Ontario school principals and diversity: are they prepared to lead for equity?

Tuters, Stephanie; Portelli, John P.

doi:10.1108/ijem-10-2016-0228

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Although there have been in-roads made over the past decade, such as the creation of professional development modules from professional associations such as the Ontario Principals' Council (OPC, 2019), there is still much work to do. Tuters and Portelli (2017) have argued that there needs to be substantial changes made in Ontario principal preparation programs to promote equitable and inclusive education. In our view, there are two concerns with current professional learning.…”

Section: Implications For Future Practice and Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

School principals’ understandings of student difference and diversity and how these understandings influence their work

Pollock

Briscoe

2019

IJEM

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how Ontario principals make sense of difference within student populations and how this sensemaking influences how they do their work. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on a qualitative study in Ontario, Canada that included 59 semistructured interviews with school principals from English public, secular school districts in Southern Ontario. Findings Four themes emerged in principals’ descriptions of student populations: perceiving everyone as the same, or homogeneous; perceiving visible differences associated with particular religions, race and cultures; perceiving invisible or less visible differences, such as academic differences, socioeconomic status, mental health issues, gender identity and sexual orientation; and perceiving both visible and less visible differences through an inclusive lens. When asked about how their understanding of difference influenced how they did their work, principals’ responses varied from not influencing their work at all to influencing practices and activities. Participants’ context – both personal and local – influenced some of the work they did in their role as school principal. Lastly, multiple sources of disconnect emerged between how principals understood difference and the practices that they engage in at their school site; between their sensemaking about difference and diversity and preparing students for the twenty-first century competencies as global citizens; and between principals’ understanding of difference and diversity and existing provincial policy. Research limitations/implications Study insights not only contribute to an existing body of literature that examines principals’ sensemaking around difference, but also extend this line of inquiry to consider how this sensemaking influences their professional practice. These findings pose additional research questions about how to approach principal professional learning for inclusive and equitable education. For example, even though principals are contractually responsible for students in their care, why is it that their efforts toward equitable and inclusive schooling appear to be limited to the school site and not the wider community? Practical implications Study findings can be used to inform principal preparation programs and professional learning opportunities. Namely, these programs should provide the skill development required as well as the time needed for principals to reflect on their local context and beliefs, and to consider how their local context and beliefs are connected to larger societal efforts to create a more inclusive and equitable society. Social implications School leadership is integral to creating and building more inclusive and equitable public education that improves all students’ success at school. As Ontario’s general population becomes increasingly diverse, it is imperative that principals support success for all students; this can only happen if they understand the complexity of difference within their student populations and beyond, how to address these complexities and how their own understandings and beliefs influence their leadership practices. Originality/value Although other papers have examined how principals make sense of difference and diversity in student bodies, this paper also explores how this sensemaking influences how school leaders do their work.

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Section: Implications For Future Practice and Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

School principals’ understandings of student difference and diversity and how these understandings influence their work

Pollock

Briscoe

2019

IJEM

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“…The important role played by administrators in the implementation of a more equitable, inclusive and fair educational system, however, is hampered by the lack of administrator training for this purpose in several countries, including Canada (Gélinas Proulx, IsaBelle, & Meunier, 2014;Khalifa, Gooden, & Davis, 2016;Tuters & Portelli, 2017;Young, Madsen, & Young, 2010). Similar findings on the training offered in Québec (Borri-Anadon, Potvin, Longpré, Pereira Braga, & Orange, 2018;Ouellet, 2010) led to the creation in 2016 of a group composed of education leaders who had as a common objective the improvement of the introductory and ongoing training of school administrators in order to better develop their competencies to incorporate social diversity in a perspective of equity, inclusion, and social justice.…”

Section: Comparative and Critical Analysis Of Competency Standards Fomentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative and critical analysis of competency standards for school principals: Towards an inclusive and equity perspective in Québec

Larochelle-Audet

Magnan

Potvin

et al. 2019

EPAA

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This article presents the results of a comparative and critical study of the competency standards of Québec school administrators compared with seven other education systems within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). An inductive-type analysis has made it possible to identify the social categories targeted in the standards, the vision of school leaders as well as the competencies that are likely to help advance educational and societal goals of equity, inclusion, and social justice. Three contrasting perspectives emerge from this analysis. In Australia, California, and the United States, principals are explicitly encouraged to take action against structures and practices that undermine the educational success and social recognition of minority groups. In British Columbia and New Zealand, statements about social diversity focus more on the transformation of individual practices. Finally, in the standards of England, Texas and Québec, only a few generic statements referring to the differentiated needs of students and their success have been identified. They are instead characterized by a managerial approach oriented toward results that are measurable and cost controlled. In conclusion, a more in-depth analysis of the Québec standards opens the door to a new competency model and recommendations.

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“…In the GTA, the proportion of the population that identifies as non-White far exceeds the teacher workforce (Statistics Canada, 2016). Policy agendas concerning equity, inclusion and diversity continue to be constructed through neoliberal conceptions of diversity, whereby diversity is commodified and packaged as a component of Ontario's educational success, while omitting pervasive inequities and oppressive practices against racialized and Indigenous educators and students (James & Turner, 2017;Tuters & Portelli, 2017). As such, school administrators (principals and vice principals), who are overwhelmingly White, are responsible for hiring of teachers into permanent positions, as well the promotion of permanent teachers into leadership roles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Race(ing) to the Top: Interrogating the Underrepresentation of BIPOC Education Leaders in Ontario Public Schools

Abawi¹

2021

johepal

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Although there have been many calls to diversify the Ontario teacher workforce there has not been the same attention toward troubling the administrator diversity gap within publicly-funded education and its impacts on teacher hiring. Extant literature suggests that those responsible for making hiring decisions often hire candidates that resemble their own positionality. This conceptual paper is concerned with interrogating the administrator diversity gap and its impact on hiring within Ontario's publiclyfunded education system through an Applied Critical Leadership (ACL) theoretical lens. The paper will explore the current context of administrative demographics in Ontario, hiring policies that have contributed to the lack of BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Colour) educators in permanent teaching and leadership positions, and gatekeeping mechanisms that hinder BIPOC candidates from accessing permanent teaching and leadership positions. This paper further contends that equitable hiring practices and representation cannot materialize without administrators engaging in transformative, critical self-reflective practice.

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Ontario school principals and diversity: are they prepared to lead for equity?

Cited by 14 publications

References 38 publications

School principals’ understandings of student difference and diversity and how these understandings influence their work

School principals’ understandings of student difference and diversity and how these understandings influence their work

Comparative and critical analysis of competency standards for school principals: Towards an inclusive and equity perspective in Québec

Race(ing) to the Top: Interrogating the Underrepresentation of BIPOC Education Leaders in Ontario Public Schools

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