiring Committee, and School Leadership Team.
When her first son was born, Alexandra took time off from teaching and founded a fragrance business which benefitted women’s charities. After moving to Los Angeles, she pursued an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership for Social Justice to further develop her leadership skills and to continue exploring how literature can be utilized as a vehicle to examine issues of inequity.
Alexandra’s dissertation research focused on teaching for social justice in the secondary English language arts classroom. She investigated how secondary English language arts teachers in the independent school context perceived and enacted social justice teaching. Alexandra also examined how their beliefs and practices about social justice teaching intersected with their schools. She explored how structural aspects, such as governance, might shape teachers’ conceptualization and implementation of justice-oriented practices.
LMU's Ed.D. Program provided Alexandra the opportunity to be part of a supportive collective and to hone her leadership and applied research practices. With this experience, she looks forward to teaching and mentoring in higher education. She is dedicated to creating caring and inclusive learning environments in which students with diverse abilities can investigate literature to foster perspective taking and build awareness.