This research examines how social justice teacher leaders can support diverse students and colleagues in Ontario schools. It employs a qualitative research design, wherein I conduct semi-structured interviews with ten experienced social justice teacher leaders. The majority of these leaders belonged to minoritized groups in Southern Ontario schools and held informal leadership positions. Using the constant comparative method, I identified codes and themes grounded in the literature on social justice and teacher leadership. Results revealed how participants were committed to creating inclusion in their classrooms and schools. They described a variety of inclusive practices, such as empowering student voices, engaging in critical conversations to examine power and privilege, and guiding students in exploring and understanding their social locations and identities. Participants identified several strategies to develop themselves as leaders, raise the critical consciousness of colleagues through collaborative activities; and advocate for students and colleagues at the school. The working conditions also influenced their leadership and social justice work. This study expands the scope of teacher leadership studies by highlighting the crucial social justice work that teacher leaders do within their classrooms and schools.

This study examines the perceptions of ideal and actual curriculum leadership among young primary school teachers (aged 25-34) in Hong Kong. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) What is the perception of ideal curriculum leadership among young teachers? (2) What is the perception of actual curriculum leadership among young teachers? (3) What can be learned from a comparison between the perceptions of ideal and actual curriculum leadership?

Eleven young teachers participated in a voluntary-based teacher development program that aimed to help them reflect on and refresh their understanding of curriculum leadership. The study involved pre-workshop activities, where participants shared photos and captions representing their ideal and actual experiences of curriculum leadership, and an on-site workshop where they discussed and categorized the shared images.

The key findings indicate a stark contrast between the ideal and actual images of curriculum leadership. The ideal was strongly associated with positive personal qualities, shared power dynamics, and effective curriculum management. In contrast, the actual experiences were characterized by negative power structures, imbalanced power distribution, and challenges in curriculum execution.

The study identifies three major types of curriculum leadership: personal qualities, power dynamics, and curriculum management and execution. Discrepancies between the ideal and actual images reveal valuable insights for empowering young teachers and enacting curriculum leadership effectively. These insights can inform decision-making and facilitate positive changes in teacher empowerment and curriculum leadership practices.

The study provides a nuanced understanding of curriculum leadership from the perspective of young teachers, highlighting the importance of aligning the ideal and actual experiences to foster a supportive and collaborative environment for curriculum development and school improvement.

This paper presentation focuses on the characteristics of quality teaching and learning as demonstrated in a doctoral program leadership course that enrolls students that in professional leadership roles. In particular, we feature three major areas of Servant Leadership that underscore our students' professional experiences, and the strategies that we adopt for this course. These include flexibility, empathy and compassion, and conceptualization and awareness. Northouse (2022) underscores that the model of Servant Leadership, "emphasizes that leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathize with them, and nurture them. Servant leaders put followers first, empower them. And help them develop their full personal capacities" (p. 253). In this sense, servant leader is aligned with several qualities that overlap with an educational profession, as well as student-centered missions that drive higher education. It also underscores tensions that arise in a student-leader position, particularly when introspection and growth in a certain area is needed.

To further explore pedagogical practices that help support a Servant Leadership mindset, we adopt a practitioner lens to engage in reflexive practice in our roles to design and deliver curricula that support students' growth in their application of leadership theories and practices in their academic and professional roles (Del Carlo et al., 2010; Miller et al., 2020). In analyzing our own practices and student engagement, we find alignment and misalignment to these three major areas of focus and offer implications and lessons learned for their development into effective learning strategies. Through this, we speak to practices that support quality teaching at the postsecondary level that support adult student education, continued lifelong learning, and the skills necessary to become leaders in their respective field.

Nurturing effective leaders for social justice is crucial for transforming the landscape of education as effective leadership draws collaborative inferences from and for people of different race, gender, ethnicity, religion, caste, culture for social justice. As schools face challenges of demographic shifts, equitable and socially just practices reflected in people's behaviours are critical aspects of an inclusive institution’s environment.

This research studies the role of leadership in addressing challenges of the diverse educational landscape, and in developing learning environments that support student learning with inclusive and equitable instructional practices (Harris, 2009). The paper critically appraises experiences of Indian School Principals through a qualitative study conducted on 15 leaders selected from Government and Private Public schools of Punjab district in North India that collected data through interviews and focus group discussions.

Research questions of the study are-

What role does leadership play in creating inclusive and equitable education systems?

How can effective leadership be developed to lead socially just education systems ?

The results show that effective leadership practices that foster inclusive learning environments included practices like recognizing social identities, integrating conflicting ideas and overcoming stereotypes and creating workplace settings compatible with effective instructional practices. The study emphasizes need for leadership development programs that link theory to real field problems, provide mentoring and encourage collaborative professional learning.

The study highlights the pivotal role of school heads in driving change in diverse and complex educational settings as well as positively influencing equity in education ( Pont, 2017) and the importance of investing in developing leadership talent to create socially just education systems.

References

Harris, A (2009), 'Against the odds: Successful leadership in challenging schools'. In AM. Blankstein, P. D. Houston and R. W. Cole (eds), Building sustainable leadership capacity. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Pont, Beatriz. (2017). School Leadership for Equity: A Comparative Perspective. 10.1108/S1479-367920160000031007.