Chapter 9: Lessons from a Principal Preparation Program: Creating Support through Social Justice Practices

A view of school administrators as important agents of social justice is not a recent phenomenon in the field of educational administration. Bogotch (2002), for example, argued that the inquiry about the moral use of power has, in fact, been an ongoing debate for centuries. Reflecting on Dewey’s theories, Bogotch discusses the importance of continuously reviewing and critiquing issues of social justice and educational reforms, especially in the field of educational leadership.

Currently, the impetus for examining social justice practices places more emphasis on policies and practices that consistently perpetuate inequalities among children of color, English language learners and their mainstream peers. Committed to inclusiveness, many scholars and practitioners examine the subtractive and hegemonic structures and programs in schools that prevent a disproportionate number of students of color from succeeding academically (Cummins, 2001; Nieto, 2006; Theoharis, 2007; 2008, Valenzuela, 1999). National and state standards for school administrators also enforce the importance of social justice practices. The educational leadership policy standards of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (ISLLC, 2008), for example, require that educational leaders “promote social justice and ensure that individual student needs inform all aspects of schooling” (ISLLC, standard 5, p. 5). Consequently, there has been a gradual increase across the nation in the number of principal preparation programs that purposefully prepare emerging principals as social justice agents are incrementally being offered around the nation. In this chapter, we share the reflections of emerging leaders being prepared in a master’s program distinguished for its preparation of social justice leaders. Our task as coordinators of this program was to equip these leaders with necessary support before, during, and after they became school administrators in an inner-city urban district in south Texas. Their voices exemplify the personal and professional transformations occurred as they learned about concepts and skills related to social justice.