Effective practices in leadership for social justice. Evolution of successful secondary school principalship in disadvantaged contexts (original) (raw)
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Educational leaders as promoters of social justice in Spanish schools
EDUCA - International Catholic Journal of Education, 2022
Presently, the subordination of schools to mandates of standardisation, competitiveness and selectivity reinforces educational inequalities and widens educational gaps. This conceptual article tries to recall the need to improve social justice in schools and describe the role of principals in this regard. The article offers an analysis of three topics related to leadership for social justice: (i) the importance of equity and social justice as a reference for educational leadership, (ii) the type of educational leadership that leaders require for social justice, and (iii) educational leaders as agents for inclusion and equity, and strategies to fight inequity. Based on the literature analysis, the results highlight that leadership for social justice is needed more than ever, given the increasing complexity and diversity in the school context. They also highlight that social justice is related to a more democratic, distributed, and transformational school leadership. And show that leaders who are agents of change can benefit from leadership for social justice as it proposes a direction for transformation, prioritising the values of equity, justice, commitment, and cooperation. The paper finishes by providing some examples of change in Spain and suggesting recommendations for promoting social justice
Social Justice Leadership in Spanish Schools: Researcher Perspectives
Leadership and Policy in Schools, 2021
This study used a social justice and transformative leadership framework to focus on regions of Spain that have experienced an increase of immigrant families. The purpose was to determine how experts in the field of educational leadership viewed social justice and what challenges principals faced in schools with large immigrant populations. Social justice leaders develop a vision that includes all students and families. These leaders are politically committed, but they lack autonomy and critical self-awareness to address cultural differences in the school and understand broader issues in the community.
This paper presents a qualitative case study of the 'Leading Principals in Vulnerable Schools' project, which aims to support a small group of newly appointed principals in disadvantaged Chilean schools, inquiring how does this project promotes school improvement and probing into the assumption that school leadership is key. Three topics emerged from the data analysis: (i) the leadership and effectiveness assumption; (ii) normalization, disciplining and innovation; and (iii) achieving and sustaining 'success'. As a result the theory of change and improvement of this project is outlined, in order to critically analyze the current policy strategy of external support for school improvement in Chile, and to problematize the assumption that leadership is critical for school improvement.
Critical Factors in the discourse on School Leadership from the perspective of equity and learning
2013
This study was developed in the frame of the European Policy Network of School Leadership (EPNoSL) project’s second work package (WP) entitled “The State of Affairs on School Leadership in Europe”. The objectives of this WP were a) to review and define critical factors for the implementation of LLL Strategy and Policy under the scope of equity and learning and the perspective of school leaders (SL), b) to reflect on the need for a renewed research agenda on SL, and c) to critically review the knowledge base for the construction of a common European Policy Indicators Framework on/for SL. The EPNoSL project considers school leadership as a multi-faceted process of strategically using the unique skills and knowledge of teachers, pupils, and parents, toward achieving common educational goals. It is more about relationships rather than people or processes. Under the EPNoSL’s perspective, within the framework of educational goals, leadership is present at all levels of an organization, directed at serving the most important stakeholders, through inspiring others in the organization to take part in the management process. Chapter one offers a review of the literature on school leadership and equity in order to help provide policy with an evidence base on school leadership from the perspective of equity. This chapter cautions that literature on the efficacy of school leadership and equity may help constitute a “de-stated” account of governance that places onus on school leaders to take responsibility for social processes that may, in reality, lie beyond their control. In chapter two it is argued that as the issues Europe faces become more testing, so schools are faced with intensifying difficulties in offering an equitable education to all. As it is argued, the causes of inequality are of course multiple and complex and not all under the control of school leaders, but the latter have the opportunity to minimise or exacerbate inequality. In chapter three, decentralisation is discussed in relation to school autonomy types and the space for manoeuvres to schools and school leaders in related to critical issues such as finances, staff management, curricula etc. It is identified a trend of restructuring following New Public Management patterns of redistribution of power and governance between the State, local authorities and organisations. The couplings to local, municipal and national authorities have been loosened on how to spend public funding, how to manage staff and how to run schools, but the aim and curriculum of education has been tightened at the same time: standards are being detailed more and there are more control and accountability. This autonomy has been established according to bureaucratic and market place logics, using new social technologies like tests and quality reporting or inspection. Following those trends is a trend to empower school leaders more in the style of private sector top down management and leadership. In chapter four the focus is on the leadership and management of change within organisations. Important questions have to do with how do we ensure that change is led and managed successfully - what do we need to consider when leading and managing the change process? Chapter five on