Exploring Networked Micro Disruption as a Means to Improve School District Equity

• In Event: Reimagining Equity in Educational Leadership Through District Partnerships, Micro Disruptions, and School Board Leadership

Abstract

This case study explores the dynamics of an equity-focused leadership development pathway in a large urban school district in the northeastern United States. It examines how school-based leaders engage in the practice of “micro disruption,” the thematic focus of this specific equity program. Grounded in critical whiteness studies, racialized organizations theory, and social networks theory, this study interprets disruptive strategies from participants’ practice as well as the interpersonal and institutional barriers that they confront. Through qualitative analysis of interviews and observations with members of the program, it highlights value in the versatility of the micro disruption construct, and reveals limitations including leaders’ lack of institutional support to pursue equity work and isolation among leaders related to their equity work.

Author

• Megan MacDonald, University of Pennsylvania