Violence, coloniality and a vision of nonviolence for education

We see images of violence of all kinds in the media on a daily basis. Moreover, violence associated with extreme political/religious beliefs has increased in the twentieth century and is particularly disturbing. In this article the author points out that violence is not a biological tendency but the effect of ever-increasing organisation capacities. As a consequence, violence is committed by people across the political spectrum, including the radical left and the extreme right. Carriers of violence are highlighted in the article, including coloniality and its effects on society generally and education specifically. Given that there is a force field of violence, a vision for non-violence for education is argued for. Inspiration for such a vision could come from traditional indigenous values such as the African value of ubuntu.

Forms of complicity in Indian education

Using India as an example, this paper considers how education may be complicit in the global rise of political tensions. To do so, it suggests what educational institutions could have done to prevent it, but also what they might now do.

Do educators’ responsibilities stop at the classroom door?

Schools are crucial sites in the politics of social and cultural transformation. However, we should not limit our work to the internal structures, processes, and content of schooling. The struggles in schools should be organically connected to community-based struggles outside of schools. Therefore, critically democratic action in education needs to transform not only schools, but also the communities and societies in which these schools are situated. Actions in and around schools are even more powerful and long lasting when they are closely connected to real people and real movements and mobilizations outside as well as inside the places where so many of us work.

On narcissist leadership and authenticity: Moving towards an ecological understanding of the self

Neoliberalism promotes the self as an enterprise. The entrepreneuring self originates from a western concept of autonomic individualism, which in its extreme form, gives rise to narcissist leadership in neoliberal times. Narcissist leaders are efficient in achieving neoliberal indicators and outcomes for personal gain. This leadership style is detrimental to the public good and democracy. Critiques of narcissist leadership could benefit from using an alternative ontological perspective: a Confucian notion of the self as an ecological being.

Justice for leadership: (Re)versing the lyrics of ‘leadership for’ in education

Leadership for justice, leadership for change, leadership for learning, leadership for institutions, and leadership for success. The leadership lyrics continue to resound, ‘leadership for’. What if leadership lyrics were reversed and re-versed? The world amply rewards leadership, not just leaders, to the extent where leadership may not only need some ontological reorientation, but more importantly, and as the focus of this commentary, some repositioning down the popular policy, research and practice charts. Justice for leadership starts with what is leadership and whether leadership has been unjustly promoted beyond where it should be? For leadership to become more oriented to wider issues of social justice in education, the issue of leadership popularism has to be addressed first through a possible (re)versing of meaning and application.

Mobilising tofā sa’ili for ECE leadership: A talanoa confronting dominant conceptualisations from a Pasifika perspective

Leadership is about all of us, but dominant frames of leadership serve only a few. In this commentary, we challenge the dominance of Western notions of leadership as linear influence relationships in order to shift Pasifika engagement from the margins. For us, ta’ita’i (Pasifika leadership) is centred on serving, not the self, but the collective spirit. It is expansive, holistic, and grounded in reciprocal relationships between people, nature, the cosmos and those of the past, present, and future. Looking back to the teachings of our families and ancestors can guide us in leading communities with strength, unity, and connection. Rather than deny the legitimate place of Western notions of leadership or romanticise ideas of Pasifika leadership, through talanoa (open talk), we mobilise tofā sa’ili (a search for wisdom and meaning) by engaging with traditional Pasifika cultural values and philosophies that hold significance for leadership in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand. In doing so, we hope to open up pathways of thinking that move us beyond individualistic framings of leadership, while honouring Pasifika ways of knowing and being in serving the collective.

Other forms of leadership in education

I observe a split in the field of education today between two academic sub-tribes: those who champion ‘practice’ and are suspicious of ‘theories’ on the one hand, and those who insist on ‘theory and philosophy’ on the other. But philosophical commitments are implicit in our use of language and all our ways of being and acting in the world. This recognition points towards other concepts and forms of educational leadership. Below, I explore if and how philosophy and writing lead to another kind of educational leadership.

Leading international schools: The questions of cultural and social justice

This article focuses on international school leadership and raises questions on the mono-dimensional approaches to leading, teaching, and learning in diverse contexts. The growth of international schools all over the world represents increasing patterns of geographic and economic mobility, and the growth of socially and culturally diverse communities. While international schools generally represent different elements of internationalisation, their policies and leadership do not demonstrate an adequate response to the social and cultural needs of their communities. Based on her doctoral research, the author argues that internationalisation in educational leadership is not given sufficient attention and that the field requires further development of learning and exploring the contextual elements in which leaders lead. The article draws on a set of approaches to educational leadership, mainly contextually and culturally relevant leadership, and theories of internationalisation in educational leadership and management, in addition to transformational and engaged pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning.