Book Review: School Leadership for Refugees’ Education: Social Justice Leadership for Immigrant, Migrants and Refugees

To commit to Brown v. Board of Education’s legacy of advancing social justice and democracy, it is necessary to look at practices (i.e., the types of discourse, experiences, processes, and structures) that promote the development and support of school leaders committed to social justice, equity, access, and diversity. Leadership preparation programs need to provide the knowledge base for aspiring school leaders to understand how they ought to respond to the changing political, moral, and social landscapes in which they live and work. Of equal importance is the curricular focus on interrelating social justice, democracy, equity, and diversity so that aspiring school leaders can identify practices that explicitly and implicitly deter social progress. Furthermore, these school leaders ought to be able to develop a knowledge base on how to respond to these injustices in their school leadership practices. As leadership development and preparation program personnel prepare new leaders, the discourse of social justice and marginalization is an important objective in the curriculum of preparation programs. Personnel in leadership programs have an opportunity to take part in discourse about how to shape the quality of leaders they produce for the good of society. To this end, researchers offer critical insights into the types of discourse, experiences, processes, and structures that promote the development and support of contemporary principals committed to social justice and democratic principles. Included in the research discussion are the tenets of social justice leadership, democracy, diversity and the digital divide, digital access, and digital equity.

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School leadership for refugees’ education: Social justice leadership for immigrant, migrants, and refugees

Journal of Educational Administration & History ◽

10.1080/00220620.2020.1834365 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Izhar Oplatka

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

School Leadership ◽

Social Justice Leadership

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The Importance of Context in Social Justice Leadership: Implications for Policy and Practice

European Journal of Educational Research ◽

10.12973/eu-jer.10.4.1989 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 1989-2002

Author(s):

Fiona King ◽

Joe Travers ◽

Jean McGowan

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Leadership Development ◽

School Leadership ◽

Policy Development ◽

Evidence Base ◽

Social Justice Leadership ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

School Contexts ◽

Nuanced Understanding ◽

Development Network

<p style="text-align: justify;">This article contributes to the evidence base on the significance of context in enacting social justice leadership. It draws on data from the International School Leadership Development Network of 20+ countries who adopted a common qualitative approach involving interviews with principals identified as being social justice leaders. The article focuses on four case studies of Irish principals in varying primary elementary school contexts. Findings reveal local contextual features significantly impacted principals' perceptions, actions, and self-efficacy as social justice leaders. While the actions and motivation of the principals is similar, two of the principals, working in school contexts where the values and norms are not consonant with broader society, appear to lack confidence in their practice of social justice leadership. This article extends the existing evidence base by arguing for enhanced critical consciousness of all stakeholders related to the personal, institutional and community contexts in schools. It recommends a more flexible and iterative process of policy development to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of the cultural and ideological struggles in schools. Finally, it calls for governments and policy makers to take responsibility for and support disadvantaged communities as education alone cannot solve the issue of inequity.</p>

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