policy response explores the concept of policy, and considers what is meant by policy response. In this chapter it is provided an analysis that acknowledges that policy is in part extemporized, and in part the attempt to promote a “de-stated” account of governance. Chapter six offers an analysis of policy briefs from 15 EU countries that were drafted by the EPNoSL partners. The analysis focuses on a) the policy emphasis that is placed on issues of equity and learning achievement at school, and on b) how the role of school leaders is (re)conceptualized in legislative frameworks and policy documents emphasizing on the relationships between leadership in schools, equity and learning outcomes, and c) outlines the organization, the content, and the duration of principals’ and other school leaders’ training that is available, focusing in particular to training on issues related to equity and learning outcomes. What this analysis reveals is that while there is some policy emphasis on equity and learning achievement at school drawing mostly from the PISA results, less emphasis is placed in the training of school leaders on how to deal with issues of equity and learning outcomes. Chapter seven provides the Swedish Ministry of Education’s perspective on policies to support equity and improved learning outcomes and the role of principals in achieving these aims. As it is noted, equity and learning – linked to improved student outcomes - is not an easy task. The variation between high- and low-performing students as well as high and low performing schools and school districts in Sweden has increased over time, and concerns are raised about equity and learning linked to the quality of student outcomes in the context of Sweden’s highly decentralized school system. Chapter eight offers an in-depth account of the state of affairs on school leadership in Finland. The goal of this chapter is to highlight the academic underpinning on school leadership in Finland and, on such a base, to review the current policy and trends in this country. As it is argued, a major re-orientation to school leadership is taking place in this country. Principals in Finland are called not only to act as educational leaders of their schools but also as managers who are responsible for financing and personnel issues, and also are held accountable for the results of their institutions. Chapter nine provides a comprehensive overview of the research orientation of studies on school principals across the northern European community --its content, research designs, major findings - and offers conclusions and recommendations for advancing research on school principals. Key research areas identified are the following: 1) important educational challenges in order to inform policy makers, 2) implementation processes in relation to national policy on the local governing structures, 3) effects of national policy on changes processes on the local school level, 4) effects of international testing schemes on student outcomes, 5) effects on change processes in local schools in relation to the local governing structures, 6) principals and their decision making in relation to school governance, 7) principals’ strategic decision making in relation to school improvement, 8) effects of principal training programs, 9) effects of the relation between principals and teachers on improved student outcomes, and 10) effects of school leaders’ behavior on schools results analyzed with an organizational lens. Chapter ten deepens into the discussion on policy response by focusing on the implementation of policy on school leadership and equity in Scotland. In particular, in this chapter it is acknowledged that such policy is in part extemporized and in part an attempt to make inevitable a “de-stated” account of governance, as argued in chapter 5. On this basis, it is asked what practices such policy does, and does not permit in the context of Scotland. Chapter eleven presents a new analysis of the PISA 2009 datasets in relation to school leadership. In this study the hypothesis that the intake of schools related to the socio-economic and cultural background of their students is a critical factor for basing policy on equity and learning was supported by evidence from PISA 2009 showing that students in schools with a high share of students coming from low socio-economic and cultural backgrounds perform on average much lower than their peers in medium or high SES schools. Low SES schools pose therefore much more pressing challenges to school leaders as compared to more privileged schools in terms of their intake. This reality observed in almost all EU countries has or should have implications regarding the training, professional development, retention and replacement of school leaders in low SES schools. Furthermore, the analysis of the relationship between principals’ leadership behaviour in low SES schools and student performance showed two dominant patterns between EU countries: the “reactive school management” pattern and the “proactive school management” pattern. As it is argued, these two patterns possibly use different fields of comparison, and is likely to reflect different underlying cultures of school management. On the basis of the first eleven chapters of this report, as well as the documentation that was produced during the first year of the EPNoSL, in chapter twelve a number of critical factors are identified that may shape the capacity and potential of school leaders to exercise effectively school leadership in order to implement strategies and initiatives that are targeting to combat inequalities in access, opportunities and outcomes and promote learning performance in schools. The critical factors identified are the following: a) policy ownership, b) empowerment of different stakeholders and trust in their professionalism, c) supportive shared dispositions to inclusive schools, d) sound scientific evidence supporting the design, implementation and evaluation of policies, e) human resources: school leaders’ capacity building, f) political commitment and priorities, g) policy coherence and h) financial resources. Finally, in chapter thirteen a preliminary European Policy Indicators framework is proposed to support policy development that is aimed to promote culturing and structuring of school leadership from the perspective of equity and learning. The framework builds upon the critical factors on policy implementation identified and discussed in the previous chapter.
