Diversity Leadership in Education: Embedding Practices of Social Justice 0228019249, 9780228019244

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D iv e r s it y L e a d e r s h ip i n Ed ucati on

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Diversity Leadership in Education Embedding Practices of Social Justice

Ed i t e d b y Ca t h e r i n e M c G r e g or a nd S h a i l oo B e d i

McGill-­Queen’s University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Chicago

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©  McGill-Queen’s University Press 2024 ISBN ISBN ISBN ISBN

978-0-2280-1924-4 (cloth) 978-0-2280-1925-1 (paper) 978-0-2280-1976-3 (eP DF ) 978-0-2280-1977-0 (ePUB )

Legal deposit first quarter 2024 Bibliothèque nationale du Québec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Additional funding provided by the University of Victoria Book and Creative Works Subvention Fund. Funding for chapter 10 provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. McGill-Queen’s University Press in Montreal is on land which long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous Peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. In Kingston it is situated on the territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek. We acknowledge and thank the diverse Indigenous Peoples whose footsteps have marked these territories on which peoples of the world now gather.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Title: Diversity leadership in education: embedding practices of social justice / edited by Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi. Names: McGregor, Catherine (Lecturer in leadership studies), editor. | Bedi, Shailoo, editor. Description: Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20230477062 | Canadiana (ebook) 20230477089 | ISBN  9780228019244 (cloth) | ISBN 9780228019251 (paper) | ISBN 9780228019763 (ePDF) | ISBN 9780228019770 (ePUB ) Subjects: LCSH : Educational leadership—Canada. | L CSH : Diversity in the workplace— Canada. | LCSH : Social justice—Canada. Classification: LCC L B 2890 .D58 2024 | DDC 371.200971—dc23

This book was typeset by Marquis Interscript in 10/13 Sabon.

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Contents



Tables and Figures  ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction – Navigating Educational Spaces: Challenging Foundations of Diversity Leadership  3 Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi Openin g P rovocation

  1 Unpacking the Equity Myth: Diversity and Leadership Deficit  15 Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Grace Wong Sneddon The m e O ne  R e lationa l ity   33 Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi   2 Touchstones and Relationality: Trajectories of Indigenous Leadership  36 Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi   3 Anishinaabeg Views of Socially Just Leadership, Inclusion, and Diversity: Eliminating Violence Towards Indigenous Peoples in the Education System  51 Paul N. Cormier and Karyn Vanden Boomen   4 Leadership in Transgression: Teaching to Transgress, the Social Change Model of Leadership, and the Student Affairs Practices of White Heterosexual Men  67 Conor McLaughlin

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vi Contents

  5 Walk with Me: Engaging in Participatory Theatre to Walk the Path to Reconciliation in a Canadian University Context  81 Asma-na-hi Antoine, Will Weigler, Krystal Cook, Lisa Corak, Shirley Alphonse, Catherine Etmanski, Niels ­Agger-Gupta, and Cheryl Heykoop The me T wo   Intersectiona lity   97 Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi   6 Race and Gender: Chinese Canadian Women and Leadership  101 Grace Wong Sneddon, Lokpriy Shrma, and Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay   7 Diversity Leadership in Our Own Words  119 Adrienne S. Chan and Awneet Sivia   8 “Fitting in” and Identity Creation: The Lived Experiences of Racialized Minority Administrators in bc  137 Shailoo Bedi   9 (Re)Creating Equitable Spaces: Racialized and Indigenous Leaders in Canadian Universities  159 Victoria Handford and Leena Yahia 10 Betwixt, Between, and Amongst: Intersectionalities  178 Steve Sider, Jacqueline Specht, Donna McGhie-Richmond, Kimberly Maich, and Jhonel Morvan 11 Creating Space to Promote Social Change: The Lived Experiences of Black Women Educators as Diverse Leaders in Classrooms  195 Christina Wright Fields, Sherry Early, and Gloria Howell The me T hree   Rei ma gine d R ea l ities   209 Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi 12 Principals and Reconciliation Education in Saskatchewan Schools: Challenges, Opportunities, and Supports  212 Pamela Osmond-Johnson, Michael Cappello, and Peter Turner 13 In a Paradigm of Belonging: Leadership Practices in a Context of Systemic Inequality  230 Rebecca Cory, Terri-Lynne Beaton, Andrew Clarke, Beverley Dobell, Craig Ellerman, Hannah Jones, Cheri Kibzey, Susan Koski, and Meredith Lemon

