Unforgetting Culturally Responsive K-12 Leadership Preparation in an Anti-DEI Era: A Narrative Self-Study

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 3:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Equity Leadership: Equity Networks and Women Leaders of Color

Abstract

Amid intensifying federal rollbacks on DEI policies under Executive Orders 14151 and 14190, this study examines how Ed.D. programs can prepare culturally responsive, antiracist, and LGBTQ+ inclusive K-12 leaders to navigate politically hostile environments. Using narrative self-study, the author investigates how adaptive leadership practices—particularly modeling and facilitating “forms of assistance”—supported aspiring leaders in enacting equity-driven adult learning. Drawing on the concept of “unforgetting,” the study illustrates how conflict and discomfort were reframed as pedagogical opportunities to cultivate instructional leadership grounded in reflection, emotional resilience, and community accountability. Findings highlight the role of faculty in creating holding environments that sustain transformative learning, preparing school leaders to challenge erasures of marginalized histories and identities while fostering inclusive school communities.

Author

• John Pascarella, University of Southern California