Professional Biography
Dr. McGee’s interest is in advancing education equity through the translation of research to practice. His focus on learner-centered, community-engaged education envisions a K–20+ education continuum with a goal of producing competent civic citizens. His vision for that continuum embodies a comprehensive and inclusive view of post-secondary education that encompasses two-year, four-year, and trade school institutions. In addition to serving as a GSE Adjunct Assistant Professor, he is a Faculty Affiliate of Penn GSE’s Ethnography in Education Research Forum.
In his current research Dr. McGee is the Principal Investigator for the Indigenous Consciousness Education Research (ICER) project in Ahmedabad, India. Dr. McGee investigates how communities understand their local funds of knowledge/local knowledge systems. This project integrates community-engaged ethnographic and anthropological methodologies that respect local educational traditions and aims to contribute to sustainable educational practices globally. The project includes four phases: Convening, Research Seminar, Regional Research, and Policy Development. He is a School of Creative Practice & Entrepreneurship (SCoPE) Scholar at Anant National University (ANU) focusing on the ICER research.
Dr. McGee’s avocation is facilitating opportunities for students to enhance their success including his role as one of six multi-school co-directors of the Penn Experience, an asynchronous course designed to provide context for Penn’s relationship to West Philadelphia. One goal of the course is to help students prepare for difficult conversations about racism and other forms of oppression. Dr. McGee also created a collaboration of writing resources across Penn’s campus to initiate the Writing Commons (WC); it supports the culture and practice of academic writing for graduate students through programming and supportive hybrid spaces for nurturing students as writers. The WC cognizes identities and knowledge-building practices as integral to the writing process. His commitment to student success is fueled by his ability to leverage resources for student growth opportunities. In the Philadelphia community, Dr. McGee serves on the Board of Directors of Rebel Ventures, Inc. (“Rebel”), a youth-driven enterprise that operates a project-based learning model. It was established within Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships (“Netter Center”) and its Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative. Rebel’s mission is to work to create healthy deliciousness with kids, schools, and communities. They impact the supply of nutritionally balanced food by developing healthy snack products that are sold to schools.
Dr. McGee returned to school in 2017 to earn his M.S.Ed. and Ed.D. in higher education from Penn GSE after an extensive legal career, serving in a variety of government roles, including: a New Jersey Deputy Attorney General, a New Jersey Deputy Ratepayer Advocate, a City of East Orange Assistant Corporation Counsel, and retiring as a New Jersey Administrative Law Judge. Prior to returning to school, Dr. McGee spent eight years teaching Ethics and Administrative Law to graduate students at Rutgers University School of Public Affairs and Administration and at Kean University School of Public Administration.