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14 Standing as Accomplices: Becoming Diversity Leaders  246 Catherine McGregor 15 Black School Leaders in Low-Income Urban Ontario Schools: Striving for Social Justice  263 Alana Butler and Andrew Campbell 16 Black Leadership and Role of Spirituality and Community  277 Ann Lopez 17 nîkânastamâkêwin: Leading Indigenous Initiatives in (Colonial) Universities 293 Shauneen Pete

Conclusion: Embedding Practices of Social Justice  309 Shailoo Bedi and Catherine McGregor

Contributors 319 Index 325

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Tables and Figures

Ta b les 0.1 5.1 6.1

8.1

Moving to a practice paradigm.  9 Reflection prompts used during the Walk with Me event.  90 The Chinese women population in Canada, by province and ­territory, 2016. Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Canada. 105 Pseudonyms of participants.  143

F i g u r es 2.1 6.1

Nested components of Indigenous leadership.  48 Number and proportion of visible minority population in Canada, 1981 to 2016. Statistics Canada, census of ­population 1981 to 2016, and National Household Survey 2011.  103 6.2 Proportion of visible minority women population in Canada, 1981 to 2016. Statistics Canada, census of ­population 1981 to 2016. 103 6.3 Chinese population in Canada, 2001 to 2016. Statistics Canada, 2001 to 2016 Census of Canada.  105 9.1 Six emergent themes summarizing the experiences of ­racialized and Indigenous leaders in Canadian universities.  162 13.1 A paradigm of belonging: leadership practices in a context of diversity. 235

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Acknowledgments

As editors and faculty with the University of Victoria, we acknowledge with respect the Lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and wsáneć peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. As an immigrant settler from India and a settler of European descent, we are deeply grateful to be visitors on Coast Salish territories. We realize that our lives have been greatly influenced as a result of the privileges we have had, being able to grow and learn on the unceded territories of Lekwungen and senćoŧen peoples. We understand our responsibilities as settlers and commit to work towards decolonization and honour the need for reconciliation. We are grateful for the support and teachings of our Indigenous colleagues.

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D iv e r s it y L e a d e r s h ip i n Ed ucati on

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Intr o d uc t ion Navigating Educational Spaces Challenging Foundations of Diversity Leadership Catherine M c Gregor and Shailoo Bedi

When we started this book in 2019, we knew that diverse leadership was essential to how educational institutions can be part of the social, cultural, and political transformation necessary to create a fully equitable world. We felt compelled to expand our understandings of leadership and give voice to diverse leaders and scholars working to embed social justice in their everyday practices. Since then, our conviction that diverse leadership is crucial has only strengthened as social injustice and inequity are magnified by the global ­pandemic ­(covi d -19). Leadership in all arenas – especially in education – has rarely mattered more. For example, persistent racism and xenophobia against Muslims, Jews, people of Chinese and, more broadly, Asian descent, and immigrants have been exacerbated during the covid-19 crisis. The lifethreatening impacts of covi d-19 on marginalized populations, those living in poverty, and those with disabilities have laid bare systemic racism and inequality in society and the Canadian health care system, with the death of Joyce Echaquan in 2020 just one example. c ­ ovid-19 has acted as an amplifier for long-term structural racism, racism evident in the colonization and genocide of Indigenous people, especially the horrific treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools (Truth and Reconciliation Commission 2015). Structural racism also underlies the persistent violence against Indigenous women, who are five times more likely than other women to die from gender-based violence (Amnesty International 2004). Structural racism motivated the Black Lives Matter Movement that emerged from the horrifying deaths of Canadian and American Black people (heightened with the deaths of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd in the US and Jermaine Carby in Canada).

