Leadership for professional learning towards educational equity: a systematic literature review

Abstract

This systematic review of recent research explored the uncharted intersection of literature on educational leadership, professional learning, and educational equity. It investigated leadership approaches to shaping the professional development and ongoing learning of educators that supports more equitable outcomes for students. The underlying motivation for the work is our concern for the educational experiences and achievements of marginalised students, and for professional learning to address these inequalities. Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement, and iterative selection of literature based on relevance and quality judged by weight of evidence assessments, we identified 41 empirical items for detailed analysis. The outcome was five themes: Critical framing of social justice issues; Dialogue and enquiry; Learning and identity development; Context, resources, and motivations; Normalising inclusion and shared leadership. A further six articles informed a conceptual framework linking professional learning and outcomes that developed existing models. Critique of linear conceptualisations of learning, and affinity with the values and philosophy of the process model of education championed by Lawrence Stenhouse, prompted proposing the themes as nascent principles. These require further research, yet they have immediate practical utility for educational leaders and teachers working in pursuit of educational equity.

Foreword

“…The focus on social justice in this special issue is timely against the backdrop of Education 2030 (UNESCO, 2015) Sustainable Goal 4, which places inclusion and equity centre stage for enhanced economic, social and political development. It also builds nicely on a recent paper in PDiE by Poekert, Swaffield, Demir and Wright (2020) who highlighted the "critical framing of issues towards social justice" as a key principle in leadership for professional learning towards educational equity. All of the articles in this special issue highlight the importance of professional learning that focuses on critical thinking, critical reflection and social justice.…”

Resisting whiteness: Anti‐racist leadership and professional learning in majority white senior leadership teams in English schools

“…It shows shared tensions and feelings of isolation when resisting whiteness for school leaders who are PoC as well as for those racialised as white; both groups were cognisant of structural racism but working in perceived post-racial realities from different standpoints. We highlighted the importance of a reflexive curriculum within ITE, and using different models of professional learning (Mezirow, 1991(Mezirow, , 1995Poekert et al, 2020) to support the anti-racist cognisance leaders require to adhere to their professional duty to safeguard people from racism. Far from coincidence, whiteness remains instrumentalised to protect race neutrality and colour-evasion, marginalising 'race' discourse as 'political' threat (DfE, 2022;Tikly, 2022).…”

“…The course interrupts current frames of reference through introducing theoretical material and think-pieces (on concepts such as, colour-blindness and educational policy history) whilst providing a reflective space for personal enquiry and group discourse to challenge assumptions, interpretations, and beliefs to expand points of view (Mezirow, 1991(Mezirow, , 1995. Learning is bridged to context (Bush et al, 2007) by combining personal enquiry with participatory social learning (with peers) as key drivers to develop confidence to lead equity in individual school contexts (Poekert et al, 2020). Providing opportunities for educators to engage in structured dialogue about equity has been found to impact inclusive practice in school leadership (Jacobs et al, 2014); furthermore, Kohli (2019) and Matias and Mackey (2015) identify critical reflection as a pivotal method of increasing cognisance of race identity and developing white educators' confidence to interrupt racism through their practice.…”

Preservice Teachers’ Reflections on English Teaching Practicum for Professional Development: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…The limited studies examining methods of PSTs' reflection in English teaching practicum for professional development were shown so far (e.g., Fernandez-Batanero et al, 2020;Major & Watson, 2017;Phuong et al, 2017;Poekert et al, 2020). These studies did not specifically focus on methods of PSTs' reflections, but they involved research on the PSTs' professional development in general.…”