U.S. and Canadian Contexts of Educational Leadership

• In Event: 42.021 - Future International Directions in Educational Leadership: Can We Locate and Expand Equal Opportunities?

Abstract

There are a multiplicity of political influences that have helped to mould Canadian educational leadership. Canada’s somewhat socialist inclinations maintain a liberal attitude that Canada’s political culture has embraced. As such, many Canadians define themselves through our uniquely Canadian Constitution. One notable condition is that Canada operates on the premise of the “common good” rather than identifying individual rights and freedoms. This framework of plurality and multiculturalism speaks to the ideal of creating an inclusive and pluralistic educational system, which has defined this nation since the early 1960s. Thus, Canadian educational leaders can speak to what it means to not only be a Canadian citizen but what it means to become global citizens. This unique culture seeks to find a common ground for people of differing beliefs and ideologies. Consequently, such pluralism defines what it means to be a Canadian, particularly in terms of its enormous diversity.

U.S. education continues to be shaped by socio-political powerful forces: first, a troubled history of racial oppression that it has been grappling with for over two hundred years and that differentiates it from many other countries. This reality is expressed to a greater or lesser degree in virtually every school in the United States, where the population of young people of color is now over 50% (Education Week, 2014). Secondly, U.S.is shaped by a highly decentralized governmental arrangement which relies for the most part on local property taxes to fund education, and accords states and school districts a high degree of local control over policy and practice compared to most other countries. This results in stark inequities in funding, resource levels, teacher salaries, professional qualifications of teachers, parental and community involvement. In addition, academic outcomes vary greatly between states, districts and schools across the U.S. Accordingly, to refer to American public education as a formal “system” is a misnomer. It is actually profoundly balkanized and much more resembles an open field of power with districts and schools leveraging their varying resources to best position their students to compete, and in turn ensure the continuing worth of their local communities. Both of these factors affect the degree to which leadership opportunities and influence are available to minoritized communities.

Authors

• Robert E. White, Saint Francis Xavier University

• Karyn A. Cooper, University of Toronto

• Karen Seashore Louis, University of Minnesota