Social Justice Challenges to Educational Administration: Introduction to a Special Issue

Abstract

Challenging the field of educational administration to take an activist and prosocial justice stance, this article introduces the special issue. Some professors and preparation programs are inadequately attuned to equity concerns. Standards and testing for administrator licensure touch only the surface of cultural diversity, equity, and democracy. Disproportionally small percentages of administrators are women and minorities. Still, with the high turnover of administrators and with the work of scholars in Leadership for Social Justice, the time for transforming the field is now.

On Becoming a Social Justice Leader: A Fictionalized Narrative Approach

“…A number of scholars have commented on the difficulties of creating a singular and all-encompassing definition of social justice (Blackmore, 2002;Bogotch, 2002Bogotch, , 2014Bogotch & Shields, 2014;Furman & Gruenewald, 2004;Goldfarb & Grinberg, 2002;Harris;, Larson &Murtadha, 2002Marshall, 2004;Shields, 2004). Definitions of the concept have been described as elusive, ubiquitous, changing, and conflicting (Brown, 2004;Harris, 2014;Zembylas & Iasonos, 2014).…”

The Comparative Study of Moral Games in Educational Markets

“…These ethical norms contribute to facilitating the moral traits of educational markets. 34 However, there are some differences in Taiwan and other countries (Table 2). Firstly, about the ethics of care, Taiwan emphasizes the care for disadvantaged students, especially in the dimension of students' learning needs.…”

“…That is to say, schools immerse the moral values in the educational markets and endeavor to establish a positive educational environment. 34 Moral games in educational markets stress that schools try to implement the process of democratic participation through connecting school members and students' parents. In this way, students' parents are facilitated to provide mutual contributions to schools.…”

“…In a word, practicing moral games in educational markets helps schools endeavor to fulfill social responsibility. 34 Schools' awareness of love and care about students are aroused. They strive for fulfilling students' learning needs.…”

A Qualitative Study on the Moral Dilemmas of Elementary and High School Principals

“…Ethics of justice underline that administrations should act according to what is right (Starratt, 1991). While justice is always prioritized in the field of education (Marshall, 2004;Shields, 2004), studies have not been conducted on how administrators act fairly, what challenges they encounter in the work place, or how they achieve acting equally and fairly (Theoharis, 2007). The ethics of justice answers the questions, "Is there a specific rule, right, or policy for solving a specific ethical dilemma; why is this rule, right, or policy correct for a specific condition; and how should the rule, right, or policy be carried out?"…”