Social Justice Educational Leaders: Case Studies

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The research reported in the paper presents a picture of successful principals-leaders in challenging urban contexts, who came to the educational field with a calling to do social justice work. The findings are obtained from the Polish part of the 'Leading Schools Successfully in Challenging Urban Context: Strategies for Improvement' project.

The paper focuses on issues connected with the transformation process, especially concerning the school leadership and leadership strategies, so that others might gain deeper understanding of how a school begins, maintains and sustains the journey toward raising social capital and educational outcomes for all students. Special attention is paid not only on what leadership strategies were used by Principals but also why they were used. Case studies demonstrate how leadership capacity can be built and sustained in high poverty urban schools.

The paper consists of three main parts. The central research question in the first part is: What do we know about successful school leadership, and especially about social justice educational leadership? The second part gives the overview of the project and presents the methodological approach used in the research. The third part addressed one the research questions: What strategies do successful principals use to advance social justice in light of the countervailing pressures in high poverty urban schools?. And it tells the stories of four principals-leaders, who transformed the culture, curriculum, pedagogical practices, atmosphere, and school-wide priorities to benefit marginalized students.

The paper provides a good starting point for a dialogue with diverse audiences about the social justice educational leadership in disadvantaged urban communities.

Stream: Educational Leadership and Management

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Dr Joanna Maria Michalak has been working at the University of Lodz since 1996. She obtained a wide research and consulting experience in the field of comparative education, teacher’s professional development and learning, leadership and change, as well as school-university partnership. Since 1998 she has been involved in several international projects. As well as the EUDORA (European Doctorate in Teaching and Teacher Education, co-ordinated by Prof. Friedrich Buchberger) project, she has performed the role of a local project coordinator of such European ventures as DIDDISS (Didaktik, Lehren und Lernen in der Lehrerbildung), EPAC (Education Policy Analysis in a Comparative Perspective) and ELHE (@-learning in Higher Education) projects. The latest European project, in which she has participated, is focused on Leading Schools Successfully in Challenging Urban Contexts: Strategies for Improvement (Main coordinator: Prof Christopher Day, University of Nottingham, England).