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Systemic racism and inequality are also obvious in Canadian education systems. Students in Canadian schools have suffered from gross and inexcusable acts of racism; for example, in 2016, a six-year-old Black girl in the Peel District School Board was put into handcuffs by police. In November 2020, a bc teacher asked students to identify “five positive outcomes of Residential schooling” as a homework assignment. And in 2021, there was groundpenetrating radar revealing what Indigenous communities already knew: the gravesite of 215 Indigenous children in Kamloops at the former site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. All of these crises are social and political in origin, foundationally linked to White privilege, inequality, inequity, r­ acism, and discrimination. Furthermore, these crises are socially constituted through individual actions, and they are systemically and historically embedded in all structures and organizations, with deeply rooted and persistent discourses of exclusion operating in ways that harm non-Western “others.” The implicit and often naturalized ways in which narratives of difference are maintained remain present in schools and among educators, leading us to our interest in the topic of diversity leadership.

A nt e c e d e n t s o f D iv e r s i ty Lea d ers hi p There have certainly been efforts to create more equitable educational institutions and practices over the course of history. Socially just scholars, thinkers, and philosophers have given us a rich terrain of ideas from which to alter trajectories so that every student, regardless of their personal identity, culture, race, gender, gender expression, age, ability, socioeconomic status, or belief are, welcomed, included, and valued (Banks 2007; Bigelow 2002; CochranSmith 2004; Delpit 1995; Freire 1970; Kincheloe 2008; Ladson-Billings 1999, 2003; Sleeter 2016). Many educational thinkers and scholars have also spoken of the potential for education to effect change; historically, philosophers like John Dewey have argued strongly for this potential and worked to implement a vision for progressive, democratic education. Sir Ken Robinson has argued that the micro-environment of a school, with its educators and educational leaders, can transform opportunities and make education equitable for all (EdCan Network 2017). Moreover, during the last fifty years, inclusive ways of thinking have been advocated by anti-oppressive educators (Dei 1995, 1999, 2002; Henry et al. 2017; Kumashiro 2000, 2007); anti-racist educators (Curry-Stevens 2007; Delpit 1995; Ladson-Billings 2014); critical educators (Apple 2009; Freire 1970; Giroux 2020), critical race theorists (Crenshaw et al. 1995; Delgado and Stefancic 2000; Gillborn 2006; Ladson-Billing and Tate 1995; Tate 1997);

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and feminist (Bannerji 1995; Blackmore 2013; Dua and Robertson 1999; Kashtan 2019) and queer educators (Burtch and Haskell 2010; Kumashiro 2002; Tompkins, Kearns, and Mitton-Kukner 2019). Yet the exclusionary and harmful patterns persist. How can these patterns be broken? What practices, policies, structures, field conditions, or frames will shift biases that have been present for decades? How can educators take the lead in creating the just societies for which we continue to advocate? This book explores these complexities and offers diverse ways forward.

D iv e r s it y L e a dershi p: A T im e f o r M o v in g Forwar d We need to begin, however, by advancing our argument that education – and educational leaders – are central to moving society, systems, and communities forward. As educational leadership scholars, we believe educational leaders have a key role to play and that they can enact socially just practices in their everyday work. Indeed, as this volume explores, educational leaders are ­critical players in creating climates and conditions that enable transformation through shared engagement with educators, students, and community members. Yet this simple idea is bound in complex and competing ways of achieving just outcomes. Our goal in this volume has been to answer some of those questions by detailing how leaders and their actions can be central features of approaches to decolonizing educational settings. Further, we invited authors to consider models, strategies, and approaches that create more socially just and inclusive settings for teachers and learners. We also believe that education is the best vehicle for widespread change, not only because it offers a space to interrogate persistent and damaging oppressions of all kinds, but because it can assist us in troubling our histories, cultural and political antecedents, as well as current politics and practices that enable the persistence of inequity. Education is a critical feature of a society determined to create communities founded on principles of social sustainability. Knowing that diversity leadership remains under-studied (Jean-Marie, Normore, and Brooks 2009; McNamara 2009; Lumby and Coleman 2007) and that diverse leaders remain on the periphery of professional practice, we wanted to build on the journeys and lived experiences of the racialized minority leaders we have interviewed and met with over our academic careers, both as researchers and post-secondary educators. In particular, we wanted to profile the narratives and lived experiences that embody how diversity leaders incorporate social justice in their everyday practices. We also knew that more academic attention was needed to understand the diverse ways that leadership

