Policy and Praxis in the Preparation of School Leaders

• In Event: From Classroom to Capitol: Critical Pedagogy and Praxis Under State Repression

Abstract

Objectives or Purpose

As we prepare educators who are working on their graduate educational leadership degree to take on the challenges of urban school leadership in Texas, we are also preparing them to enact their leadership from a critical consciousness and community cultural wealth perspective (Yosso, 2005). Over the last three years, our preparation program’s curriculum has been updated and revised to incorporate a focused knowledge of and practical application of social justice concepts, including readings from authors and books that have recently been banned by the Texas Legislature. In this presentation we share findings from a policy advocacy project that students completed as part of their “Day on the Hill” experience at both the Texas State Capitol and U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. What policy issues did they choose to advocate for? What impact did completing this project and presenting to legislators and legislative staff have on students’ advocacy perspective? How do they reflect on the role of educational leaders in the current political climate in Texas?

Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework

Our theoretical perspective is guided by social justice and equity-focused leadership frameworks (Radd et al., 2021), and conceptual tools such as critical consciousness and humanizing pedagogies and leadership (Freire, 2018), racial literacy for educational leaders (Douglass Horsford, 2014), and the enacting of anti-racist strategies (Simmons, 2019). In conducting this research, we are working toward an understanding of educational leadership as a humanizing practice that when implemented with, and not for, students, families and teachers, can be transformational.

Methods, Techniques or Modes of Inquiry

Data collection included individual and focus group interviews with forty-four educational leadership graduate students. In addition, we conducted thematic and content analysis of the twelve policy research projects that were presented to legislative staff by students, including projects on school funding, bilingual education, and mental health services for K12 students.

Data Sources

Both interview and reflection data from student reflections about their experiences with advocacy, along with student policy projects that they completed during the program are the primary sources of data. The curriculum that we have reimagined over the last three years is the final source of data.

Results & Conclusions

Our findings thus far indicate that our students benefited and want more opportunities to apply critical policy skills at the state level policy process. They shared how the application of social justice is empowering and that having more knowledge about the systems and policies that impact local schools is imperative as they take on leadership roles. We trace how their mindsets evolved from being strictly administrative to advocacy and equity-focused.

Scholarly Significance

This research contributes to ever evolving scholarship on social justice leadership, and the implementation of leadership preparation, especially in policy and political climates that are not conducive to critical and transformational leadership.

Authors

• Enrique Aleman, Trinity University

• Evangeline Aguilera, Trinity University

• Morgan Craven, Intercultural Development Research Association