Transcript Leadership for Social Justice - Education and Leadership in

Anthony H. Normore, Ph.D.
California State University Dominguez Hills
Los Angeles, CA
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To create space for honest, authentic conversation about leadership and social
justice and how this looks in practice by engaging in discourse about:
◦ the ability to contribute to the well-being of others whose circumstances bar them from
completing successful attainment of well-being for themselves
◦ translating society’s beliefs and values to upcoming generations
◦ how global cultural difference fits into the notion of social justice
◦ who we are in relation to those we teach
◦ responding constructively to doubts, disagreements, and defensiveness we might feel
◦ how personal bias impedes student learning
◦ identifying traditional expectations of schools as they relate to cultures of students
represented;
◦ anti-racist, anti-bias curriculum where instructional materials acknowledge and honor the
integrity of student backgrounds.
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Connecting Social Justice, Intercultural Leadership, and Values
Inclusive Leadership and Global Thinking
Pushing the Envelope
Unconscientious Bias
Creating Responsive Instruction
Key Players in the Social Justice Conversation
Social Justice in Schools
Implications for Leadership
Small Group Discussions (11 groups)
Three Scenarios
Wrap-up
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Culture of make believe (Jensen, 2004)
◦ Too often we stare without flinching at the baleful design of our culture, which encourages us to honor
those who wreak the most havoc on the world (and on human lives) and to scorn those who protest
against the havoc and hegemony as opponents of decency and good order
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Window on humanity (Kottack, 2004)
◦ Many things are promised, but are said to take time and patience in order for them to happen.
◦ One good way to keep the people away from oppression would be by telling people that they will
eventually gain power in the near future.
◦ Grassroots leaders and the larger community can share in a leadership that helps rectify and transform
the hegemonic behaviors, practices and beliefs that threaten liberation and learning of ALL children .
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Leadership and intercultural dynamics (Collard & Normore,
2009)
◦ Leadership dominated by Anglo-American perspectives
◦ Oblivious to cultural diversity in contemporary world
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Global education and inclusive education: Worlds apart? (Landorf & Nevin, 2007)
Global education and inclusive education can inform one another in their mutual
goal to teach respect for the “other,”
The heart of inclusive global education embodies constant questioning and
reflection on the meaning of social justice
◦ Is social justice about leveling the playing field or giving the same rights to everyone?
◦ Are there cases where one person’s demand for social justice takes away another?
◦ Where do issues of global cultural difference fit into the notion of social justice?
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A primary aim of inclusive education and global education is to facilitate the
teaching and learning of respect for oneself and the other
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Seems reasonable to hope that by working together, a bridge can be built to a place where recognition
for the community is based on respect of each individual who resides within it (Landorf & Nevin,
2007).
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Allow ourselves to be pushed
Let’s ask real questions about what we value and believe
Do our beliefs align with our words and actions?
Might it be unsettling?
Do we need to be comfortable when we encounter something sensitive, new or
challenging?
Education is a civil right
Are programs designed for students or vice-versa?
Let’s not pretend we do not have biases
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An emotional minefield of deep rooted sometimes unconscious biases
Bring forward issues of oppression and address them specifically in nonjudgmental
ways
It’s not about blame and shame
It’s about being aware of how institutions operate and who is benefiting.
Create space for honest, authentic conversation (we come from different backgrounds,
different language experiences, and different ways of being)
It matters who we are in relation to those we teach
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Economically poor, Immigrants, A traditional minority, English language learners,
Students with special needs, or some combination of these
Professional learning for understanding students and their needs
◦ Understand general issues of race, class, culture, privilege – cultural competency
◦ Explore personal bias, how it impedes student learning
◦ Identify norms, family patterns, traditional expectations of schools as they relate to cultures of
students represented
◦ Develop communication and engagement skills – culture competency
◦ Design anti-racist, anti-bias curriculum
◦ Instructional materials that acknowledge and honor the integrity of student backgrounds
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Changing the culture first
Creating responsive instruction
“If I hadn’t been in a fight, I would have become a statistic” – role of student
support services
Engaging students in the mission – primary stakeholders must take ownership for
their learning
Students need to be aware of our intent and have a voice in evaluating our efforts
Honoring voices of all students and empowering them to “speak their truths”
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Agendas for achieving social justice in classrooms are defined and pursued by
adults
Why are students missing from this process?
Meaningful relationships, respect, and an equal opportunity for students to take
responsibility for their learning and their lives
Listening to students should not be about indulging or exploiting them
Responding constructively to doubts, disagreements, and defensiveness we might
feel
Let’s not blame the children who fail – no harm to any child
 We fail our students and look for ways to manage the fallout
 A change in attitude
 Let’s develop the skill and will necessary for success
 Let’s engender shared responsibility for all students’ success
 Let’s recommit to learning and doing whatever it takes to help all students achieve
 To achieve real success for all, social justice must be the goal for any school
 Let’s commit to involving the families and the communities
 A recommitment to social justice must mean that an injustice has occurred – a
violation of Civil Rights
 Social justice is difficult to understand
 Too many people want to equate it with cultural diversity training or equal opportunity
– and it is so much more.
