African American Perspectives on Leadership in Schools


Book Description

This book fills an educational void in the school leadership literature as it relates to historical, theoretical, intellectual and cultural understandings among those who prepare individuals for leadership in schools and for those who practice leadership in schools attended by significant numbers of African American students. Contributors to this volume are scholars whose research and service in schools have been important in understanding the historical, intellectual and cultural traditions that facilitate and support effective leadership and in schools where African American school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and their communities of support construct effective and productive 'cultures of empowerment and achievement'. It is these cultures that this volume addresses for their efficacy to support, empower, and sustain visible and measurable achievement among African American students.




African American Perspectives on Leadership in Schools


Book Description

This book fills an educational void in the school leadership literature as it relates to historical, theoretical, intellectual and cultural understandings among those who prepare individuals for leadership in schools and for those who practice leadership in schools attended by significant numbers of African American students. Contributors to this volume are scholars whose research and service in schools have been important in understanding the historical, intellectual and cultural traditions that facilitate and support effective leadership and in schools where African American school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and their communities of support construct effective and productive 'cultures of empowerment and achievement'. It is these cultures that this volume addresses for their efficacy to support, empower, and sustain visible and measurable achievement among African American students.




Race, Work, and Leadership


Book Description

Rethinking How to Build Inclusive Organizations Race, Work, and Leadership is a rare and important compilation of essays that examines how race matters in people's experience of work and leadership. What does it mean to be black in corporate America today? How are racial dynamics in organizations changing? How do we build inclusive organizations? Inspired by and developed in conjunction with the research and programming for Harvard Business School's commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the HBS African American Student Union, this groundbreaking book shines new light on these and other timely questions and illuminates the present-day dynamics of race in the workplace. Contributions from top scholars, researchers, and practitioners in leadership, organizational behavior, psychology, sociology, and education test the relevance of long-held assumptions and reconsider the research approaches and interventions needed to understand and advance African Americans in work settings and leadership roles. At a time when--following a peak in 2002--there are fewer African American men and women in corporate leadership roles, Race, Work, and Leadership will stimulate new scholarship and dialogue on the organizational and leadership challenges of African Americans and become the indispensable reference for anyone committed to understanding, studying, and acting on the challenges facing leaders who are building inclusive organizations.




Perspectives of Black Histories in Schools


Book Description

Concerned scholars and educators, since the early 20th century, have asked questions regarding the viability of Black history in k-12 schools. Over the years, we have seen k- 12 Black history expand as an academic subject, which has altered research questions that deviate from whether Black history is important to know to what type of Black history knowledge and pedagogies should be cultivated in classrooms in order to present a more holistic understanding of the group’ s historical significance. Research around this subject has been stagnated, typically focusing on the subject’s tokenism and problematic status within education. We know little of the state of k-12 Black history education and the different perspectives that Black history encompasses. The book, Perspectives on Black Histories in Schools, brings together a diverse group of scholars who discuss how k-12 Black history is understood in education. The book’s chapters focus on the question, what is Black history, and explores that inquiry through various mediums including its foundation, curriculum, pedagogy, policy, and psychology. The book provides researchers, teacher educators, and historians an examination into how much k- 12 Black history has come and yet how long it still needed to go.




The SAGE Handbook of African American Education


Book Description

This Handbook received an honorable mention at the 2009 PROSE Awards. The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. "This volume fills the tremendous void that currently exists in providing a much-needed lens for cultural leadership and proficiency. The approach provides a wide divergence of perspectives on African American forms of leadership in a variety of diverse leadership settings." —Len Foster, Washington State University The SAGE Handbook of African American Education is a unique, comprehensive collection of theoretical and empirical scholarship in six important areas: historical perspectives, teaching and learning, PK–12 school leadership, higher education, current issues, and education policy. The purpose of the Handbook is to articulate perspectives on issues affecting the participation and leadership of African Americans in PK–12 and postsecondary education. This volume also addresses historical and current issues affecting the education of African Americans and discusses current and future school reform efforts that directly affect this group. Key Features Promotes inquiry and development of questions, ideas, and dialogue about critical practice, theory, and research on African Americans in the United States educational system Makes significant contributions to the scholarship on African Americans in the broad context of U.S. education and society Addresses the central question—in what ways do African Americans in corporate, private, and public positions influence and shape educational policy that affects African Americans? "The SAGE Handbook of African American Education is a unique, comprehensive collection of theoretical and empirical scholarship in six important areas: historical perspectives, teaching and learning, Pre-K-12 school leadership, higher education, current issues, and education policy." —TEACHERS OF COLOR "A wise scientist once argued that to doubt everything or to believe everything often results in the same solution set; both eliminate the need for reflection. This handbook provides an intellectual space for those interested in true reflection on the human ecology of the African American experience in schools, communities, and society. The /Handbook of African American Education/ is a repository of information developed to advance the human service professional." —William F. Tate IV, Washington University in St. Louis "This handbook represents the most comprehensive collection of research on African Americans in education to date. Its breadth spans the historical, the political, institutional and community forces that have shaped educational opportunities and attainment among African Americans. The review of extant research on a range of topics from the role of culture and identity in learning, teacher preparation, educational leadership, to higher education and educational policy is far-reaching and cutting edge. This volume has historic significance and will become a classic collection on African American education for scholars and practitioners alike." —Carol D. Lee, Professor, Northwestern University Vice-President, Division G, American Educational Research Association "This handbook is needed as a basic reference for professors and graduate students conducting research on the education of Blacks in America." —Frank Brown, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill




A Crisis of Leadership and the Role of Citizens in Black America


Book Description

A theoretical examination of the concepts of the citizen, citizenship, and leadership, A Crisis of Leadership and the Role of Citizens in Black America: Leaders of the New School proposes to develop a prototype or model of effective Black leadership. Furthermore, it examines “citizenship habits” of the Black community based on their economic standing, educational attainment, participation in the criminal justice system, and health and family structure. It tracks data in these four categories from 1970 to today, measuring effective leadership by the improvement or decline in the majority of African Americans standing in these four categories. This book concludes that African Americans have negative perceptions of themselves as U.S. citizens, which thus produce “bad citizenship habits.” Additionally, ineffective Black leaders since the Civil Rights era have been unwilling to demonstrate the purpose and significance of service, particularly to the poor and disadvantaged members of the Black community. Contemporary Black leaders (post–Civil Rights Era) have focused primarily on self-promotion, careerism, and middle-class interests. A new type of leader is needed, one that stresses unity and reinforces commitment to the group as a whole by establishing new institutions that introduce community-building.




Intersectional Identities and Educational Leadership of Black Women in the USA


Book Description

This volume examines the educational leadership of Black women in the U.S. as informed by their raced and gendered positionalities, experiences, perspectives, and most importantly, the intersection of these doubly marginalized identities in school and community contexts. While there are bodies of research literature on women in educational leadership, as well as the leadership development, philosophies, and approaches of Black or African American educational leaders, this issue interrogates the ways in which the Black woman’s socially constructed intersectional identity informs her leadership values, approach, and impact. As an act of self-invention, the volume simultaneously showcases the research and voices of Black women scholars – perspectives traditionally silenced in the leadership discourse generally, and educational leadership discourse specifically. Whether the empirical or conceptual focus is a Black female school principal, African American female superintendent, Black feminist of the early twentieth century, or Black woman education researcher, the framing and analysis of each article interrogates how the unique location of the Black woman, at the intersection of race and gender, shapes and influences their lived personal and/or professional experiences as educational leaders. This collection will be of interest to education leadership researchers, faculty, and students, practicing school and district administrators, and readers interested in education leadership studies, leadership theory, Black feminist thought, intersectionality, and African American leadership. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education.




African-American Principals


Book Description

This groundbreaking study fills a significant gap in educational research literature as it explores the problem of persistent and pervasive underachievement by African-American students in the public schools of the United States. Teacher quality, school resources, socio-economic status of students, cultural relevance of curriculum, and school leadership are a few of the factors that contribute to achievement or the lack of it by these students. Lomotey focuses on the impact of the African-American principal's leadership, its effect on the academic achievement of African-American students, and the day-to-day activities associated with school leadership. An early chapter reviews relevant research focusing on the connection between principal leadership and academic achievement in general. The extracted recurring qualities then form the basis for exploring whether African-American principals in more successful African-American schools possess the specific qualities suggested by the research. Lomotey finds that three additional and important characteristics are shared by his sample of principals: a deep commitment to the education of African-American children; a strong compassion for and understanding of both their students and the local community; and a sincere confidence in the ability of all African-American children to learn. The text is enhanced by two dozen tables that present the information discussed. An early chapter details the study's methodology with an overview and discussion of sampling and measurement procedures. Useful to students of educational administration, African American Principals: School Leadership and Success will also be of value in courses focusing on urban studies, school effectiveness, and school leadership. Black Studies programs addressing African-American education in America will find this a most necessary text. African-American educators--scholars and practitioners--as well as parents, community leaders, and other lay people will profit from the up-to-the-minute insights presented here.




Culturally Responsive School Leadership


Book Description

Culturally Responsive School Leadership focuses on how school leaders can effectively serve minoritized students—those who have been historically marginalized in school and society. The book demonstrates how leaders can engage students, parents, teachers, and communities in ways that positively impact learning by honoring indigenous heritages and local cultural practices. Muhammad Khalifa explores three basic premises. First, that a full-fledged and nuanced understanding of “cultural responsiveness” is essential to successful school leadership. Second, that cultural responsiveness will not flourish and succeed in schools without sustained efforts by school leaders to define and promote it. Finally, that culturally responsive school leadership comprises a number of crucial leadership behaviors, which include critical self-reflection; the development of culturally responsive teachers; the promotion of inclusive, anti-oppressive school environments; and engagement with students’ indigenous community contexts. Based on an ethnography of a school principal who exemplifies the practices and behaviors of culturally responsive school leadership, the book provides educators with pedagogy and strategies for immediate implementation.




Black School, White School


Book Description

How do race and race relations influence leadership practice and the education of students? In this timely and provocative book, the author identifies cultural and unstated norms and beliefs around race and race relations, and explores how these dynamics influence the kind of education students receive. Drawing on findings from extensive observations, interviews, and documents, the author reveals that many decisions that should have been based on pedagogy (or what is best for students) were instead inspired by conscious and unconscious racist assumptions, discrimination, and stereotypes. With applicable implications and lessons for all, this book will help schools and leadership programs to take the next step in addressing longstanding and deeply entrenched inequity and inequality in schools.