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can be presented and how diverse ways of leading can influence and impact the school experience for learners who are not of the dominant culture. As Gooden points out, “traditional leadership methods have been founded on research that excluded people of color and women” (2002, 23). The authors within this text problematize the ways that leadership for diversity has been practiced in the past and offer alternative ways of thinking about how leaders might work with diverse communities, taking up their causes in new ways for transformed outcomes. As they do this, they challenge existing systems, seek to dismantle dominant discourses and deconstruct ideas – to disrupt status quo thinking about how leaders engage in such work. Readers may experience discomfort as they read parts of this text, but this, too, is a necessary part of how we undo and recentre leadership for social justice.

F r a m in g D iv e r s it y an d Lea d ershi p: I s s u e s o f R e p r esentati on This volume is also framed by how Canada has become a much more diverse country. For example, Statistics Canada (2016) reported there were 7.7 million racialized individuals, representing 22 per cent of our population, a steep increase from the 16 per cent figure of 2006 (as cited by Block, Galabuzi, and Tranjan 2019). Yet racialization remains a factor that operates to obstruct the full inclusion of newly arrived and/or immigrant Canadians. For example, labour market discrimination, particularly related to racialization and gender, is clearly evident (Block et al. 2019, 4). Readers of this volume will also be familiar with many stories about how diverse peoples remain at the margins, such as the lack of opportunity for educators who come from other countries and cannot find employment in schools or educational systems in which implicit bias continues to operate. In sports, entertainment, film, business, and industry, we hear stories of how diverse/minority identities are given fewer opportunities and are overlooked or discriminated against. This reality is part of the context we must acknowledge within educational organizations and among educational leaders. Despite attempts to remove bias and barriers for diverse individuals in hiring processes, national and international statistics continue to show that individuals who are considered part of the dominant culture, primarily White men and women, occupy the majority of leadership roles. For example, Universities Canada (2016) reported that 39 per cent of faculty were women (and, therefore, 61 per cent were men), 22 per cent were persons with disabilities, 21 per cent were visible minorities and 1.1 per cent were Indigenous. Such statistics do not provide the complete picture of leadership. Tremblay and Wong Sneddon reported that university presidents are 74.2 per cent men

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(65.9 per cent White men) and 25.8 per cent women (23.7 per cent White women); 6.2 per cent visible minority males, 2.1 per cent Indigenous men, and 2.1 per cent Indigenous women (Smith and Bray 2018, 15). A similar phenomenon is at play in the K–12 education sector. Although statistics that measure or identify teachers or leaders on the basis of their gender or cultural/racial background are rare, we do know that nationally, about 7 per cent of teachers in Canada self-identify as racialized. Some work has been done in Ontario to trace the scope of diversity in the teaching force (Ontario Alliance of Black Educators 2015). As racialized and immigrant populations continue to grow, Statistics Canada (2011) predicted racialized Canadians would constitute about one-third of the population by 2023, ensuring the issue of representation of diversity in teaching populations becomes even more critical. Turner’s (2016) research shows that the diversity gap is growing, not shrinking. This means that while the diversity of student populations is increasing, the number of teachers who are of similar cultural/ racialized backgrounds is, in fact, decreasing. Although these numbers are concerning overall, we know even less about the diverse identities of school principals. For example, when Statistics Canada (2005) released its first report on the school principal (“Survey of Principals 2004–2005”), statisticians reported only on gender differences, documenting how men were dominant in the secondary school principalship and women in the elementary school setting. Diverse leaders are virtually non-existent in our schools, and as authors in this book will argue, this is a significant reason why schools have not yet become sites of equitable educational practice.

