Leadership for learning in the context of social justice: an international perspective

Citation

Normore, A.H. (2007), "Leadership for learning in the context of social justice: an international perspective", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 45 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea.2007.07445faa.001

Leadership for learning in the context of social justice: an international perspective

For nearly two decades there has been a concerted effort for educational researchers to shift research, discourse, and leadership practices toward more expansive notions of social justice. More recently, the efforts of various national and international education conferences have highlighted the importance of dialogue around the issues of educational leadership, learning, and social justice. A few examples include:

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  the University Council for Educational Administration’s “Exploring Contested Intersections of Democracy, Social Justice and Globalization” (2006, Austin, TX), “Democracy in Educational Leadership: The Unfinished Journey Towards Justice” (2005, Nashville, TN), and “Fostering Compassion and Understanding Across Borders: An International Dialogue on the Future of Educational Leadership” (2007, Washington, DC);

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  the American Educational Research Association’s “The World of Education Quality” (2007, Chicago, IL); and

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  the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management’s “Recreating Linkages Between Theory and Praxis in Educational Leadership” (2006, Nicosia, Cyprus).

Discussions about social justice in the field of education have typically framed the concept around several issues, including race, cultural diversity, marginalization, equity, access, ethics/values, class, gender, spirituality, ability/disability, cultural politics, ageism, and sexual orientation. This Special Issue features a diverse group of scholars who have produced, and/or continue to produce, important research on leadership and learning about issues of social justice. Collectively, the authors seek to give voice to empowering, social justice-focused research. This area of research continues to garner much interest in the areas of educational leadership practice, policy development, teaching, and learning. In conjunction with the theme of this issue, the articles offer research from an international perspective along with suggestions and implications for the fields of educational administration/leadership, and teaching/learning. The authors present a variety of rich perspectives to the social justice phenomenon from the lens of empirical, historical, narrative and conceptual designs – all which reiterate the importance of bridging theory and practice while simultaneously producing significant research and scholarship in the field.

In the first article, theory and practice come together through the lens of three researchers from diverse cultural backgrounds and research interests: Normore, Rodriguez and Wynne operate from a similar philosophical stance for educational transformation, best described in the words of grassroots leader, Ella Baker, who said, “We are the people we have been waiting for”. Her words epitomize the authors’ struggles to steer away from models of hierarchal leadership in education and stay connected to the practice of excavating community wisdom. Qualitative research procedures (i.e. interviews, field notes and observations) were used to generate data on a “movement model” for grassroots leadership. This model is best demonstrated in various youth-oriented initiatives (i.e. student exhibits, a multi-institutional action-research project, Algebra Project) within a large urban school district. This model, influenced by Civil Rights legend Robert Moses, has implications for educational leadership and urban school reform and simultaneously grounds the authors’ scholarship and research in liberation epistemology.

The second article highlights current practices and challenges faced by principals in the South Pacific through examples drawn from Tonga and the Cook Islands. Johansson introduces and defines educational leadership in the South Pacific context by recognizing Pacific cultures, values, beliefs and philosophies and how these are interconnected with issues of social justice. In her search for the source of Pacific leadership Johansson examines conceptualizations of leadership from various Pacific Island countries including, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and PNG. Attention is drawn to the core principles found from these conceptualizations. Johansson suggests these principles as guides for developing a principals’ qualification program for the South Pacific.

The third article reiterates connections between whiteness, anti-racism and social justice. McMahon presents a qualitative research study set in a Canadian context. In spite of overwhelming evidence that visible minority students are marginalized in and by school policies and practices, racism is often overtly conceptualized as a phenomenon that happens in other times and places. Qualitative research data are derived from interviews with eight White educational administrators in three school districts in the greater Toronto area who work with predominantly African Canadian and South Asian Canadian student communities. The findings reveal a broad range of understandings of whiteness, anti-racism, and social justice and a need to develop this work even among educators who purport to be committed to equity and inclusion.

In the fourth article, Kana and Aitken use “process drama” (Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert approach) to engage final-year teaching students with complex issues of cultural diversity, enabling them to “grow into” different kinds of leadership positions in an imagined educational setting. The drama explored a fictional scenario described by Hall and Bishop where a beginner teacher (of European descent) unwittingly diminishes the experiences of Maori and other non-European children in her class. This scenario has currency in Aotearoa New Zealand, where the population is increasingly culturally diverse, where underachievement of Maori students continues to be of concern, and where research has shown the centrality of teacher-student relations in raising educational achievement for Maori. Through drama, students built a sense of empathy for all sides of the issue and engaged in deep thinking about the experience of cultural exclusion. The safety and distance provided by the drama “frame” spurred students to take leadership roles and “stand up” for issues of social justice.

