Counterhegemonic Leadership: Addressing the Challenges and Possibilities of Ethnic Studies Implementation for Educational Leaders

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: The Critical Role of Ethnic Studies in Educational Leadership

Abstract

Objectives & Research Questions
This paper examines the complex challenges and transformative possibilities of implementing Ethnic Studies (ES) in K-12 education and articulates an approach to educational leadership needed to meet those challenges. Grounded in historical analysis, empirical research, and practitioner experience, the paper poses these questions:
What operational, pedagogical, and sociopolitical challenges do PK-12 educational leaders face in implementing ES?
In what ways can leadership preparation programs better support educational leaders to advance the goals and values of ES? How might the development of “counterhegemonic leadership” serve as a framework for leading authentic and sustainable implementation of PK-12 ES?

Theory
This paper introduces the concept of counterhegemonic educational leadership, a framework that challenges dominant paradigms of leadership rooted in whiteness, meritocracy, neoliberalism, and hierarchical authority. Drawing from the epistemological and political foundations of ES (Curammeng, 2022; Tintiangco-Cubales, 2015), the authors theorize counterhegemonic leadership as: relational and reflexive; grounded in the lived experiences and cultural knowledge of historically marginalized communities; oriented toward justice, transformation, and liberation. Our theoretical contributions lie in extending beyond conventional social justice leadership frameworks to center ES as a praxis of leadership development. The paper makes visible how ES principles-such as critical consciousness, community accountability, and decolonial pedagogy-can shape a new leadership paradigm rooted in resistance, collective struggle, and liberation.

Methods/Sources
This paper draws from scholarly and practitioner knowledge to provide a nuanced, practice-informed theoretical intervention. The paper is grounded in the authors’ extensive collective experience as K-12 educators, ES faculty and researchers, leadership program designers, district consultants, and community organizers. We provide a synthesis of literature across ES and educational leadership, and we include empirical insights from district implementation efforts, consultations, and program evaluations across California.

Findings
The paper identifies three interrelated domains of challenge facing leaders tasked with implementing ES:
Operational challenges: teacher credentialing, course scheduling, and resource allocation
Curricular/pedagogical challenges: gaps in teacher and leader knowledge of ES theory and practice
Sociopolitical challenges: political backlash, governance tensions, accountability pressures, and teacher vulnerability.

We found these challenges are not merely technical, but ideological–and demand dispositions and practices capable of navigating and resisting hegemonic forces in schooling (Zavala, 2018). In response, we propose counterhegemonic leadership preparation: a model of leadership development grounded in ES principles, political education, community collaboration, critical self-reflection, and relationship-building.

Significance
This paper offers a timely and urgent intervention in the field of educational leadership and the ongoing national struggles over ES implementation. Its contributions are twofold:
Educational leadership: challenging the field to reckon with the limitations of traditional leadership preparation and to reimagine leadership as a collective, justice-centered, and anti-colonial practice.
ES leadership: defining a leadership model historically grounded, politically astute, and pedagogically aligned with the liberatory goals of ES. The paper provides a roadmap for developing leaders who protect and cultivate ES’s radical potential.

Authors

• Joaquin Noguera, Loyola Marymount Universtiy

• Ernesto Colin, Loyola Marymount University

• Kenzo K. Sung, Loyola Marymount University

• Cynthia M. Alcantar, Loyola Marymount University

• Kyo Yamashiro, Loyola Marymount University

• William Perez, Loyola Marymount University

• Dolores Delgado Bernal, Loyola Marymount University