This article is based on the author's autoethnographical research on leading practices of Steiner school principals over a period of major change and crisis in a Steiner school's life. This research included the use of the theory of practice architectures to uncover unsustainable contradictions in Steiner schools which constrain the full promise…

Despite growing interest in social justice leadership and awareness of the need to include this focus in leadership preparation and development, little is understood of practices used to support such commitment. In this article, Bacchi's (2012a) Foucaldian approach is drawn from, to provide a specific means of critically analysing what problem(s)…

Many teacher activists engage in justice-oriented work within and outside their classrooms, yet the work of mathematics teacher activists has been understudied. In this qualitative interview study, I investigated ten women of Color mathematics teacher activists' actualization of their organizing work, which includes the creation of and…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the authority basis of compulsory school principals in Iceland by making a general comparison to the other participating countries in the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, as well as by using Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory. The study utilizes data from principals in 48 of…

Colonial and decolonial tensions manifested in a unique, Mexican school for the deaf that used Mexican Sign Language for instruction. (De)colonial tensions were inherent in the school's work, from its non-Mexican, Foreign-origin school board to its child-of-deaf-adults principal's vision. We observed the presence of a colonial legacy, decolonial…

We live in a country with a long history of settler colonialism and we understand that our educational institutions, structures, and ideologies are part of that history. Our perceptions as educators of how students learn and how we should lead can be grounded in implicit biases that may dehumanize learners and perpetuate systems of oppression.…

Although there is much contention around the role of settlers in reconciliation [Maddison, S., Clark, T., & de Costa, R. (2016). "The limits of settler colonial reconciliation: Non-Indigenous peoples and the responsibility to engage." Singapore: Springer], the current under-representation of Indigenous peoples in Canada's K-12…

This case illustrates why school leaders must be culturally proficient to serve all students and lead effectively. I discuss one case in Ohio that is representative of many other American schools. In particular, I examine the cultural challenges educational leaders must commonly face. This case encourages administrators to participate in…

Teacher teams can be more effective when protocols are used in their entirety; and because of this, use of and understanding Ohio's five-step process is important (Gallimore, Ermeling, Saunders & Goldenberg, 2009, Saunders, Goldenberg & Gallimore, 2009, and Schwaenberger & Ahearn, 2013). This study explored the understanding of…

While the notion of "armed love" has been discussed in the context of pedagogy in a limited way, it stands to reason that teachers cannot do this work alone; school leaders must guide teachers by practicing and enacting armed love in their leadership. In this article, I borrow from prior conceptualizations of armed love and, applying it…

In this paper we reflect on the challenges of engaging in social justice work within elite schools. Drawing on experiences collaborating with an elite school in a justice-oriented research project, we consider the theoretical resources that informed this work. We demonstrate how Freire's work has been critical in forming the kind of relations that…

Purpose: This article proposes the utility of using activity theory as an analytical lens to examine the theoretical construct of distributed leadership, specifically to illuminate tensions encountered by leaders and how they resolved these tensions. Research Method: The study adopted the naturalistic inquiry approach of a case study of an…

This article examines the literature on medical rounds to inform the recent move toward instructional rounds as a practice of districtwide improvement and professional learning for superintendents and administrators. Based on the practice of medical rounds as a method for creating shared norms and understandings about medicine and patient care,…

Urban schools often experience rapid turnover among teachers and leaders. Yet, research and practice highlight the importance of sustained leadership over time as an integral component of school improvement. Successful leadership requires principals who operate in multiple dimensions at once, moving from individual capacity to group empowerment,…

A serendipitous moment, a passing conversation, led to this study. A university professor expressed concern that his second-grade son was "bored" with his weekly spelling lists, homework, and tests. A colleague of his, a former elementary teacher with 30 years experience and currently teaching field-based methods courses in this child's…