Critical Leadership Praxis for Educational and Social Change

by Katie Pak, Sharon M. Ravitch

Overview

Educational leaders confront instances of inequity every day, whether they are aware of it or not. Many find themselves inadequately reacting to such issues due in part to traditional preparation programs that fail to interrogate the existence and impact of systems of oppression. Why is naming and tackling inequity not at the forefront of every conversation about educational leadership? How do our social constructions of identity hierarchies and deficits (mis)shape what leaders think and do? How do leaders advocate for those who need and deserve advocacy? This volume considers these questions and more by offering unique leadership frameworks that integrate critical theories for social change with everyday practice. By bringing together diverse researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who are often pushed to the margins, this volume will help today’s leaders see with new eyes and gain the critical tools, language, and concepts for equity leadership. The text is organized into four sections: Transforming Self, Transforming Educators, Transforming Organizations, and Transforming Systems.

Book Features:

• Interrupts prevailing practices and advocates for a more inclusive, intersectional vision of leaders and the field of educational leadership.
• Specific and useful frames, concepts, and practices that leaders can adapt to their own context.
• Authors that reflect diverse perspectives with wide-ranging identities who intentionally push back against the White male-dominated discourse.
• A practitioner-friendly format that includes glossaries of terms and resources.
• Insights that reflect the worldwide pandemic crises of 2020.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807779439
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	03/12/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Katie Pak is a school improvement and data specialist with the School District of Philadelphia, where she also provides leadership and support in the District’s newly formed Equity Coalition. Sharon M. Ravitch is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, where she co—founded the Inter—American Educational Leadership Network for leaders across the Americas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Katie Pak Sharon Ravitch vii

Preface: Leadership in a Hurting World: Rupture, Reckoning, Reimagining Katie Pak Sharon M. Ravitch xi

1 Critical Leadership Praxis for Educational and Social Change Katie Pak Sharon M. Ravitch 1

Domain I Transforming Self Katie Pak Sharon M. Ravitch 27

2 Critical Leadership for Transformation in Crisis Sherry Coleman Courtney Portlock 35

3 Asian American Women Leaders Reclaiming Leader Identities Through Collaborative Autoethnography Katie Pak Elaine W. Leigh Jennifer Phuong 49

Domain II Transforming Educators Katie Pak Sharon M. Ravitch 63

4 On the Ground, Every Day: Five Pillars for Developing Culturally Sustaining, Critically Conscious Practitioners Andrew J. Schiera Elizabeth Simmons Latricia Whitfield Hayden Frederick-Clarke 73

5 Raciolinguistic Perspectives in Leadership Development: Testimonios Within and Across Bilingual Education Karla Venegas Erica Saldívar Garcia Iván Rosales Montes 87

6 Transformative Storytelling as Critical Praxis for Educational Leaders Laura Colket Janay M. Garrett Mia S. Shaw 101

Domain III Transforming Organizations Katie Pak Sharon M. Ravitch 115

7 Developing Critically Inclusive, Anti-Ableist Organizations Jennifer Phuong Christa S. Bialka Megan MacDonald 123

8 Developing Education Organizations With Gender and Queer Inclusive Cultures Charlotte E. Jacobs Katie Clonan-Roy 137

9 Indigeneity, Engagement, and Responsiveness Sia Elle Brown Jacqueline G. Lopez 151

Domain IV Transforming Systems Katie Pak Sharon M. Ravitch 165

10 Minding the School-Community Leadership Gap: Reframing for Critical Praxis Ankhi Thakurta Laura Ogburn Atenea Rosado-Viurques 173

11 Trauma-Informed Leadership: Balancing Love and Accountability Nimet Suheyla Eren Sharon M. Ravitch 187

12 Decolonizing Educational Mindsets Reima Yosif Shakeir Rehana Thembeka Odendaal Atenea Rosado-Viurques 201

Conclusion Katie Pak Sharon M. Ravitch 216

Afterword: Leadership Development for Critical Leadership Praxis Kathy J. Rho Nikole T. Booker 218

About the Contributors 226

Index 233

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Forcefully and persuasively, Katie Pak and Sharon Ravitch make the case for critical leadership practice—the ethical analysis and dismantling of the systemic foundations of educational inequalities essential to rebuilding schools and education systems that truly empower the most marginalized students. In the wake of the raw educational and social inequalities that the COVID—19 pandemic has laid bare for all to see, this book is essential reading for every teacher and leader interested in building back better, so that schools advance democracy and social justice.”
—Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

“The practitioner—scholars assembled in this book seek to rehumanize a school system and society whose economic, racial, and gender inequalities have been laid bare by the COVID—19 pandemic. Each chapter is a testimonial on how to reprofessionalize teachers and leaders through dialogue and critical inquiry.”
—Gary L. Anderson, professor, New York University

“An important framework for reconceptualizing educational leadership and administration. The editors and chapter authors provide useful reframing tools to challenge traditional organizational norms of leading schools. This book will be most useful for teaching current and future school administrators to reframe the discourse and think about social justice leadership.”
—Laurence J. Parker, Department of Educational Leadership & Policy, University of Utah

Editorial Reviews

This collection from editors Pak (School District of Philadelphia) and Ravitch (Univ. of Pennsylvania) is yet another volume in the field of leadership literature, nobly focused on the emboldened theme of leadership in a hurting world. Such a theme could not be timelier nor more important than today.”

CHOICE

Overall, Critical Leadership Praxis for Educational and Social Change achieves an often hard—to—reach balance between practical and theoretical perspectives of critical and equitable leadership, and can thereby serve as a valuable resource for those unfamiliar with critical perspectives of schools as well as academics who are looking to add to their theoretical ‘toolbox’ or are searching for a book to use for curricular and programmatic work on equitable leadership practices. This book also serves well the authors’ purpose as ‘an urgent call to action’ for educators to reflect and counteract inequity in schools, and is a must—read for leaders and researchers interested in this work.”

Teachers College Record

Overall, Critical Leadership Praxis for Educational and Social Change achieves an often hard-to-reach balance between practical and theoretical perspectives of critical and equitable leadership, and can thereby serve as a valuable resource for those unfamiliar with critical perspectives of schools as well as academics who are looking to add to their theoretical ‘toolbox’ or are searching for a book to use for curricular and programmatic work on equitable leadership practices. This book also serves well the authors’ purpose as ‘an urgent call to action’ for educators to reflect and counteract inequity in schools, and is a must-read for leaders and researchers interested in this work.”

—Teachers College Record

“This collection from editors Pak (School District of Philadelphia) and Ravitch (Univ. of Pennsylvania) is yet another volume in the field of leadership literature, nobly focused on the emboldened theme of leadership in a hurting world. Such a theme could not be timelier nor more important than today.”

—CHOICE

From the Publisher