Katz, s. (march 2010). women superintendents: standing for social

Introduction

The topic of leadership for social justice in schools has been generating quite a bit of scholarship over the last few years. Theoharis (2004a) conducted a meta-analysis of the literature and discovered several barriers to teaching and leading for social justice. Theoharis (2004b) studied principals who actively led for social justice and from that research offered a theory of social justice leadership. In two edited texts, Marshall and Oliva (2006, 2009) have offered various perspectives on leadership for social justice. Dantley and Tillman (2007) give a comprehensive review of the praxis of social justice leadership in three main areas: research and scholarship, conference presentations, and teaching. Since the authors are advocates for social justice in schools, they indicated that the work must begin with the educational leaders.

Furman and Shields (2003) wrote that social justice had recently acquired a new emphasis and importance for education. The growing diversity of school populations, the increasing achievement and economic gaps, and the injustices that may be caused by current, high-stakes assessment and accountability policies are several reasons for the field of educational leadership to focus on leadership for social justice. While much of the literature related to social justice and democratic community has developed in the areas of curriculum theory and cultural studies, these themes are increasing in the field of educational leadership (Furman&Shields, 2003). The dimensions of leadership that they describe focus on key areas in schools – ethics, context, process, transformation, and pedagogy.