scholarly journals Baltic Social Justice School Leaders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny S. Tripses ◽  
◽  
Ilze Ivanova ◽  
Jūratė Valuckienė ◽  
Milda Damkuvienė ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solution Processes ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Development Network

Social justice school leadership as a concept, while familiar in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States school leadership literature, is not widely recognized in other parts of the world. Social justice school leadership appropriately differs from one culture to another and is always context-specific to a particular school setting, great organization structure or country. However, social justice is a necessary and fundamental assumption for all educators committed to combating ignorance and the promotion of student global citizenship as a central theme of school practices. The purpose of this study was to provide understandings of ways that selected social justice school leaders from three countries; Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia conceive of and practice social justice in leading their schools. The manuscript describes how six Baltic directors, identified by local educators on the basis of research conducted by the International School Leaders Development Network (ISLDN) as social justice school leaders, responded to interview questions related to their practice. Four directors were Latvian and one each from Lithuania and Estonia. Limitations to the study include basing conclusions upon a single (or in one case, several) interview(s) per subject and limitations on generalizability of qualitative exploratory case study. By definition, every case study is unique, limiting generalizability. Interviews were thematically analyzed using the following definition: A social justice school leader is one who sees injustice in ways that others do not, and has the moral purpose, skills, and necessary relationships to combat injustice for the benefit of all students. Findings reveal strong application of values to identify problems based on well-being of all students and their families and to work collaboratively with other educators to find solution processes to complex issues related to social justice inequities. As social justice pioneers in their countries, these principals personify social justice school leadership in countries where the term social justice is not part of scholarly discourse.

Centering “Grace”: Challenging Anti-Blackness in Schooling Through Motherwork

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 142-157
Author(s):  
Terri N. Watson ◽  
Gwendolyn S. Baxley
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Black Children ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Racial Biases ◽  
Black Girlhood ◽  
Patricia Hill Collins ◽  
Educational Advocacy

Anti-Blackness is global and present in every facet of society, including education. In this article, we examine the challenges Black girls encounter in schools throughout the United States. Guided by select research centered on Black women in their roles as mothers, activists and school leaders, we assert that sociologist Patricia Hill Collins’ concept of Motherwork should be an essential component in reframing the praxis of school leadership and in helping school leaders to rethink policies, practices, and ideologies that are anti-Black and antithetical to Blackness and Black girlhood. While most research aimed to improve the schooling experiences of Black children focuses on teacher and school leader (mis)perceptions and systemic racial biases, few studies build on the care and efficacy personified by Black women school leaders. We argue that the educational advocacy of Black women on behalf of Black children is vital to culturally responsive school leadership that combats anti-Blackness and honors Black girlhood. We conclude with implications for school leaders and those concerned with the educational experiences of Black children, namely Black girls.

The Impact of Identity and Culturally Responsive School Leadership: Leaders of Schools and Programs for the Deaf

2019 ◽  
pp. 120-144
Author(s):  
Catherine A. O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
The United States ◽  
Deaf Culture ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Deaf Students ◽  
Schools For The Deaf ◽  
Almost All

This chapter explores the relationship between culturally responsive school leadership and school culture in schools for the deaf. The author demonstrates how Deaf culture, identity, and culturally responsive school leadership intertwine and influence each other. This chapter reports on observations of and interviews with leaders in six schools for the deaf in the United States. Many current school leaders serving Deaf children lack knowledge and understanding of Deaf culture and Deaf identity. Culturally responsive leaders in the schools for the deaf that were studied were almost all part of Deaf culture. If school leaders are to better meet the needs deaf students’ education and identity development, they must recognize the students’ cultures and identities. The author makes a plea for better equipping potential principals and other leaders of schools for the deaf.