T h e T ie s T h at B i n d : C e n t r a l T h e m e s i n O ur T ext When we set out to create this collection, we invited authors to explore and consider how equity has been enabled and constrained in present and historical contexts, consider the roles of leaders and leadership in advancing these ideas, and challenge status quo conceptions. As we considered the powerful contributions from authors across Canada and the US, we saw how the volume explored a wide scope of tensions, concerns, and issues while problematizing competing assumptions and beliefs about leadership theory and practice. While we considered reducing the scope of the volume to focus in on some aspects – such as the lived experience of educators engaged in diversity leadership – we understood that exploring the wider, more complex settings could help illustrate that advancing socially just leadership is always socio-culturally situated and dependent upon historical and contextual elements. Leadership

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has always been an essentially contested concept, and socially just leadership even more so. Approaches to exploring this complexity vary in this volume, although all authors render visible the terrible harm that injustice, discrimination, bias, prejudice, and exclusionary belief systems create in educational settings. Each chapter enriches our understanding of the intersecting and hybrid features of diversity leadership. Despite this complexity, we have identified three themes that characterize shared conceptualizations of socially just leadership: relationality, inter­ sectionality, and reimagined realities. We summarize these approaches briefly in this introduction. Throughout the text, we introduce each section to show how the chapters build and deepen our understanding of these phenomena and their application to leadership practices. Relationality re-centres social justice leadership as something that occupies the shared spaces between people, relying on reciprocity, kinship, respect, and shared beliefs. While all authors and chapters explore the ways in which relationality operates as a foundation of social justice leadership, several chapters take us more deeply into understanding the ways in which relationality shifts power and reconstitutes a plane of shared engagement. Intersectionality is key to diversity leadership and authors throughout the text; all contributors provide evidence of how diverse identities shape and ­constrain performance and practice. In this section of the text, we highlight authors who deeply delve into the ways that normative discourses systemically operate to restrict socially just leaders and practice and feature the ways in which these identities performatively shape engagement, thinking and expectations. Reimagined realities are highlighted as the third theme because it considers how to advance counterhegemonic spaces designed to de-centre usual ways of thinking about or effecting change. These authors explore how forms of provocation enable such spaces to emerge, and readers are reminded how courage and persistence are necessary elements for altering status quo thinking and systems. We see these three conceptualizations – relationality, intersectionality and reimagined realities – as particularly important because they contrast with the more usual ways in which leadership is explored or characterized. We characterize this as a paradigm shift because it re-centres the approach to diversity leadership in three ways, summarized in table 0.1. As table 0.1 makes evident, the approach on the left emphasizes the role, agency, and practices of individual leaders who work with others to achieve goals. In doing so, it also reflects the dominant forms of Western thinking about leadership and its application in organizational settings. We believe the

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Table 0.1 Moving to a practice paradigm Diversity leadership paradigm

Diversity leadership practice paradigm

Individualistic leader-follower dynamics Role enactment: leader as change agent

Relationally co-constructed Multiple/intersectional and competing ­identities with shared agency Emergent, reimagined, and ­collaboratively re-visioned spaces for action

Organizational system approaches

authors of this text set up a contrasting paradigm and shift towards re-­ conceptualizing leadership as practice – something explored substantially in Tremblay and Wong Sneddon’s provocation that opens this collection. We note that all authors in this text explore these conceptualizations in different ways and expose nuances and complexities within each stance, yet some chapters deepen our understanding of each of the three identified components and are therefore included in one section versus another.

