Social Justice Leadership—Theory and Practice: A Case of Ontario

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Social Justice Leadership ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Greater Toronto Area ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Just Community ◽  
Justice Practice

Purpose: This study is to investigate how principals promote social justice to redress marginalization, inequity, and divisive action that are prevalent in schools. Research Method: This study employs a qualitative research design with semistructured interviews. Twenty-two elementary and secondary school principals were interviewed in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. Research Findings: Principals who are social justice advocates exercise their influence by focusing on people in an effort to build a socially just community. Their people-centered leadership practice focuses on: putting students at the center, positioning as a social justice leader, developing people for social justice, building school climate through social justice, and fostering positive relationships with families and communities. Social justice leadership is grounded in a very proactive way in bringing about the changes that such a paradigm demands. Implications: This study generates discussions among participants on the dynamics associated with social justice practice and helps practitioners navigate tactically entrenched power structures for the well-being of their students. It also deepens our understanding of social justice leadership by providing empirical evidence how social justice advocates take risks and innovative approaches to social change that embraces the value of democracy, inclusion, representation, and difference.

Social Justice Leadership and Family Engagement

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 754-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. DeMatthews ◽  
D. Brent Edwards ◽  
Rodolfo Rincones
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Family Engagement ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Social Justice Leadership ◽  
Administrator Preparation ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
The Status ◽  
Administrator Preparation Programs

Research Approach: This in-depth qualitative case study explores one school leader’s enactment of social justice leadership in an elementary school in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Analysis of interviews and observations revealed how this leader adapted her leadership to prioritize the severe needs of families and students in one of the world’s most violent cities. Findings: The article describes how the leader made sense of the community and its needs. Then, it examines how the leader enacted social justice leadership by addressing the out-of-school challenges that affected student achievement and well-being. Consequently, the leader’s focus shifted toward meaningful family engagement through adult education, community advocacy, and critical questioning of the status quo. Implications: Implications for future research, theory, and administrator preparation programs are presented at the conclusion of the article.

Decolonizing Development Education and the Pursuit of Social Justice

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 31-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhana Sultana
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
International Development ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Colonial Power ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Development Education ◽  
Popular Discourse ◽  
Institutional Politics ◽  
Dominant Narratives

Decolonization has become a popular discourse in academia recently and there are many debates on what it could mean within various disciplines as well as more broadly across academia itself. The field of international development has seen sustained gestures towards decolonization for several years in theory and practice, but hegemonic notions of development continue to dominate. Development is a contested set of ideas and practices that are under critique in and outside of academia, yet the reproduction of colonial power structures and Eurocentric logics continues whereby the realities of the global majority are determined by few powerful institutions and a global elite. To decolonize development's material and discursive powers, scholars have argued for decolonizing development education towards one that is ideologically and epistemologically different from dominant narratives of development. I add to these conversations and posit that decolonized ideologies and epistemologies have to be accompanied by decolonized pedagogies and considerations of decolonization of institutions of higher education. I discuss the institutional and critical pedagogical dilemmas and challenges that exist, since epistemological, methodological, and pedagogical decolonizations are influenced by institutional politics of higher education that are simultaneously local and global. The paper engages with the concept of critical hope in the pursuit of social justice to explore possibilities of decolonizing development praxis and offers suggestions on possible pathways forward.

Conceptualizing social justice: interviews with principals

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 667-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Open Space ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership For Social Justice ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Findings

Purpose – Today, as the understanding of diversity is further expanded, the meaning of social justice becomes even more complicated, if not confusing. The purpose of this paper is to explore how school principals with social justice commitment understand and perceive social justice in their leadership practices. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research design is used for this study. In total, 22 school principals in Ontario were interviewed. The interviews glean data on principals’ work context, their perceptions of social justice, and anecdotes, stories, and examples concerning social justice in their practices. Findings – The research findings draw attention to the central importance of awareness of the social injustices in schools – in structure, policy, and practices – and open space for debate on what can be considered as leadership for social justice. They also provide a useful starting point in exploring how leadership roles and practices can be improved to reverse injustices associated with the diversity of students based on race, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. Originality/value – What principals perceive may have a significant impact on the actions and practices for social justice. Therefore, it is important to gain insight into principals’ persecutions and perspectives on social justice as they may become norms and criteria that guide their actions.

Climate, economy and justice — the interdependent aspects of global well-being: An analysis of develop-mental economy, climate and justice in light of its global politics

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Kapur
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Climate Change Economics

In his book Climate, Economy, and Justice: Global Frontiers of Social Development in Theory and Practice, Brij Mohan assembled the works of a team of experts on topics such as climate change, economics and social justice. According to the author, this book explodes myths about social welfare and development and offers a critical interface between “comparative social welfare” and “new social development”.

