Irwin Blumer, EdD
Dr. Irwin Blumer has had a rich and robust career as an educational leader, learner and mentor of the current and next generation of educators. Irwin has worked in both urban and suburban settings, bringing his steady and wise leadership to a wide range of roles. He served as Superintendent of schools in Newton and Concord, Director of Curriculum and Instruction in Concord, principal at the Michael Driscoll Elementary School in Brookline, Assistant Principal at the Weeks Junior High School in Newton, Assistant Principal at Ward Melville High School (New York), Guidance Counselor at the Weeks Junior High School in Newton, a Master Teacher/Team Leader for the National Teacher Corps at the Timilty Junior High School in Roxbury (Boston), a social studies teacher and Guidance Counselor at Wayland High School, and as a social studies teacher at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, MA.
A sought after consultant who brings insight and practical wisdom to the endeavor of education, for more than four decades he has been presenting local and at the national level in areas of Early Childhood Education, Professional Evaluation, Guidance and Counseling, Collective Bargaining, School Law, Educational Budgeting, Gifted and Talented, School Culture, Supervision and Evaluation, and more, and yet continues to impact current leaders by coaching the newest Superintendents in MA through the MASS NISP program. In 2003, Irwin was a co-facilitator for Massachusetts: Education and the Global Economy at the Kennedy Library. There isn’t an arena where Irwin has not lent his time, energy and influence, including his contributions at the graduate level as a research professor, Member of Steering Committee and Oversee Coaching in the Lynch Leadership Academy at the Boston College Lynch School of Education as well as Research Professor, Chair of Educational Administration and Higher Education Department at the Boston College Graduate School of Education. He has also been Graduate and Continuing Education Faculty at Framingham State College, Assistant Professor of Education, Graduate School, Lowell State and at the College and University of Lowell, Massachusetts as well as Team Leader/English Instructor, Upward Bound, University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Dr. Blumer is the author of numerous publications on leadership, including, “What Kind of Support Do Beginning Principals Need?” (MASCD Quarterly Journal, September ’05), "A Good Start", (Phi Delta Kappan, January, 2000), "Lessons in Leadership" (Jossey-Bass, 1999), and has been at the forefront of equity as demonstrated by his publication "Creating a Community of Allies: How One School System Attempted to Create an Active Anti Racist Environment" (International Journal of Leadership In Education, 1999). Irwin holds his Doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston College, and earned both his Masters and Bachelors degrees from Northeastern University.
Irwin has not only walked the walk, he has been the steadiest of guides, sharing his perspective and insight to guide his colleagues and mentees.
