Enacting Social Justice: Perceptions of Educational Leaders

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how educators who are either currently enrolled or who have completed an educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at one Rocky Mountain university understand social justice—as a concept and operationally—and the role of multicultural education in promoting social justice in P-12 school settings. Less than half (44%) of the educational leaders in this study were familiar with the concept of social justice, with those leaders who were familiar with the concept identifying full and equal participation (17%) and equal distribution of resources (11%) as the focus of school programs. Less than one third (28%) of participants expressed views reflecting cultural proficiency or competence, indicating a need for explicit coverage of social justice issues and cultural responsiveness in the educational leadership program examined. The results of this study indicate the need for leadership preparation programs to explicitly address social justice and oppression issues to increase the awareness of leaders and thus their capability to facilitate change that supports greater social justice and equitable educational outcomes for all students. Keywords: educational leadership, social justice, leadership preparation