The Positioning of Social Justice: Critical Challenges for Career Development

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barrie Irving
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Career Development ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Development Theory ◽  
Societal Values ◽  
Critical Insight ◽  
Career Literature ◽  
Insight Into

Career development theory and practice have the potential to foster a sense of belonging and well-being by facilitating the construction of meaningful life-careers. Social justice issues are integral, because they are concerned with fairness and equity, (in)equality, cultural diversity, psychosocial well-being, and societal values. Career development theorists, researchers, and practitioners, therefore, need a deeper understanding of the multiple and complex influences on how ‘career’ is interpreted and ‘opportunities’ are presented. Such an understanding should provide critical insight into the effects of wider sociocultural and political concerns affecting what is deemed possible in the shaping and enactment of career. Yet the term social justice is often loosely deployed or inadequately defined in contemporary career literature and tends to be absent in discussions of practice. This chapter explores the contested nature of social justice, outlines competing definitions, and considers ways in which critical social justice contributes a transformative dimension to career development.

scholarly journals Climate, economy and justice — the interdependent aspects of global well-being: An analysis of develop-mental economy, climate and justice in light of its global politics

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Kapur
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Climate Change Economics

In his book Climate, Economy, and Justice: Global Frontiers of Social Development in Theory and Practice, Brij Mohan assembled the works of a team of experts on topics such as climate change, economics and social justice. According to the author, this book explodes myths about social welfare and development and offers a critical interface between “comparative social welfare” and “new social development”.

Educational Leadership and Social Justice: Practice into Theory

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ira E. Bogotch
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Educational Leader ◽  
Craft Knowledge ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
Justice Practice ◽  
Intellectual Activities

In this article Dewey's conceptions of theory and practice provide a conceptual framework for understanding the moral and political possibilities of educational leadership. Specifically, the differences among craft knowledge, professional reflective practice, and intellectual activities are discussed. Through the use of historical illustrations, two educational leadership paths demonstrate connections between educational leadership and social justice. The first path illustrates how an educational leader continuously builds a just school community under changing demographic and political conditions. The leadership challenge is ongoing in terms of building a new educational community rather than replicating a community of the past. The second path illustrates how single-minded visions for a just school society emerge through the heroic efforts of individual educational leaders. The leadership challenge here is to intellectually construct a meaningful consensus rather than to assume or assert it apart from experience. The article concludes with a critique of the theory-practice consequences of each leadership path.

scholarly journals “There’s a Human Being Here”: A Doctoral Class Uses Duoethnography to Explore Invisibility, Hypervisibility, and Intersectionality

10.28945/4658 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 637-652
Author(s):  
Annemarie Vaccaro ◽  
Chiquita Baylor ◽  
Desiree Forsythe ◽  
Karin Capobianco ◽  
Jana Knibb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Doctoral Education ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Post Secondary

Aim/Purpose: This paper contributes to the scholarly literature on intersectionality and social injustice (invisibility, hypervisibility) in higher education and serves as a model for enacting doctoral education where research, theory, and practice converge. Background: Invisibility and hypervisibility have long been documented as social injustices, but very little literature has documented how doctoral students (who are also university employees) make meaning of intersecting privileges and oppressions within post-secondary hierarchies. Methodology: This study used a 10-week Duoethnography with co-researchers who were simultaneously doctoral students, staff, instructors, and administrators in higher education settings. Contribution: This paper offers a unique glimpse into currere—the phenomenon of theory and practice converging—to offer an intensive interrogation of life as curriculum for five doctoral students and a professor. Findings: This paper illuminates rich meaning-making narratives of six higher educators as they grappled with invisibility and hypervisibility in the context of their intersecting social identities as well as their varied locations within post-secondary hierarchies/power structures. Recommendations for Practitioners: Duoethnography can be an effective strategy for social justice praxis in doctoral programs as well as other higher education departments, divisions, or student organizations. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can use Duoethnography to explore a plethora of social justice issues in doctoral education and across staff, faculty, and Ph.D. student experiences within the power structures of post-secondary education. Impact on Society: Examining intersectionality, invisibility and hypervisibility is an important way to delve into the complexity of oppression. There will be no justice until all forms of oppression (including hypervisibility and invisibility) are extinguished. Future Research: Future research can more deeply explore social injustices and the intersections of not only social identities, but also social locations of doctoral students who are simultaneously employees and students in a university hierarchy.

scholarly journals “How Do We Actually Do Convergence” for Disaster Resilience? Cases from Australia and the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shefali Juneja Lakhina ◽  
Elaina J. Sutley ◽  
Jay Wilson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Systemic Risks ◽  
Work Community ◽  
Research Findings

AbstractIn recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on achieving convergence in disaster research, policy, and programs to reduce disaster losses and enhance social well-being. However, there remain considerable gaps in understanding “how do we actually do convergence?” In this article, we present three case studies from across geographies—New South Wales in Australia, and North Carolina and Oregon in the United States; and sectors of work—community, environmental, and urban resilience, to critically examine what convergence entails and how it can enable diverse disciplines, people, and institutions to reduce vulnerability to systemic risks in the twenty-first century. We identify key successes, challenges, and barriers to convergence. We build on current discussions around the need for convergence research to be problem-focused and solutions-based, by also considering the need to approach convergence as ethic, method, and outcome. We reflect on how convergence can be approached as an ethic that motivates a higher order alignment on “why” we come together; as a method that foregrounds “how” we come together in inclusive ways; and as an outcome that highlights “what” must be done to successfully translate research findings into the policy and public domains.

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