A socio-ecological framework of social justice leadership in education
| Published date | 29 April 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-12-2012-0131 |
| Date | 29 April 2014 |
| Pages | 282-309 |
| Author | Izhak Berkovich |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy |
A socio-ecological framework
of social justice leadership
in education
Izhak Berkovich
School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the gap between conce ptualizations of social
injustices and the desired social transformation that addresses multiple social subsystems and
levels on one hand, and social justice leadership that addresses intra-school efforts on the other.
The paper aims to expand the conceptualization of social justice leadership and tie it together with
concepts of activism and social change.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a socio-ecological perspective. It reviews
works about social justice leadership in education, activism, and social change to present the notion
that in light of existing social justice barriers educational leaders should serve as activists in schools
and in the community and policy areas.
Findings – The paper presents a macro framework, focussing on individual leaders in the field and
on the consolidation of intentions, actions, and outcomes in a manner necessary for using social justice
as an effective socio-political agenda in a socio-ecological system.
Originality/value – The paper presents a conceptual framework which can enable practitioners
and researchers to better understand social justice efforts.
Keywords Leadership, Social change, Social justice, Educational administration, Activism
Paper type Conceptual paper
Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to
bring about social, political, or economic changes (Martin Luther King, Jr).
In the last decade there has been a growing interest in social justice issues in education
(e.g. see Blackmore, 2002; Bogotch, 2002; Furman and Gruenewald, 2004; Goldfarb and
Grinberg, 2002; Larson and Murtadha, 2002; Marshall, 2004; Marshall and Oliva, 2006;
McMahon, 2007; Normore and Jean-Marie, 2008; Place et al., 2010; Shields, 2004; Shoho,
2006; Theoharis, 2007). It is commonly argued that educational leaders should act as
moral agents with regard to social justice issues (Bates, 2006; Furman, 2004; Greenfield,
2004; Marshall, 2004;Sergiovanni, 1992). The moral responsibility of educational leaders
is especially important in light of the numerous social problems that marginalized
groups and minorities face as a result of oppression (Selsky, 1991). The significance of
moral leadership ismagnified in a social context whereno one takes charge (Bryson and
Crosby, 1992).
A large part of the literature suggests that moral responsibility should be instilled
in schools. Education, however, is an open system embedded in a complex social
context. Educational leaders are continually urged to examine how educational
problems are formed in a broad social context (Adams and Copeland, 2005). In some
cases, principals must also act in the community to promote an environment that
supports social justice (Madsen and Mabokela, 2005) and become involved in the policy
arena through advocacy and coalition building (Black and Murtadha, 2007). In their
discussion on how to realize social justice in the world, Marshall et al. (2010) recognize
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
Received 6 December 2012
Revised 20 January 2013
19 May 2013
2 August 2013
Accepted 9 August 2013
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 52 No. 3, 2014
pp. 282-309
rEmeraldGroup PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-12-2012-0131
282
JEA
52,3
that if social justice practices are to endure, norms and policies must be transformed
in schools as well as in communities.
I suggest that it may be helpful to consider a socio-ecological theory
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979) that regards social life as the result of interactions between
multiple subsystems and multiple levels[1]. Although it is commonly agreed that
social injustices in education are the result of the operation of multiple systems
and levels, which cemented the injustices in the structure of our social arrangemen ts
(Clark, 2006), a socio-ecological perspective on the efforts to repair these injustices has
not yet been developed. Currently, one may criticize the prevailing social justice
discourse in education for being limited in its focus on actions by individuals and
schools in an isolated manner, and for not properly recognizing the interdependence
between social subsystems and levels. Clark (2006) elaborates on the implications
of this notion and contends that “while some school instrumentality interventions
may have some effect on reducing social inequalities, they are unlikely to have the
large-scale impact their proponents wish for, and in the long r un may well not achieve
the desired outcome” (p. 285). Thus, individual actions by themselves are unlikely to
overcome cemented collective injustices, unless the actions are g rounded in a joint
effort (Bookchin, 2005).
I argue that adopting a socio-ecological viewpoint on social justice efforts in
education broadens the focus on leadership actions in schools and emphasizes the ne ed
to synchronize them with complementary leadership actions in a broader social
context. This combined operation can promote long-ter m conjunctive changes at
multiple social levels (Vago, 2004): changing students’ lives and school culture, and
contributing to socio-cultural evolution of community and society. The present paper
focusses on the intra-institutional and extra-institutional activism (i.e. social activism)
of social justice leaders and seeks to tie this activism together with a broader
discussion of social justice goals and social change.
The paper makes five key contributions to the current literature. First, the paper
identifiesa significant inconsistencybetween broad social goals of social justiceideology
and mainstream social justice leadership literature that addresses social justice
as primarily an intra-school activity. Second, it identifies the sources of difficulties in
promoting social justice as strictly an intra-school activity. Third, the paper makes an
important distinction between the intra-institutional and extra-institutional activism
of social justice leaders. Fourth, it offers solutions to the difficulties inherent in
the implementation of social justice activism in schools based on social activism. Fifth,
it offers a macro framework for social justice leadership in education, starting from
ideology, through activism, to outcomes, and it addresses the relationships between the
various elements in the framework.
Analytic approach
The present paper aims to present a socio-ecological conceptual framework of social
justice leadership by incorporating theoretical and empirical wo rks on activism and
social change into the educational social justice leadership literature. Socio-ecological
theory conceptualizes inter-relationships between humans and their environments
(Bronfenbrenner, 1976). The theory suggests that individuals change or develop as a
result of two key inter-relations. The first is the interaction between individuals and
their immediate surroundings (home, school, neighbo rhood, community), the broader
social surroundings (school, peers, neigh borhood, community), and macro social
structures (cultural values, customs, and laws). The second refers to the interactions
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A socio-
ecological
framework
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