“Every Day's a Battleground, and We’re Fighting on All Fronts”: Four Elementary Principals in Texas

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Leading Through Crises and Political Turmoil Within Racially and Economically Diverse Communities: U.S. and International Perspectives (Table 29)

Abstract

This paper focuses on four elementary school principals in high-need communities in Texas, who have been successful in restructuring their schools for greater equity and inclusion, despite working within a state context characterized by anti-public school sentiment, inadequate school funding, bans on DEI initiatives, censorship of books, high administrator turnover, and unprecedented teacher shortages. They exemplify courage as well as vulnerability, a genuine respect for, and a commitment to, collaborating with members of the communities they serve, for the purpose of dismantling racial injustice and constructing educational possibilities. Our research is informed by the models of inclusive leadership in education ((Khalifa, Gooden, & Davis, 2016; Shields & Hesbol, 2020) and organizational studies (Bourke and Dillon, 2016; Chrobot-Mason and Roberson, 2022).

Authors

• Betty M. Merchant, University of Texas - San Antonio

• Juan Manuel Nino, University of Texas - San Antonio