Chapter 3: Reculturing Organizations

Creating effective schools that are sustainable organizations and incorporate social justice theory in their policies and operations is a goal to which most leaders would subscribe. To do this, school leaders might consider incorporating the tenants of social justice in a series of democratic and empowering relationships among stakeholders who share common beliefs and purposes (Jones, Webb, & Neumann, 2008). In our democratic society, educators use the term social justice to describe a set of interactions that reflect ethical and caring decisions applied equitably to all learners within a larger connected community. These interactions relate to characteristics of students such as race, class, gender, sexual identification, abilities, and disabilities. As educators work collaboratively for the purpose of reculturing their schools using a social justice perspective, not only will students and teachers be treated more fairly, but members of the larger school community will also be involved in a more humane and equitable manner and student learning will be advanced.