Session Information
01 SES 06 C, Research Perspectives on Leadership (Part 2)
Paper Session continued from 01 SES 04 B
Contribution
We know that educational equity, at its core, is about addressing the impact of historical and structural practices that have contributed, and continue to contribute, to unfair outcomes for children from the most marginalized parts of our society. As such, the San Antonio Independent School District has currently engaged in work with the Wallace Foundation focused on the development of an equity-centered principal pipeline. The question the initiative seeks to answer is:
How can large, high-needs districts, in partnership with their stakeholders, create comprehensive, aligned principal pipelines and other supports that are capable of producing and supporting equity-centered leaders within the district ecosystem?
In order to develop an ‘ecosystem’ that is equity-focused, we must ensure that staff in the central office, those who are charged with creating and maintaining systems across the district, have a common understanding of equity. One way to start this work is to engage in the reflective work of developing autoethnographies of current school leaders. The Urban School Leaders Collaborative (USLC) at the University of Texas at San Antonio has engaged each of their aspiring urban school leaders in this work for well over two decades. Therefore, faculty from this nationally recognized program have facilitated the autoethnography work for the leadership cabinet of SAISD the Spring 2023.
Through a pedagogy of collective critical consciousness (Freire, 2000), deep critical reflection (Garza, 2015), and other self-directed learning activities, district leaders will develop a deeper understanding of self that will help them see themselves in the students they serve, and write an autoethnography towards leadership for social justice. The model is grounded in theoretical and empirical models of instructional reform, specifically as these apply to the education of Latinos and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. These include subtractive/deficit schooling framework (Delpit, 1996; Valenzuela, 1999; Valencia, 1997), culturally relevant teaching framework (Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2009), race (Anzaldúa, 1987; hooks, 2000), gender (Grogan & Shakeshaft, 2011; Blount 2003) and social justice framework (Theoharis, 2009).
Method
Autoethnography is a qualitative approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural experience (ethno) (Ellis, 2004; Holman Jones, 2005). This method challenges traditional ways of doing research and representing others, and considers research as a political, socially-just and conscious act (Adams & Holman Jones, 2008). Autoethnography invites the researcher to look inward, revealing a vulnerable self that displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to the cultural in a reflexive and emotional process. The commitment of autoethnography is to give a highly personalized account of the power of reflection in constructing one’s identity as a person and equity-centered leader through self-examination. According to Camangian (2010), the purpose of an autoethnography is, “learning about and understanding lived experience in order to benefit self, society, community, and culture.” The autoethnography tells the story from an inside perspective. One’s experiences, challenges, and triumphs are given voice so that others in similar situations may gain better insight concerning their experiences, and witness other ways of knowing. This study focuses on twenty-one district leaders from a large urban school district in South Texas. Through their autoethnographies, they share how their lived experiences translated and influenced to the strategies necessary to meet the needs of highly diverse inner-city communities. These autoenthongraphies served as the leadership development to better understand how lived experiences influence and shape leadership identity. As such, the paper aims to highlight how a “different” model of leadership development advances interactive transformation for students to practice in urban schools where the student population is predominantly Latino.
Expected Outcomes
The ULSC preparation program adds depth and richness about how leaders learn best and apply their learning to their school settings. For instance, using their own voices and means for expressing their learning, this paper acknowledges one of the often-overlooked “faces” in our field—learners who have themselves experienced racial and human rights injustices. Furthermore, their concerns with equity and social justice, especially for underserved groups of children, are an absolute commitment and concern of the school leaders. Suppose our leadership preparation programs are to truly make a difference in the lives of all school children. In that case, exploring the issues that will emerge in this study is another step toward preparing leaders with a social conscience and a passion for justice.
References
University Press. Anzaldúa, Gloria (1987). Borderlands/La Frontera: The new mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books. Blount, J. (2003). Homosexuality and School Superintendents: A Brief History, Journal of School Leadership 13, 1: 7-26. Camangian, P. (2010). Starting with self: Teaching autoethnography to foster critically caring literacies. Research in the Teaching of English, 179-204. Delpit, L. (1996). Other people’s children. New York: New Press. Ellis, C. (1999). Heartful autoethnography. Qualitative Health Research, 9, 669-83. Altamira Press. Ellis, C. Adams, T. E. & Bochner Jones, S. (2011) Autoethnography: An overview. Historical Social Research, 36(4), 273-290. Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: NY. Continuum International Publishing Group. Garza, E. (2015, in progress). The Pedagogy of Collective Critical Consciousness: The Praxis of Preparing Leaders for Social Justice. Paper presented at UCEA Conference, 2015. Denver, CO. Gay, G. (2010). Culturally Responsive Teaching. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Grogan, M. & Shakeshaft, C. (2011). Women and educational leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. hooks, bell (2000). Where we stand: Class matters. New York: Routledge. Ladson-Billings, G. (1997). The dreamkeepers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Valencia, R. (Ed.). (1997). The evolution of deficit thinking. Washington, DC: Falmer. Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive schooling: U.S. Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany: State University of New York Press.
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