2020
Talk of school leadership has become highly significant in the context of current education policy developments and discourses in many parts of Europe and the Americas. This article seeks to explore why the leadership and management divide matters in education and what the implications for schools and social justice are. The article makes a contribution to the understanding of the concepts of leadership and management through identifying that the increasing obsession in education with leadership, and denigration of management, is firstly based on a decontextualized conception of what is means to run educational organizations and systems; and that this decontextualized view of leadership has no concern for, or capacity to address, matters of social justice. A historical approach is used to analyse the particular meaning of the divide of leadership and management in education before going on to draw on theoretical analyses of problems with the sharp division between leadership and management and the critiquing of 'leadership' as a concept. It is argued that a very different understanding of what it means to lead schools is needed in order to cultivate and sustain a better education systems and organizations to promote social justice.
Towards social justice in highly complex schools in Catalonia, Spain
Educational Management Administration & Leadership
This study investigated social justice from the point of view of school directors, teachers, and parents. We chose two schools that were undergoing major demographic changes because of increased immigration into Catalonia, Spain. They were both classified as “schools of maximum complexity” because of their socio-economic characteristics. The research questions focused on how directors, teachers, and parents give meaning to social justice and what actions they take to achieve it. Teachers and principals adopted practices that have been described in leadership literature as transformational, such as building trust and challenging the process; they only occasionally showed transformative practices like those described by Santamaria (2014) as applied critical leadership (ACL). They were motivated by seeing the needs of migrant families and students with special needs. They seriously considered social cohesion and believed that all students should be given the same opportunities and trea...
Social Justice Leaders: Critical Moments in Headteachers’/Principals’ Development
Research in Educational Administration & Leadership
Being a social justice leader makes significant demands on the individual headteacher/principal particularly where there may be conflict, competing demands and significant resistance both within the school and the wider community. There is a question then about what motivates some headteachers to commit to pursuing social justice and equity in their role and what part their own experiences play in their stance around social justice leadership. This article draws from the case studies conducted in Scotland as part of the Social Justice Leadership research strand of the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN). In the ISLDN framework the headteacher is characterized at the micro level. The leadership stories illustrate that this micro level is complex and includes not only the practices of these leaders but their stance, personal and professional experiences and continuing professional learning.
Thorpe, A. (2014) Why the leadership and management divide matters in education: the implications for and schools and social justice. International Journal of Education for Social Justice. Vol.3(2), pp.199-212 http://www.rinace.net/riejs/numeros/vol3-num2/art10\_en.htm Talk of school leadership has become highly significant in the context of current education policy developments and discourses in many parts of Europe and the Americas. This article seeks to explore why the leadership and management divide matters in education and what the implications for schools and social justice are. The article makes a contribution to the understanding of the concepts of leadership and management through identifying that the increasing obsession in education with leadership, and denigration of management, is firstly based on a decontextualized conception of what is means to run educational organizations and systems; and that this decontextualized view of leadership has no concern for, or capacity to address, matters of social justice. A historical approach is used to analyse the particular meaning of the divide of leadership and management in education before going on to draw on theoretical analyses of problems with the sharp division between leadership and management and the critiquing of ‘leadership’ as a concept. It is argued that a very different understanding of what it means to lead schools is needed in order to cultivate and sustain a better education systems and organizations to promote social justice.