Resisting Social Justice in Leadership Preparation Programs: Mechanisms that Subvert

Abstract

It is well documented that the achievement gap between affluent students and economically disadvantaged students and between White students and students of color continues to widen. In addition to these achievement gaps, marginalizing practices are often imbedded in the structures of schooling. These challenges require educational leadership programs that effectively prepare school principals who can meet our most pressing school challenges and who, in particular, strive for social justice ends; however, the literature on leadership for social justice provides no clear consensus on what an entire educational leadership program oriented toward social justice would include. This study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by critically examining a curriculum and instruction leadership program that has social justice embedded into the program's core practices. Specifically we ask the following questions: What critical elements underlie programs that prepare professionals for social justice in fields outside of educational leadership? What can we learn from these programs in support of educational leadership programs whose aim is to prepare leaders for social justice? What possible resistance was faced by these programs, and what can we learn from these experiences that can inform our practice of preparing educational leaders for social justice? There were several key findings that range from how students were selected into the program to the way in which faculty worked with each other in their teaching responsibility. The paper concludes with implications and recommendations for principal-preparation programs.

Effective Preparation Program Features

“…Several scholars have critiqued this area of the curriculum. Among the concerns raised are the lack of research connecting issues of diversity and race with leadership preparation curriculum (Boske, 2012; Diem & Carpenter, 2012, 2013; Hernandez & McKenzie, 2010) and the lack of research on what an entire program oriented toward social justice would look like (Hernandez & McKenzie, 2010).…”

Addressing English Language Learners in the School Leadership Curriculum

“…(p. 4) However, in some cases, a complete re-orientation toward preparing leaders for social justice, which would provide greater attention to the needs of linguistic minorities, may encounter faculty resistance and implementation challenges, as F. Hernandez and McKenzie (2010) report in their study of one such leadership program. In this and their previous work (McKenzie et al, 2008), they recommend limiting an examination of leadership preparation programs to key areas when reorienting toward the education of culturally and linguistically diverse learners.…”

Mentoring Matters: An Exploratory Survey of Educational Leadership Doctoral Students’ Perspectives

“…A broader scope of methodological tools have been used to examine the quality and effectiveness of educational leadership preparation programs by conducting program evaluations using survey (Buskey & Karvonen, 2012;Orr, 2012) mixed methods (Huang et al, 2012); case study (Hernandez & McKenzie, 2010); and action research (Orr, Doolittle, Kottkamp, Osterman, & Silverberg, 2004). Also, survey design has been used in a general way to capture an overall picture of faculty who teach in educational leadership preparation programs (Hackmann & McCarthy, 2011), while Rusch (2004) used survey design more specifically to hone in on faculty's perceptions and discourse about gender and race in educational leadership classrooms.…”

“…Given this need to ensure educational administrators can lead in shifting social, cultural, and political contexts, it is also recommended educational leadership preparation make social justice and equity a foundational framework for program design (Hernandez & McKenzie, 2010), especially as it pertains to poverty (Rodriguez & Fabionar, 2010); race and racism (Jean-Marie & Mansfield, 2013), serving students with special needs (Capper, Rodriquez, & McKinney, 2010), language minority students (Scanlan & López, 2012;Theoharis & O'Toole, 2011), and sexual identity (Koschoreck & Slattery, 2010). While less attention is given to gender in leadership preparation programs, there are scholars calling for a resistance to the prevailing gender-blind stance in schools, and recognition that girls' and boys' treatment in schools, and access and achievement differ in important ways (Marshall & Young, 2013;Mansfield & Newcomb, 2014).…”