Provoking an Engagement with Diversity Leadership Practice As noted above, we begin the book with a provocation to the reader by Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Grace Wong Sneddon. Their chapter is designed to heighten awareness of the ways in which social, cultural, political, and educational systems have persistently created false narratives about equity. In particular, they problematize discourses of progress towards creating equitable systems and challenge leadership scholars to embrace a new paradigm based on practice as a means to legitimate a focus on socially just leadership. “Unpacking the Equity Myth: Diversity and Leadership Deficits” is a chapter that pays homage to the authors of The Equity Myth (2017), a publication that has substantially documented ongoing racism and colonialism in post-secondary education. The Equity Myth begins a critique of how leaders and leadership ignore or naively sustain systems that marginalize; Tremblay and Wong Sneddon build on this critique in their chapter by exploring how neo-liberal discourses and institutional norms are maintained by White male leaders. This chapter sets an important tone, critically unpacking existing leadership thinking as a means of moving us into new, diverse terrains of leadership as practice. We hope it will act as a catalyst for the reader as they consider the subsequent multiple and complex conceptualizations of the book. Each of our three subsequent sections – relationality, intersectionality and reimagined realities – have an opening description that will guide the reader

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in considering the contribution of each chapter to the overall theme. We also outline how each chapter adds important threads to the discussion while pointing to the complexity of operationalizing diversity leadership practices. Our epilogue opens with a discussion of the pandemic, how it has been a catalyst for changes in education, and the lessons it has offered about the power of social and cultural phenomena in effecting change. It also explores the important contributions each author has made to the collection and what critical words, ideas, events, and models will help us to advance a socially just, equitable educational system. We explore potential threads we should follow as researchers to support the advancement of this work. Six concepts or ideas are summarized from the wisdom and experiences of this book’s diverse authors. Finally, as readers engage with this book, we hope they will consider how the ideas explored in this volume enable some form of deconstruction in their own thinking, engender reflexive thinking about how privilege and normative expectations are operationalized in your world and practice, and evoke spaces for you to take actions that embrace the complexity of socially just leadership practices as an accomplice and ally working with diverse communities.

R e f e r e nc e s Apple, Michael W., Wayne Au, and Luís Armando Gandin, eds. 2009. The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Education. New York, n y: Taylor and Francis. Banks, James A., ed. 2007. Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives. Indianapolis, i n : Jossey-Bass. Bannerji, Himani. 1995. Thinking Through. Essays on Feminism, Marxism and Anti-racism. Toronto, o n : Women’s Press. Bigelow, Bill, and Bob Peterson, eds. 2002. Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World. Milwaukee, wi: Rethinking Schools. Blackmore, Jill. 2013. “A Feminist Critical Perspective on Educational Leadership.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 16 (2): 139–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2012.754057. Block, Sheila, Edward Galabuzi-Grace, and Ricardo Tranjan. 2019. Canada’s Colour Coded Income Inequality. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, December 2019. https://bit.ly/3cKUOgt. Cochran-Smith, Marilyn. 2004. Walking the Road: Race, Diversity, and Social Justice in Teacher Education. New York, n y: Teachers College Press. Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum: 139–67.

