3: Fighting Ghosts and Making Moves: A Journey of Leadership for Belonging

In this chapter, Brian A. Valentine offers a reflective testimonial on his leadership journey to foster belonging for Black and Brown students in a large suburban high school. Inspired by a former student’s metaphor of being a “ghost” in school, Valentine explores how disengagement and invisibility affect students of color and how educators can counteract these dynamics. Through his dissertation research, he engaged four math teachers in a critical counternarrative methodology to examine their own belonging experiences, reflect on racial awareness, and implement practices to build inclusive classroom environments. The study emphasized the importance of teacher-student relationships, cultural responsiveness, and shared identity as pathways to academic engagement and emotional connection. Valentine’s leadership practices—such as student shadowing, roundtable discussions, and the use of a “Common Threads” survey—demonstrate how school leaders can empower teachers to center student voice and foster equity. The chapter concludes with a call to eliminate “ghosts” in schools by creating dialogical, student‑centered learning environments and highlights the principalship as a key lever for systemic change.