School leaders have a responsibility to work against racism. However, research indicates that there is a lack of both knowledge about and interest in racism among school leaders (Flores & Gunzenhauser, 2019; Miller, 2021). Even where social justice is said to be a priority, work against racism seems to meet challenges of being truly included in this notion (Gorski, 2019).

In this paper, I present a study that explores educational leadership and racism through the perspectives of Norwegian principals. Norway is an interesting case to study in this context, as school leaders have a long history of social justice engagement through deeply rooted policies of inclusion that marks the Norwegian social democracy. However, "race" and racism have not been seen as a relevant focus in the schools' work for social justice – despite the fact that Norway has five national minorities and almost 20% of the population is "immigrant". In recent years, the focus on racism in society has grown and shifted towards more openness to the experiences of minorities (Døving, 2022). At the same time, anti-immigration and far-right politics that uphold different kinds of nationalism also play a role in the Norwegian society. All of this affects the work that goes on in schools. Hence, it is important to broaden our understanding about what principals do to counteract racism in their local school context.

The aim of the study is to provide a deeper understanding into how principals counteract racism. I draw on the practices of 15 principals in the Norwegian primary and secondary governmental school system, who, in different ways, work to counteract racism. The following research questions have been asked: (1)What manifestations of racism do they target, and (2) what anti-racism actions do they focus on?

In order to understand the variety of the principals’ perceptions of manifestations of racism and strategies used in work against racism, I build on a wide understanding of the concept: racism is understood as exclusionary or discriminatory practices based in a variable of shifting assumptions, logics and ideational constructs that manifest on individual, social and structural levels (Balibar 1991; Goldberg 2015). In the analysis I use theories of anti-oppressive education (Kumashiro, 2000) and theoretical frameworks of denial of racism (Goldberg, 2015; Van Djik, 1992). I also build on existing litterature on racism and school leadership to discuss the results.

Building on interviews with 15 principals from Norwegian schools that have an outspoken focus on social justice, this paper presents a content analysis (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2018) with focus on anti-racism strategies. The principals were sampled on basis of their schools' nomination to national, prestigious school prizes for anti-racism or inclusion within the last 6 years. All principals were white, and none made mention of any kind of minority background. The sample included a fairly equal gender background. The schools were located in different parts of Norway, and there were both schools with a high percentage of students from diverse language backgrounds, and schools where almost all students had Norwegian as their mother tongue. I conducted a semi-structured interviews of approximately one hour with each principal, focused on how racism was understood by the principal, how the local school situation was understood in regards of racism, what manifestations were visible to the principal, and what strategies were in use. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed in NVivo. Through content analysis, categories were created, leading to a pattern of four different kinds of approaches to racism.

The preliminary analysis identifies four main approaches to racism among principals, ranging from strategies that acknowledge racism and have concrete strategies to address it (addressing), to approaches that dismiss, individualize or work directly against antiracism (avoiding, denying and reversing racism). These patterns are not surprising as they fall in line with research from other countries on school leaders and racism (Miller, 2020). Yet they are in some ways alarming, due to the fact that these schools had a particular interest and focus on racism. In the analysis, I discuss these findings in light of relevant knowledge about leadership and racism. I look at the circumstances around the principals, such as the contemporary dominating understanding of racism, issues of legislation and curriculum, and school leadership in modern liberal democracy. The analysis shows the complexity of racism and work against racism in schools, and will hopefully give grounds for comparison and an interesting discussion about schools, school leadership and racism.

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