Developing a New Lens: Ethnographic Case Study of the Evolvement of a Culturally Responsive Leader

• In Event: Bending Toward Justice: Leadership for Cultural Responsiveness and Equity

Abstract

This case study explores the evolvement of a teacher and aspiring leader. Ms. Smith is a current teacher in the Detroit school system and participant in an Aspiring Leaders Program, a university-sponsored partnership. Learning about leadership theories (Bell, 1997, Lanson-Billings & Tate, 2006; Khalifa et al., 2016; Theoharis, 2009, Shields 2011) to undergird her practice, she begins a process of self-reflection and conceptualizations of her own deficit thinking and biases. Through this journey she analyzes her district’s current practices and culturally responsive leadership during a global pandemic, COVID-19.

Authors

• Dikea Ahisha Taylor-Santiago, Eastern Michigan University

• Rema Reynolds, Eastern Michigan University

• Mia Rollack, Eastern Michigan University

• Simone Brown, Eastern Michigan University

• Donya Odom, Eastern Michigan University

• Clyde Barnett, Eastern Michigan University