Leadership Preparation Programs: Preparing Culturally Competent Educational Leaders

Abstract

The demographic profile of the United States has been rapidly changing; by 2020, minority students will constitute the majority of the public school student population nationwide. This makes cultural competence a necessity for today’s school leaders. Educational leadership preparation programs are responsible for preparing culturally competent leaders; however, few programs assess their students’ cultural competence. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional, causal-comparative study was to examine whether graduates of educational leadership preparation programs had significantly different cultural competence than those beginning their respective program. The findings of this study suggest that matriculating through a principal preparation program positively correlates with educational leadership students’ overall cultural competence, cultural beliefs and motivation, and cultural knowledge. However, there appears to be no significant relationship between completing the program and students’ cultural skills.

Prepared to Lead: Educational Leadership Graduates as Catalysts for Social Justice Praxis

“…Barakat, Reames, and Kensler (2018) found that programs that ascribe to social justice tenets and promote cultural diversity may assist in improving the cultural competence of their graduates. The participants in this study were able to speak directly to this point.…”

“…In this case, Olivia took on a new role to ensure that her students had the same educational opportunities as the students in her community enrolled in public education. Barakat, Reames, and Kensler (2018) found that programs that ascribe to social justice tenets and promote cultural diversity may assist in improving the cultural competence of their graduates. The participants in this study were able to speak directly to this point.…”

Actions and Attitudes Regarding Middle-Grade LGBTQ Students: Principals’ Perspectives

“…Thus, social justice leadership is needed to create school environments that can eliminate marginalization across multiple dimensions of diversity and remove systemic barriers to opportunities (Theoharis & Scanlan, 2015). Researchers have proposed that principals who lead for social justice can create change that extends into the community by clearly communicating their expectations for inclusive and supportive environments, challenging normalizing assumptions, dismantling inequitable practices, developing inclusive school cultures that provide culturally relevant practices and curricula, nurturing critical consciousness in themselves and others, and promoting educational opportunities for all students that are implemented in collaboration with school–community stakeholders (Barakat, Reames, & Kensler, 2018; Darling-Hammond & Friedlaender, 2008; Jean-Marie et al, 2009; Khalifa, 2010; Scanlan & Lopez, 2012; Terrell & Lindsey, 2009; Theoharis & Scanlan, 2015).…”

Reflections on Active Learning in Leadership Development

“…Cutting across these standards is the expectation that leaders enact their work in ways that promote the academic well-being and success of each student (National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015). Similarly, the field now strongly embraces educational equity and social justice implications of this expectation through explicit standards, coursework, assignments, and other development efforts (Barakat et al, 2019; Byrne-Jimenez & Orr, 2013; Galloway & Ishimaru, 2015; McKenzie et al, 2007).…”

“…Along with the revised leadership standards emphasis on leadership ethics and cultural responsiveness (National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015) are calls for more explicit social justice leadership preparation (Farley et al, 2019; Galloway & Ishimaru, 2015). Intentionally focused preparation experiences can positively shape leadership identity formation and transform perspectives (Browne-Ferrigno, 2003; Matthews & Crow, 2003), and develop leadership dispositions (Green et al, 2011) and social justice stances (Barakat et al, 2019).…”