Taking Up the Call for Racial Justice: The Conditions of Relationality for Equity Leadership

• In Event: Toward Increased Cultural Connectedness, Race-Consciousness, and Critical Care: School Administrator and Student Perspectives

Abstract

The authors work from an emergent theory of equity leadership ethics based on race-conscious caring to study how school leaders grow in their ability to work for racial justice. Using a conceptual framework built on three components of ethical praxis – race-consciousness, critical caring, and justice orientation — we show how school leaders build capacity for serving students of color and negotiate tensions and backlash around racial justice work. We find that school leaders are making explicit use of their racialized identities to acknowledge their positionality, question their privilege, and learn from the experiences of others. These findings lead us to conclude that equity leadership is a project of engaged relationality, contributing to the ways equity leaders both learn and lead.

Authors

• Sierra Stern, University of Pittsburgh

• Osly J. Flores, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Michael G. Gunzenhauser, University of Pittsburgh