The fifth article, by Landorf and Nevin, uncovers the historical and theoretical differences between global education and inclusive education while simultaneously identifying the ways in which the two fields are complementary. The authors propose strategies for teacher educators that build on the commonalities and best practices of both fields and term this intersection “inclusive global education”. The authors propose that future educators can become inclusive global educators who use teaching strategies that are inclusive of all students, think globally, act on their convictions, and focus on social justice. Whereas global educators traditionally focus on learning to understand and come to respect the cultural, social, and political “other”, the traditional focus of special educators is to empower students to gain self-respect. Knowledgeable of both fields, and working together, an assertion is made that global educators and special educators may forge pedagogical content knowledge that bridges the gap between affirming one’s own identity and maintaining unity with the whole, and exemplifies a robust notion of social justice.

The sixth article, by Chiu and Walker, instigates a focused dialogue of social justice in Hong Kong schools and the responsibilities this holds for school leaders. The authors draw on economic, psychological, and sociological research to illustrate how unequal allocation of resources and inbuilt school status hierarchies affect students, and challenge leaders’ understandings and actions. The findings reveal several contextual factors prevalent in Hong Kong that maintain inequity and then applies research findings to explain how these discriminate against both disadvantaged and more advantaged students. The authors assert that while addressing social justice issues, school leaders benefit from being cognisant of their own values and beliefs, as well as those prevalent in their communities. As a result, school leaders can introduce structural and cultural changes to reduce inequity.

In the seventh article, Collard argues that comparative frameworks are based upon static and essentialist premises that fail to acknowledge the complex, constantly changing and dialectical elements of social and institutional cultures. The author advances a theory of intercultural dynamics as a more nuanced concept that can capture the complex interactions that occur between agents from different cultures. It seeks to develop more dynamic research tools based upon constructivist and phenomenological premises. It is advanced as the next step in the journey to enrich leadership theory and praxis in an increasingly diverse world.

In the eighth article, Brooks and Jean-Marie investigate how race and race relations influence leadership activity in a high-poverty, high-minority, urban high school in the Southeastern USA. To investigate these phenomena, the school’s culture was conceived as a moiety, a culture split into two leadership sub-cultures. These two leadership sub-cultures – one black and one white – each had distinct norms, procedures, measures of success, and expectations of members. The findings revealed that the two sub-cultures operated internally and interacted with one another in particular ways characteristic of traditional moiety cultures. These findings are discussed in terms of their import as cultural, social justice, and leadership issues. The authors conclude with a consideration of their implications for both research and practice.

In the ninth article Stevenson explores the concept of values-driven leadership in the context of multi-ethnic schools in the UK. Increasing ethnic diversity is an increasingly common feature of school populations in the post-modern world. The author draws on case-study research from ten such schools in England and illustrates the ways in which values-driven leadership is played out in multi-ethnic schools. Findings revealed how school leaders’ moral convictions were challenged, and sometimes compromised, as they came into conflict with the wider policy agenda. In particular the author demonstrates how educational policies designed to promote markets for schools, and school choice, came into direct conflict with school leaders’ efforts to promote social justice. The article questions whether policies designed to raise educational standards through school competition are compatible with practices intended to promote social justice.

Finally, Skrla, McKenzie and Scheurich provide a summary of all the articles for this Special Issue. The authors share their perspectives on the various domains of research, as well as the implications for policy development and leadership practices. They further offer suggestions concerning the next steps required from researchers and practitioners in order to promote collaborative efforts and engage in critical international discourse on educational leadership, learning, and social justice.

On behalf of the editorial team at Journal of Educational Administration, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all external reviewers and authors who contributed to this special issue. I am particularly grateful to the research team at Texas A&M, College Station, Texas, who took the time to summarize the research. Their insights and suggestions for “next steps” action are most appreciated as we collectively begin to engage in discourse about social justice and educational leadership across national and international borders. I am grateful to Ross Thomas, Editor of the Journal of Educational Administration, and to Emerald Publishing Group for the opportunity to publish this Special Issue on “Leadership for learning in the context of social justice: an international perspective”. Our hope is that these articles will serve as a catalyst for further research on educational leadership, policy development, teaching, and learning for social justice.

Thank you.

Anthony H. NormoreGuest Editor