Celine Massuger is the Associate Director of Education & Lead Teacher at RUTH YouthBuild. In her role, she collaborates with leadership to create a shared collective vision and goals for the organization; serves as on-site point of contact for academic team members; ensure timely and accurate data collection; plans and prepares narrative and statistical reports on program and staff activities; works with Chief Financial Officer on program budgeting; supervises youth education program operation, addresses student behavior issues, and communicates with parents and agency partners; and identifies gaps in programming and works with all stakeholders to develop solutions.
Celine decided to enroll in LMU’s Ed.D. Program during the COVID-19 pandemic because there were so many challenges affecting educators, students, and parents. She felt that she wanted to be part of the solution and to create space for unheard voices to be heard by those in positions of power.
Celine’s research interests involve developing a positive school culture, implementing restorative practices, and incorporating educational theories—such as critical hope, radical love, and authentic care theory—into practice. Her dissertation “‘They're Not Used to Being Seen’: Teacher Reflections on Building Community and Belonging with High-Need Students,” chaired by Lauren Casella, Ed.D., was a qualitative study compiling effective teacher and school-wide practices for school belonging. Her vision is to build physically and emotionally safe schools based on trust and joy where all students can feel included.
Participating in the Ed.D. Program has supported Celine’s development a lot as an educator. It allowed her to establish her identity as both a teacher, researcher, and administrator, and to pinpoint her specific areas of interest in the field of education. It also helped her to grow in her leadership, learn new skills, and develop the confidence to be able to step into different roles as a practitioner in the field.
Celine would like to thank her family and friends for all their support during her doctoral journey.