scholarly journals Social justice leadership in rural Pakistan : a constructivist grounded theory study of private school leaders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Palwasha Khan Marwat
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Social Justice Leadership ◽  
Marginalized Students

This qualitative constructivist-grounded theory (C-GT) study aimed to explore how Pakistani school leaders (PSL) conceptualize and enact social-justice-oriented leadership (if they do) to combat educational and sociocultural inequities to support marginalized students. This study collected data from 11 rural school leaders, over 11 primary and secondary private schools that educate marginalized students, including low-income families, girls, and minority groups in rural areas surrounding Islamabad. Utilizing social justice leadership (SJL) and mental models (MM) as a conceptual framework, I undertook an in-depth, semi-structured interview protocol with each school leader in addition to artifact collection, analytical memos, and diagrams. The emerging grounded theory is a five-step model identifying participants' MM of SJL and exploring their views and actions to address the educational inequities for marginalized students. The findings suggest that school leaders conceptualized and emarginalized students' access to high-quality education that was context-appropriate and encouraged critical awareness. However, most PSL had not received formal training in school leadership and shared some conflicting and problematic MM of leadership as adult-centered, hierarchical, and savior-like. This finding diverges from existing literature on SJL, which is democratic, inclusive, and empowering all stakeholders. Based on the results of this study, MM was a useful lens to explore PSLs' views of justice and equity and how they subsequently enacted social justice to address inequities prevalent in their schools and communities to support marginalized students. Keywords: social justice leadership, mental models, rural schools, marginzalized students

Social Justice and Constructivist Grounded Theory

2018 ◽  
pp. 225-233
Author(s):  
Val Kitchener ◽  
Danielle Williams ◽  
Sue Kilpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory

scholarly journals Student Engagement for Equity and Social Justice: Creating Space for Student Voice

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda McMahon ◽  
Geoff Munns ◽  
John Smyth ◽  
David Zyngier
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Student Voice ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Visible Minority ◽  
Marginalized Students ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Cognitive Levels ◽  
Teaching Learning

This paper describes three student engagement initiatives that have been successfully implemented in Australia and Canada, where social justice educators are struggling with issues resulting from reforms that marginalize visible minority and low-income students. The projects envision student engagement in critical democratic ways. Using different strategies, they are informed by approaches that: respect students, educators and teaching/learning processes; connect on emotional as well as cognitive levels; and shift away from narrow notions of schooling to broader visions of education for marginalized students. Transferable to other locations, these programmes provide insights into what is possible when student engagement is enacted in equitable, socially just, and transformative environments.

scholarly journals Nature and Determinants of Educators’ Attitudes toward Teaching Special Needs Learners in a School of Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Andre Rowan ◽  
Mokgadi Moletsane
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Special Needs Education ◽  
Attitudes Toward Teaching ◽  
Data Collection Instrument ◽  
Constructivist Epistemology

This study explored the nature and determinants of educators’ attitudes toward teaching learners with special needs in a rural school of skills that was formerly an ordinary mainstream school. The study adopted a qualitative Grounded Theory approach located within the framework of the constructivist epistemology. Eleven educators (n=11) who were teaching both technical and academic subjects at the school of skills participated in the study. The semi-structured interview was employed as the sole data collection instrument and the coding principles underlying the Constructivist Grounded Theory were used to analyse data. The findings of the study revealed that educators had a positive attitude toward teaching special needs education at the selected school and highlighted the novel factors determining the educators’ attitudes such as both internal and external factors that motivated this positive attitude. The coping strategies identified by the educators replicated those reported in previous research. Palliative and direct coping actions, as well as an integration of these two were also reportedly employed by some participants. It was concluded that the group-based differentiation of the determinants of attitudes may be useful to influence educators’ attitudes at other special needs schools, or those undergoing a similar transitional process.

Social Justice Leadership, Equity, and the Digital Divide

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony H. Normore ◽  
Antonia Issa Lahera
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Leadership Development ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Social Justice Leadership ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Democratic Principles

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.

“We All Have a Little More Homework to Do:”: A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Transformative Learning Processes for Practicing Music Teachers Encountering Social Justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-215
Author(s):  
Karen Salvador ◽  
Allison M. Paetz ◽  
Matthew M. Tippetts
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Constant Comparative Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate processes that led practicing music educators in a graduate course to examine their beliefs and practices regarding inclusion, responsiveness, equity, and justice. Using Charmaz’s constructivist approach to grounded theory, we interviewed 22 participants from MUS 8XX: Philosophy of Music Education. Constant comparative analysis yielded an explanatory framework, which we presented as a model and named “transformative learning processes (TLP) for practicing music teachers encountering social justice.” TLP comprises four interrelated components: “building Gemütlichkeit,” “grappling with difficult material,” “emotional intensity,” and “course structures,” with “stories” acting as a hub for each of the interconnected categories. By describing processes that led practicing teachers to examine their mindsets and plan to change their practices, TLP could provide guidance for music teacher educators at the graduate level regarding how to approach social justice topics in their teaching.

