From Resistance to Reimagination: African-Centered School Leadership and the Organizational Core

• In Event: Organizing for Equity and Inclusion: Innovative Theorizing Across the P-20 Educational Ecosystem

Abstract

This study examines the ideological foundations of alternative educational systems by analyzing the perspectives of eight K–12 African-centered school leaders involved in a Pan-Africanist educational project. African-centered schools serve as political and ideological spaces that resist mainstream Eurocentric models. Through a process termed, Organizational Inquiry, leaders embed African history and Black cultural identity into school structures to foster antiracist, holistic learning environments. The research explores how white supremacist ideologies persist in formal schooling and how African-centered leaders design organizational and pedagogical strategies to disrupt these forces while embedding their own political and cultural values into the fabric of their institutions.

Author

• Bodunrin O. Banwo, University of Massachusetts - Boston