From “Ways of Knowing” to “Ways of Action”: Women’s Application of Critical Leadership in Service to the Public Good

• In Event: Roundtable Session 116
  In Roundtable Session: Social Justice Leadership Roundtable

Abstract

Educational female leaders from historically underserved backgrounds, who choose to race themselves outside of whiteness (Haney Lopez, 1998), share a leadership style uniquely based on positive attributes of their identity. In this study, the authors build upon an emergent theoretical framework for applied critical leadership (ACL) from the traditions of transformational leadership, critical pedagogy, and critical race theory. In this year-long inquiry authors feature the leadership practices of three culturally and linguistically diverse educational leaders serving in contexts ranging from early childhood education to secondary education, providing evidence of innovative leadership practice. The authors argue the new model reveals characteristics of critical leadership, which can inform mainstream leadership practices resulting in educational innovation and change.

Authors

• Lorri Michelle Johnson Santamaria, The University of Auckland

• Gaetane Jean-Marie, University of Louisville

• Rhonda M. Blackwell-Flanagan, Florida State University