Changing Leadership in Contexts of Diversity: Visibility, Invisibility and Democratic Ideals

Abstract

This article considers the degree to which recent changes in school leadership discourse, to incorporate diversity, reflect a changing professional culture among school leadership trainers and researchers in England. It examines the extent to which equalities legislation has had an impact on school leadership agendas and considers what can be learned from school leaders, including those from visible minorities, to inform policy in this field. The national culture is shaped by patterns of forgetting, so that diversity is represented as something new, and potentially disintegrative. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century leaders of colour, who were once highly visible, are made invisible through the processes of history. Parallels are drawn with today's school leaders and current educational leadership research agendas. Research commissioned by the National College for School Leadership adopts a cross-cultural paradigm. Cross-cultural approaches which do not engage fully with the legal imperative to promote race equality and which overlook deep-seated patterns of inequality are unlikely to meet the needs of a multicultural democracy. Many school leaders are concerned with racial justice and recognise their responsibility as citizens to address racism and inequality. Racism is an anti-democratic force, serving to undermine the full and equal participation of citizens. Anti-racism is thus an essential element of democratic practice within a multicultural nation state. The article concludes by arguing that school leadership researchers, trainers and head teachers need to adopt new patterns of remembering which build on the experience and wisdom of head teachers from all sectors of society who are engaged in the practical citizenship task of creating equitable schools and building an effective multicultural democracy.