School leadership during a pandemic: navigating tensions

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 391-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah M. Netolicky
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Individual

PurposeThis paper explores, from the perspective of an Australian pracademic, how school leaders are leading during the global COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis essay explores the tensions navigated by school leaders leading during this time of global crisis, by looking to research as well as the author's lived experience.FindingsThe author finds that school leaders are navigating the following: accountability and autonomy; equity and excellence; the individual and the collective and well-being and workload.Originality/valueThis paper offers insights into school leadership, at all times but especially during times of crisis and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The roles of school leaders in developing future-ready learners: the case of Singapore

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-269
Author(s):  
Choun Pei Wong ◽  
David Ng
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Society

PurposeAn education system can only be successful if it can develop future-ready learners who can continue to learn after graduation, take on their future lifework and thrive in the future society and environment. This article examines the economic, social and environmental trajectories of Singapore and proposes that it is important for future-ready learners to develop habits of practices that will support the skills, knowledge and values that are pertinent to these trajectories.Design/methodology/approachSchool leaders are responsible for creating environments and implementing practices that are conducive for fostering habits of practices that are crucial for future-ready outcomes. The authors discuss the inadequacies of traditional teaching and learning practices in supporting these habits and elucidate how newer paradigms such as constructivism, connectivism, coagency and communities of practice might be more useful in achieving this. The authors also present a case study of a school leadership preparation programme that aims to develop future-ready learners.FindingsThis paper provides insights into how newer paradigms of teaching and learning can be supportive for developing desirable habits of practices for future readiness.Originality/valueThis discussion piece introduces a fresh concept – habits of practices – that is relevant in preparing future-ready learners in Singapore.

scholarly journals Close-to-practice research: The need for student voice and the strange case of Academy x

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-494
Author(s):  
Simon D. Edwards ◽  
Chris Brown
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Student Voice ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
The South ◽  
Barriers And Enablers

The idea that teaching and school leadership should be informed by research and other evidence has developed traction recently in England and other jurisdictions. Yet, such research has too seldomly involved the student perspective in leadership decision-making. This article presents a case study of an ‘all through’ academy in the south of England (Academy x ) that attempted to address this issue through research that was close to practice in nature. Here, school leaders, teachers, parents and, specifically, disadvantaged male students’ perspectives of barriers and enablers to their attainment were explored with a view to working collaboratively with these stakeholders to respond to the findings. However, we had not taken into account that the credibility of the students’ perspectives and the nature of the messages emerging from the findings would be questioned, and would influence a decision by school leaders not to act upon them. We consider how these issues might be addressed if student voice as a form of close-to-practice research is to become a reality.

School Leadership Challenges in Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Xiao ◽  
Paul Newton
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Leadership Challenges ◽  
Changing Roles ◽  
Immigrant And Refugee ◽  
Changing Demographics

Educational leadership as a concept refers to leadership across multiple levels and forms of educational institutions. The challenges facing school leaders in Canada center on the changing demographics of communities and school populations, shifts in Canadian society, and workload intensification related to factors such as increasing accountability regimes and changing expectations of schools. Although education in Canada is largely a matter of provincial jurisdiction, there are some similarities with respect to the challenges facing institutions across Canada. While regional differences occur, general trends in challenges can be observed throughout Canada. There are challenges related to the changing demographics and social context that include increases in immigrant and refugee populations, the growing numbers of Indigenous students and the implications of truth and reconciliation for settler and indigenous communities, the increased awareness of gender and sexual identity, and linguistic and religious diversity. There are also challenges related to the shifting policy context and public discourse with respect to the expectations of public schooling. These challenges include the necessity for schools to respond to the mental health and well-being of students and staff, the increasing pressures with respect to accountability and large-scale assessments, and the demands of parents and community members of schools and school leaders. The changing roles and responsibilities of school leaders have resulted in workload intensification and implications for leader recruitment and retention.

