A Micropolitics for Social Justice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Leadership for Social Justice Roundtable on Culturally Responsive Practice

Abstract

This article advances a version of micropolitical inquiry designed to assist leaders in promoting more socially just schools and communities. While various micropolitical approaches display potential for advancing social justice, they also fall short on a number of accounts. Micropolitical inquiry capable of providing useful knowledge for social justice-minded leaders needs to acknowledge the role of controlling institutions and the often-invisible and institutional nature of power in shaping advantage and disadvantage in schools. Those who conduct this type of inquiry would do well to employ a normative form of inquiry and view micropolitical practice as a form of critical literacy.

Authors

• James Ryan, University of Toronto - OISE

• Katie Higginbottom, University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education