8.3 Equity Through the Lens of Culturally Responsive Leadership

• Culturally responsive leadership is critical to driving and improving equity in our schools.
• The practices of instructional leaders must have a focus on creating equitable outcomes for all students.

• Explore how the concept of Culturally Responsive Leadership transforms more traditional models of school leadership.

On your own, take a few minutes to review “Counteracting Educational Injustice with Applied Critical Leadership: Culturally Responsive Practices Promoting Sustainable Change” (Santamaria and Santamaria, 2015). The article describes the behaviors of the individual leader relating to equity. In particular, pay close attention to the list of seven leadership practices on page 36 of the publication (the 15th page of the PDF) as well as the conclusions on page 37. 

During your review, consider the following questions:

• How is this idea of leadership different from the conceptualization of school leadership when you entered the field? 
• Why is this research and the viewpoints discussed here both important and urgent?

Next, return to Table 1 in “Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited” (Leithwood et al. 2020) and review the leadership practices marked with an asterisk (also listed below) as they are also considered practices that support equitable leadership.

• Build a shared vision.
• Communicate the vision and goals.
• Model the school’s values and practices.
• Build trusting relationships with and among staff, students, and parents.
• Build collaborative culture and distribute leadership.
• Structure the organization to facilitate collaboration.
• Build productive relationships with families and communities.
• Connect the school to its wider environment.
• Allocate resources in support of the school’s vision and goals.
• Staff the instructional program.
• Monitor student learning and school improvement progress.

Discuss how these practices are connected to the Applied Critical Leadership Behaviors.

• Why do you think these practices were found to support equitable leadership?

Recall the list of practices you identified as most essential to supporting positive learning outcomes for students.

• How do those five hold up now?
• Are there practices that needed to be added?

• As you reflect on this discussion, how do you see your own practices as an instructional leader focused on creating equitable outcomes for all students?
• What do you need to work on?
• How do you know? On what feedback or other data are you basing your conclusions? How intentional are you about seeking that out?