Chapter 14: Ethics and Social Justice within the New DEEL: Addressing the Paradox of Control/Democracy

This chapter focuses on the ethical and social justice implications of the New DEEL. This is a movement that promotes democratic action using a moral framework focusing on leadership in schools, in higher education, and in the wider community.

In response to the challenges facing the field of educational leadership today, colleagues from leading University Council of Educational Administration’s (UCEA) members joined committed practitioners to take action. During the 2004−2005 academic year, faculty and department leaders from Temple University, The Pennsylvania State University, the University of Vermont, Rowan University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and UCEA, as well as United States, Canadian, Australian, British, and Taiwanese practitioners, launched a new movement in the field of educational leadership. Since its inception more than 20 universities and colleges have joined the group and more and more educators across the globe are responding to its call. The New DEEL aims to change the direction of educational administration away from an overly corporate and controlling model towards the values of democratic and ethical behavior (Gross & Shapiro, 2005).