Making Sense of Social Justice Leadership: A Case Study of a Principal’s Experiences to Create a More Inclusive School

Abstract

Social justice leadership in high-poverty urban schools is complex. Principals experience a range of feelings and emotions while practicing social justice leadership with implications on their leadership. This article presents a qualitative case study of an elementary school principal in an urban setting and how she led to create a more inclusive school. Sensemaking theory was applied to examine the principal’s experiences leading for social justice and how successes, challenges, and failures influenced her leadership. Findings have implications for theory, future research, and principal selection, preparation, and training.

Notes

1. See: Baltimore City Public Schools: Vaughn G. v Mayor and City Council of Baltimore; Chicago Public Schools: Corey H. v Board of Education of Chicago; District of Columbia Public Schools: Blackman/Jones v. District of Columbia.

2. The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) component of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA, 2004) mandated: “To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities … are educated with children who are not disabled; and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily” (IDEA, 2004, Sec. 300.114). The broad language of IDEA and its LRE component leaves some room for interpretation and does not mandate full inclusion of all students, but the law and courts maintain a preference for inclusion, as does the U.S. Department of Education. IDEA also includes a system of compliance measures, disaggregated by racial and economic subgroups, to ensure all students treated equitably and fully benefit from their special education supports and services.

3. For example, one principal promoted inclusion at a general level, but through observations it was revealed that the principal utilized state-mandated assessment data to focus interventions on certain students who were viewed as close to passing the state assessment while ignoring lower and higher performing students.

4. The teachers resistant to inclusion asked not to be tape recorded, but did want to speak on the record for this study.

5. Actions included setting up co-planning sessions where she helped facilitate productive planning sessions, developing and modeling lessons that incorporated differentiated instruction, and engaging as a learner in professional development sessions with teachers.