Educating School Leaders for Social Justice

Abstract

Traditional leadership preparation programs and licensure requirements give only token consideration to social justice concerns. This article examines the emerging social justice discourse in the educational administration field and discusses several challenges that must be considered as universities and others attempt to prepare school leaders for social justice critique and activism. Social justice scholarship in educational leadership emphasizes moral values, justice, respect, care, and equity; always in the forefront is a consciousness about the impact of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability on schools and students’ learning. School leadership programs face the challenge of preparing new leaders to critically inquire into the structures and norms that result in inequitable schooling for many students and to undertake an advocacy role to influence educational policies to achieve social justice.

Toward Culturally Sustaining Leadership: Innovation beyond ‘School Improvement’ Promoting Equity in Diverse Contexts

“…As it stands, research suggests that the least traditional and potentially most innovative leaders tend to have the lowest overall physical presence in schools [13][14][15]. These leaders are often leaders of color and as such are disproportionately represented in formal leadership positions, as evidenced by research on recruitment and attrition of leaders of color [14,15]. As the figure suggests, in contrast, the most traditional leaders are greater in number and more representative of mainstream society demographics [1,4,16].…”

“…A shift toward more culturally sustaining leadership practice requires the smallest of the three wheels to dictate the direction and speed of the entire system. As it stands, research suggests that the least traditional and potentially most innovative leaders tend to have the lowest overall physical presence in schools [13][14][15]. These leaders are often leaders of color and as such are disproportionately represented in formal leadership positions, as evidenced by research on recruitment and attrition of leaders of color [14,15].…”

“…They are underrepresented in educational leadership positions at every level across the Nation, particularly women of color, American Indians, and Latina/os [14,15,23,26]. These educational leaders have past, recent or current experiences that associate the attainment of education with a viable means of breaking cycles of poverty, exclusion, and marginalization.…”

Educational Considerations, vol. 40(1) Full Issue

“…Finally and most broadly, various respected sources within the education leadership professoriate have recommended improvements in educational leadership preparation programs generally, ranging, for example, from Bredeson's (1991) call for reflective incorporation of personal experience to more recent emphases on adopting the transformative model of leadership (Brown 2006a(Brown , 2006bLeithwood et al 2005), focusing this transformation on social justice (Brown 2008;Cambron-McCabe and McCarthy 2005),…”

Equitable leadership on the ground: Converging on high-leverage practices

“…For example, the 2008 ISLLC standards, broadly defined, focused on visionary leadership, instructional improvement, effective management, inclusive leadership, ethical leadership, and leadership within the sociopolitical realm. Yet both the 1996 and 2008 standards gave sparse attention to equity, historically oppressive systems and practices, and resulting outcome disparities experienced by nondominant students and families (Anderson, 2001(Anderson, , 2009Anderson et al, 2002;;Cambron-McCabe & McCarthy, 2005;English, 2005;Marshall & McCarthy, 2002;Tillman et al, 2003). None of the standards, nor the specific functions/responsibilities of leadership described alongside each standard included the terms "race," "ethnicity," or "color" (Davis, Gooden, & Micheaux, 2015).…”