Black leaders matter

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate factors that contribute to black male school leaders’ career progression and sustenance within the teaching profession. This, because the progression of black and minority ethnic (BME) teachers in Britain has been the subject of much debate. Fewer BME teachers are in leadership roles in education, and there are only 230 BME headteachers of approximately 24,000 primary and secondary headteachers. Design/methodology/approach The headteachers’ professional lives are explored through the lenses of critical race theory and interpretivism. In doing so, it illuminates the journey towards and the realities of a group whose views are currently unrepresented in research on school leadership or that of the experiences of male BME teachers in England. Findings This study finds that whereas personal agency and determination are largely responsible for keeping these black headteachers in post, “White sanction” (Miller, 2016) has played a significant role in career entry and early career development. Furthermore, participants experience both limiting and facilitating structures as they negotiated their roles into headship and as headteachers. Limiting structures are those which constrain or hinder progression into leadership, whilst facilitating structures enabled participants to navigate and negotiate gendered racism, make progress in their careers and achieve success in their respective roles. Both limiting and facilitating structures include personal agency and contextual factors. Research limitations/implications The paper also makes the point that more research is needed on current BME school leaders to examine the factors that motivate and enable them. Additionally, more research is needed on the limiting and facilitating structures identified in this study and on the potential generational differences that may exist between more established and newly appointed male BME school leaders. Studying generationally different school leaders may help to illuminate the salience of race and racism across an increasingly diverse population. Practical implications Furthermore, this paper also suggests that more BME school leaders are needed, thereby making the leadership teams of schools more representative, as well as raising aspirations and interest among BME teachers and therefore making black leadership sustainable. Originality/value This paper is an original piece of research that adds fresh insights into not only how black school leaders get into teaching and leadership but also significantly what keeps them there.

A Scarlet A-Line Skirt, Independent and Critical Visual Practice, and the Brit(ish)line: Representing Women’s Leadership in Education Through Values-Based Cartooning

“…The lack of representation of women, particularly women of color, in formal leadership roles across education is an ongoing concern (Mirza, 2008;Fuller, 2017;Miller and Callender, 2018;Manfredi et al, 2019). Improving the visibility of women's leadership, in education and beyond, is one way that visual practitioners can highlight the contributions made by, and the barriers facing, women and seek to counter depictions that exclude, undermine, objectify, and misrepresent.…”

Perceptions of Career Agency and Career Calling in Mid-Career: A Qualitative Investigation

“…Network capital, positive work role models, and prior life experiences have also been found to predict entrepreneurial intention, agency perspective, and agency behavior (Niehaus & O'Meara, 2015;Tolentino et al, 2014). Some researchers caution that organizational subcultures that entail inherent gender or racial bias can either limit personal agency or fuel agentic behavior (Afioni & Karam, 2019;Miller & Callender, 2018). On a theoretical level, job crafting suggests that workers should be empowered to alter their work tasks and relationships to align their personal sense of calling or meaning with their work goals (Berg et al, 2013;.…”

‘Tackling’ race inequality in school leadership: Positive actions in BAME teacher progression – evidence from three English schools

“…Racial /ethnic discrimination (Bush et al, 2006) were also been found to be a barrier in the progression of teachers of BAME heritage. Furthermore, Lumby and Coleman (2007) found race/ ethnicity was a barrier to the progression of teachers of BAME heritage, a situation they reconfirmed a decade later in 2017 (See, Lumby and Coleman, 2017), and supported by Miller and Callender (2018).…”