Collective Visioning for Equity: Centering Youth, Family, and Community Leaders in Schoolwide Visioning Processes

ABSTRACT

The importance of schoolwide visions is widely accepted and emphasized across the educational-leadership literature. The visioning process and resulting written vision and mission statements can have consequential impacts on the daily life of schools, particularly decisions related to instruction, curriculum, budget, and other key issues. For educators and researchers committed to advancing educational equity, questions about whose perspectives and voices are included in this process matter. Yet, we know little about the extent to which youth, families, and community members, particularly from communities of color and low-income backgrounds, are included in schoolwide visioning processes. To explore the potential role of youth, family, and community stakeholders in schoolwide visioning, we engage in a dual analytical approach informed by critical race theory. First, we critically examine leadership literature concerning visioning and research on youth, family, and community organizing. Second, we share two critical race counternarratives documenting youth and parent attempts to engage and impact schoolwide visions and equitable reforms. Through our analysis, we advance a concept of “collective visioning,” which emphasizes the potential role of a broad, diverse base of school and community stakeholders in the schoolwide visioning process, particularly seeking to center the voices and expertise of marginalized youth, families, and communities.

Notes

¹ All proper nouns in this section other than Los Angeles are pseudonyms. The youth members of the council chose their own pseudonyms.

² All proper nouns in this section, including for the school are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katherine C. Rodela

Katherine C. Rodela, PhD, is an associate professor at Washington State University. Her research focuses on leadership for educational justice and diversity, with projects exploring parent leadership and community organizing, equity-oriented school and district leadership, and diversity and identity within school leadership. Across her research with parents, community organizations, and K-12 educators, questions of how we define equity, who leads equity initiatives and reforms, and who counts as educational leaders remain central. These questions are informed by cultural analysis, Critical Race Theory, Latino Critical Race Theory, and deep commitment to addressing systemic inequities impacting marginalized communities.

Melanie Bertrand

Melanie Bertrand, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Arizona. Her research explores the potential of youth and community leadership to improve schools and challenge systemic racism and other forms of oppression in education. She applies cultural-historical activity theory to better understand how youth and community members engage in roles of activism, governance, and leadership within education.