Social justice leadership, instructional leadership, and the goals of schooling

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Haim Shaked
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Principals ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Social Justice Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Research ◽  
School Principalship

Purpose School principals should see themselves as social justice leaders, who have the ability to allow all students to succeed, regardless of their characteristics and backgrounds. At the same time, school principals are also called upon to demonstrate instructional leadership, which emphasizes the teaching and learning aspects of school principalship. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relations between these two roles of today’s school principals. Design/methodology/approach To investigate the relations between social justice leadership and instructional leadership, this paper adds the question of the goal of schooling to the mix. After identifying possible goals of schooling, the paper conceptualizes social justice leadership and instructional leadership, respectively, while also examining their relations with schools’ major goals. Possible commonalities and contradictions between social justice leadership and instructional leadership are discussed. Findings The prevalent expectation that school leaders should give top priority to ongoing improvement of teaching quality and academic outcomes may be seen as reducing school leaders’ involvement in some aspects of social justice leadership, such as nurturing students’ active citizenship. Research limitations/implications This paper opens new research avenues. Based on the findings of this paper, the connection between principals’ perceptions regarding the goals of schooling and their leadership behaviors should be explored. Practical implications It seems advisable to discuss the interplay between social justice leadership and instructional leadership with prospective and current principals, as well as with other school stakeholders. Originality/value Insofar as the relations between social justice leadership and instructional leadership have not been explored so far, this paper narrows a gap in the available knowledge.

“Achieve the best while rushing against time”: A grounded theory study on caring for low-income immigrant cancer patients at end of life

2020 ◽  
pp. 026921632097427
Author(s):  
Simona Sacchi ◽  
Roberto Capone ◽  
Francesca Ferrari ◽  
Federica Sforacchi ◽  
Silvia Di Leo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Terminal Phase ◽  
Grounded Theory Study ◽  
Core Category ◽  
Clinical Conditions

Background: Between 2000 and 2020, Europe experienced an annual net arrival of approximately 1.6 million immigrants per year. While having lower mortality rates, in the setting of severe diseases, immigrants bear a greater cancer-related burden due to linguistic and cultural barriers and socio-economic conditions. Professionals face a two-fold task: managing clinical conditions while considering the social, economic, cultural, and spiritual sphere of patients and their families. In this regard, little is known about the care provision to low-income immigrant cancer patients in real contexts. Aim: To investigate the perspective of professionals, family members, and stakeholders on the caring process of low-income immigrant cancer patients at the end of life. Design: A Constructivist Grounded Theory study. Setting/participants: The study, conducted at a Hospital in Northern Italy, involved 27 participants among health professionals, family caregivers, and other stakeholders who had recently accompanied immigrant cancer patients in their terminal phase of illness. Results: Findings evidenced that professionals feel they were not adequately trained to cope with immigrant cancer patients, nonetheless, they were highly committed in providing the best care they could, rushing against the (short) time the patients have left. Analyses evidenced four main categories: “providing and receiving hospitality,” “understanding each other,” “addressing diversity,” and “around the patient,” which we conceptualized under the core category “Achieve the best while rushing against time.” Conclusions: The model reveals the activation of empathic and compassionate behavior by professionals. It evidences the need for empowering professionals with cultural competencies by employing interpreters and specific training programs.

scholarly journals Parents, Schools and Financial Crisis in Contemporary Greece

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dimitris Zachos
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Board Members ◽  
School Board Members ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Equity In Education ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Education Data

The purpose of this grounded theory study is to draw on the experiences and views of primary school board members of Parents and Guardians Associations of Thessaloniki’s and to explore the ways they deal with issues occurred after financial crisis in Greece began. Three research questions related to the aims of our study were posed: First, what are the research participants’ incentives for becoming board members of Association of Parents & Guardians? Second, how these institutions work under current circumstances and what are the ultimate goals? Third, what are the attitudes and practices of the individuals who took part in our research towards issues of social justice in education? Data were collected through twenty semi-structured interviews and analyzed through Grounded Theory design. As our data suggests, board members of Associations of Parents & Guardians regard social justice issues as important; they appear to be active in taking steps and implementing measures aimed at empowering students in need; they allocate financial resources to low-income pupils and have deep faith of equity in education. 

Which Hill Would You Die on?: Examining the Use of War-Normalizing Metaphors in Social Justice Leaders’ Discourse and Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-61
Author(s):  
Denise Armstrong ◽  
Stephanie Tuters ◽  
Snežana Ratković
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Social Justice Leadership ◽  
American School ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Educational Discourse ◽  
Political Environments

Metaphors are deeply embedded in educational discourse, yet few studies examine how educators use these linguistic devices to conceptualize, articulate, and make sense of their professional practice. This article examines the metaphors that 38 Canadian and American school leaders used to describe how they accomplished their social justice work in complex political environments. Our analysis revealed that while participants used a variety of metaphors to describe how they subverted inequitable practices to achieve their social justice goals, for the most part, their discourse coalesced around war-normalizing metaphors. We explore the nature of these metaphors, how they contradict and cohere with popular educational discourses and ideologies, and their implications for practice. We further discuss how policy makers, practitioners, and professional development programs can employ metaphors as discursive tools to assess and reconceptualize practice and advance social justice leadership.

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