Equal Educational Opportunity? Principal Leadership Approaches to Ethnic Minorities' Participation in Schools at Stake

• In Event: 58.020 - Fostering Educational Equity and Social Justice

Abstract

Unequal and inequitable educational opportunities for ethnic minority children still exist in many places across different regions in times of increasingly diverse student populations. Different cultural and ethnic backgrounds can be barriers to equal education opportunity in schools. This proposal aims to report a cross-case study of two principals who enacted leadership approaches to cultivating a multicultural learning environment for equal, equitable and quality education for the minority students. The findings show that the principals chose to adopt different leadership practices to turn the school around in order to take new development trajectories. Hence, the contexts in which they were situated were changed for the diverse student populations. Policymakers and educators can be informed for enhancement of principal preparation programmes.

Authors

• Elson S.Y. Szeto, The Education University of Hong Kong

• Annie Y.N. Cheng, The Education University of Hong Kong