Mindfulness and School Leadership

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon D. Kruse
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Organizational Mindfulness ◽  
The Moment

Organizational mindfulness refers to an organization’s collective disposition toward learning and supports its ongoing quest for effective and reliable performance. Descended from Buddhist thought, mindfulness draws attention to a leader’s awareness of the moment and subsequent decision-making and is informed by in-the-moment observation and attentiveness. This Eastern perspective suggests that as leaders work to craft informed responses to the demands before them, mindfulness places them in a position to maximize learning in real-time and respond to challenges from a place of equanimity. Complemented by the Eastern perspective, Western perspectives concerning organizational mindfulness have focused on the development of practices designed to increase highly reliable leadership performance. In this conception, mindful leadership is focused on potential threats to organizational performance and leadership effort is oriented toward eliminating or minimizing negative impact. Furthermore, mindful leaders seek robust and complex interpretations of organizational threat, embracing a heightened sensitivity to the link between organizational processes and outcome. Finally, Western notions of mindful leadership suggest that resiliency, a tenacious commitment to learning from failure, and deference to expertise rather than formal authority are hallmarks of mindful practice. In this way, mindful leaders orient their work toward organizational and cultural change evident in a collective attention that orients the work of its members. To do so requires that a leader’s attention be oriented toward deeply developed explanations of activities within the organizational school setting, including opportunities for formative, substantive data use and on-the-ground real time orientation to communal learning. In turn, mindful practice sets the stage for school leaders to engage the school community in becoming active partners in communal knowledge creation with the intent of improving classroom practice, student learning, and well-being.

Learning to Transform Through Interplay Between the Confucian and Western Cultural Heritages: A Case Study of School Leadership Development in Beijing, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haijun Kang ◽  
Qi Sun ◽  
Lei Lyu
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Local School ◽  
School Leadership Development ◽  
School Leadership Practices ◽  
Beijing China

Taking a case study approach and utilizing Hoggan’s transformative learning (TL) typology and criteria as a framework, we examined the self-reported TL experiences of 12 local school leaders in Beijing, China. These local school leaders gained cross-cultural learning from a school leadership development program that was designed to prepare school leaders for education internationalization. Our data analysis indicated that these 12 local school leaders had experienced significant changes in their educational epistemology, self-identity, and school leadership practices. Further examining these changes at the intersection of the Confucian and Western cultural heritages, we discovered that these school leaders had developed an integrated approach to education, started to consciously reflect on what their social- and self-identities entail, and began the process of transitioning from conservative to appreciative school leadership practices.

scholarly journals Acoustical planning for workplace health and well-being: A case study in four open-plan offices

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Lee ◽  
Francesco Aletta
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
The United States ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Acoustic Environments ◽  
Health And Well Being

Noise is the most frequent reason for complaints about environmental conditions in the workplace. It is associated with individual health and well-being and decreased productivity and performance. This study identified a set of acoustic strategies for open-plan workplaces and examined a case study applying those to four open-plan offices in the United States. The set of measures was defined based on a literature review and a focus group interview with 17 experts. A total of four topics were identified as key performance indicators of proper acoustic environments in the open-plan workplaces. A total of 19 items were then developed within these 4 topics as the protocols for planning acoustic strategies for workplace health and well-being. In the case study, the level of acoustic performance for workplace health and well-being was highest in the Dallas office (27.5 points out of a total of potential 40.0) followed by the Minneapolis office (26.0). Both offices outperformed the other offices in achieving space planning principles to control noises and occupant noise control in open spaces for acoustical privacy. A further examination on the relationships between acoustic strategies and other health and well-being key performance indicators in these offices suggests that guidance to increase occupants’ auditory comfort, well-being, and performance should be sought by designers in a holistic and integrative way.

Personal Disclosure as a Catalyst for Empathetic Agency

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Japanese Americans ◽  
First Person ◽  
The Past ◽  
Willingness To Disclose ◽  
Personal Disclosure

Chapter Two examines the growing willingness of Japanese Americans to engage in personal disclosure regarding wartime incarceration. Taking former U.S. Representative Norman Mineta as a case study, it demonstrates that Nikkei did not undertake such disclosures lightly, but rather recognized the importance of first-person singular modes of address for creating legislative coalitions. With respect to Mineta, that willingness to disclose the particulars of incarceration built on an empathetic engagement with economic and social justice that had informed his career from early on. During the pursuit of redress in the United States, however, what had been an implicit engagement with the past became explicit, so much so that it came eventually to inform Mineta's decisions concerning post-9/11 policy. In this respect, the pursuit of empathetic agency not only changed Mineta; it also changed him, rendering that agency both transmissible and reciprocal.

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