Under Pressure: One Principal's Navigation through Racial Tension

• In Event: Constructing and (Re)imagining Educational Leadership Through the Use of Case Studies

Abstract

This case draws on elements of organizational learning and competing ethical paradigms to examine how a fictional school principal navigates pressure from competing parent organizations, district leadership, and student well-being in a school community rife with racial tension. The structure of the case is designed for use in graduate studies in educational leadership, as well as for the professional development of current and aspiring school leaders. While the case study is fictional, the authors drew on their experience in public schools and publicized real-world tensions facing school leaders in a post-2020 school environment.
The overarching theoretical frameworks present in this case study are Bolman and Deal’s (2021) four organizational frames, Shapiro and Gross’s (2013) competing ethical paradigms, and essential elements of culturally proficient leadership as outlined by Terrell, Terrell, Lindsey, and Lindsey (2018). The four organizational frames include the political frame, the human resources frame, the structural frame, and the symbolic frame. Each frame is defined within the teaching notes for the case, and the authors developed discussion questions that approach the tension present in the case narrative through the perspective of each frame. Competing ethical paradigms include the Ethic of Justice, the Ethic of Critique, the Ethic of the Profession, and the Ethic of Care. Inside the case, the school principal, and therefore the audience, must decide which ethical paradigm(s) to prioritize and consider potential consequences for sidelining the other paradigm(s). Utilizing the essential elements of culturally proficient leadership (Assessing Cultural Knowledge, Valuing Diversity, Managing the Dynamics of Difference, Adapting to Diversity, and Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge) guides the ethical decision-making present in the scenario.
The use of a case study allows the audience to gain background knowledge of a scenario while immersing themselves in the narrative. A school principal was chosen as the primary focus of this scenario due to the unique pressures faced by principals who are accountable to the school’s students, staff, community members, and district leadership. The case narrative is open-ended, leaving it up to the reader to consider their own course of action given the facts of the case and the provided research literature as context. This is especially significant for graduate students, as well as new and aspiring school leaders interested in expanding their leadership capacity. Being able to reason through a scenario in an academic or professional development setting allows leaders to make more informed decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas in practice.

Authors

• Maria O'Connor, Texas Christian University

• Lori Wilson, Texas Christian University