Source: Witnessing cultural traditions (2010). Journal of the National Staff
Development Council, 31(4), 4- 72.
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Leaders =cultural diversity = need sophisticated understandings =interculturism,
global inclusiveness, and social justice.
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A leader’s ability to work with diversity = familiarity with cultural maps of ethnic,
national and international groups.
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A leader has a duty to mediate between groups, to help them discern the social and
even transcendental good which bridges divisive difference
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A leader advocates for new cultural norms which accommodate diversity, social
justice, and redress disempowerment
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The leader as a transformative cultural advocate also needs an awareness of how to
harness diverse forms of cultural capital which clients, workers and communities
bring to educational endeavors.
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Each of us has our own set of values that determine which aspects of life we regard
as important or beneficial. Our values help determine our tastes, our way of life,
our entertainment, our social, political and religious interactions.
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Some of the values we hold may be 'superficial', transitory or fitting solely the
moment in which we find ourselves. Other values are more fixed and may stay with
us through our life; these are our 'core values'.
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Our parents are a key influence upon our values as we grow as children. So, too, is
any church or religious background we experience. Our society, our neighbors,
friends and colleagues, too, can have an influence upon our values. So, too, can
our teachers and our schooling.
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Often, school can be a place of conflict for it is there that we experience other
values perhaps for the first time. Some of the values we experience in school can be
in conflict with or contradict the values of our parents. As we go through high
school, we start to experience values in ourselves and our peers that conflict both
with school and our parents. Conflicting and unfixed values can be a major
problem for adolescent and teenage years.
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As we grow in years and experience, our values become more fixed, especially a set
of 6 to 10 'core' values. It is these core values that determine what is really
important to us as an individual. The surprising thing is that if you ask most people
what their values are, many would not be able to give you an answer.
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A good many people are leading lives unconnected with their core values. This can
lead to a life of unhappiness, discontent and lack of fulfillment. Sometimes it can
lead to conflict. Often the person does not know why their life seems unhappy,
unfulfilled and sometimes full of conflict. Often, the cause is that the life they are
living is not in accordance with their personal values.
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For some people a conflict can arise within them because they are trying to live a
life according to the values of a company, an organization, a religious or political
organization, the values of their friends or colleagues or partner, rather than living
a life according to their own core values. In doing this, the values of the other
people or organizations are being met but the person's own values are being left
unfulfilled.
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A person is not necessarily wrong to seek to support and fulfill the values of other
people or organizations. However, leaving your own values unfulfilled can lead to
frustration and unhappiness. A key issue in this, though, is that the person may
believe they are “doing the right thing” by working to the values of others and yet
still feel a sense of frustration and unfulfilment; -the reason being that they may be
unaware of their own values or, maybe, feel guilty of their own values where they
conflict with the values of others.
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Goals of successful education include the development of capacities and confidence
to conduct oneself responsibly in support of one’s own well-being; the ability to
contribute to the well-being of others whose circumstances bar them from
completing successful attainment of well-being for themselves; and facilitating the
translation of the society’s beliefs and values to upcoming generations, ensuring
community service and social justice are maintained and remain an integral part of
society’s fabric (Arneson, 2007).
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We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose
schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need in order to do
this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we
haven’t so far (Edmonds, 1990).
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Collaboration is the only way we can guarantee consistently better results for all
children. Attention to diversity in all its manifestations (language, culture, special
needs, disability, sexual orientation, poverty, race, age, gender, and class) is a
social justice priority, one that we have struggled with for way too long (Seattle’s
Superintendent, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, 2010)
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It’s one thing to be an advocate focusing on the needs of underserved students. It’s
another thing to build people’s will to address those issues. A lot of work is “insideout” – who I am and how I am, my journey, for me to be effective and develop why
it is important for me to address issues of race, class, and culture in schools.
Building leadership capacity is essential in solving equity issues in schools (Tom
Malarkey, National Equity Project, 2010)
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Anna, a Cape Verdean newcomer, is three years beyond
her peers in terms of her science skills and knowledge. She
arrives completely new to the English language
* Naming specific learning needs and gifts of children from underserved
populations compels us as educators to develop a specialized professional
knowledge and skills (Cultural Competency)
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Hannah, a Polish American, is having difficulty
communicating orally. Literacy diagnostics don’t indicate a
language problem, and she’s great at painting. When her
teacher probes, she learns that Hannah’s only parent is
deaf and communicates through sign language; therefore
Hannah does not communicate orally at home.
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Alejandro, a second-generation Mexican-American, speaks
Spanish at home. His teacher is challenged to identify how
much Alejandro’s difficulty in math stems from language
acquisition versus learning disability.