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Crenshaw, Kimberlé, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, and Kendall Thomas, eds. 1995. Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement. New York, n y: The New Press. Curry-Stevens, Ann. 2007. “New Forms of Transformative Education: Pedagogy for the Privileged.” Journal of Transformative Education 5 (1): 33–58. https:// doi.org/10.1177/1541344607299394. Dei, George J. Sefa. 1995. “Integrative Anti-Racism: Intersection of Race, Class, and Gender.” Race, Gender and Class 2 (3): 11–30. – 1999. “Knowledge and Politics of Social Change: The Implication of AntiRacism.” British Journal of Sociology of Education 20 (3): 395–409. https:// doi.org/10.1080/01425699995335. Dei, George J. Sefa, and Agnes Calliste, eds. 2002. Power, Knowledge and ­Anti-Racism Education – A Critical Reader. Toronto, o n: Brunswick Books. Delpit, Lisa. 1995. Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York, n y : The New Press. Dua, Enakshi, and Angela Robertson, eds. 1999. Scratching the Surface: Canadian, Anti-Racist, Feminist Thought. Toronto, o n: Canadian Scholars’ Press. EdCan Network. 2017. Sir Ken Robinson. How You Can Change Education in Canada. 28 June 2017. https://www.edcan.ca/videos/sir-ken-robinson-howyou-can-change-education-in-canada. Freire, Paulo. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group. Gillborn, David. 2006. “Critical Race Theory and Education: Racism and ­Anti-Racism in Educational Theory and Praxis.” Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 27 (1): 11–32. Giroux, Henry A. 2020. On Critical Pedagogy. London, uk: Bloomsbury Publishing. Gooden, Mark A. 2002. “Stewardship and Critical Leadership: Sufficient for Leadership in Urban Schools?” Education and Urban Society 35 (1): 133–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/001312402237218. Haskell, Rebecca, and Brian E. Burtch. 2010. Get That Freak: Homophobia and Transphobia in High Schools. Winnipeg, m b: Fernwood Publishing. Henry, Frances, Enakshi Dua, Carl E. James, Audrey Kobayashi, Peter Li, Howard Ramos, and Malinda S. Smith. 2017. The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. hooks, bell. 1984. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Centre. Boston, m a: South End Press. Jean-Marie, Gaetane, Anthony H. Normore, and Jeffrey S. Brooks. 2009. “Leadership for Social Justice: Preparing 21st Century School Leaders for a New Social Order.” Journal of Research on Leadership Education 4 (1): 1–31. Kashtan, Miki. 2019. “Feminist Leadership as Care for the Whole: Modeling and Co-Creating a Livable Future.” In The Time is Now. Feminist Leadership for a New Era, edited by Araceli Alonso and T. Langle de Paz, 158–65. unes co . Kincheloe, Joe L. 2008. Critical Pedagogy Primer. New York, ny: Peter Lang. Kumashiro, Kevin K. 2000. “Toward a Theory of Anti-Oppressive Education.” Review of Educational Research 70 (1): 25–53.

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– 2002. Troubling Education: Queer Activism and Anti Oppressive Pedagogy. New York, n y : Routledge-Falmer. Kumashiro, Kevin K., and Bic Ngo, eds. 2007. Six Lenses for Anti-oppressive Education: Partial Stories, Improbable Conversations. New York, ny: Peter Lang. Ladson-Billings, Gloria J. 1999. “Chapter 7: Preparing Teachers for Diverse Student Populations: A Critical Race Theory Perspective.” Review of Research in Education 24 (1): 211–47. – 2003. “Lies my Teacher Still Tells: Developing a Critical Race Perspective Toward the Social Studies.” In Critical Race Theory Perspectives on Social Studies: The Profession, Policies, and Curriculum, edited by Gloria LadsonBillings, 1–11. Greenwich, c t : Information Age Publishing. – 2014. “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0: Aka the Remix.” Harvard Educational Review 84 (1): 74–84. Ladson-Billings, Gloria, and William F. Tate. 1995. “Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education.” Teachers College Record 97 (1): 47–68. Lumby, Jacky, and Marianne Coleman. 2007. Leadership and Diversity: Challenging Theory and Practice in Education. Thousand Oaks, ca: S a ge   Publications. McNamara, Carter. 2009. “Leaders Coaching Leaders.” Aurora 26 (12): 18–19. Ontario Alliance of Black Educators. 2015. Executive Summary: Voices of Ontario Black Educators an Experiential Report. Turner Consulting Group. http:// onabse.org/VOICESOFBLACKEDUCATORS-Executive_Summary.pdf. Sleeter, Christine E. 2016. “Ethnicity and the Curriculum.” The sage Handbook of Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment, edited by Dominic Wyse, Louise Hayward, and Jessica Pandya, 231–46. Los Angeles, ca: s a g e Publications. Statistics Canada. 2013. Census Program. Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity 2011. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/rt-td/ index-eng.cfm?TABID=7. Stefancic, Jean, and Richard Delgado, eds. 2000. Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Tompkins, Joanne, Laura-Lee Kearns, and Jennifer Mitton-Kukner. 2019. “Queer Educators in Schools: The Experiences of Four Beginning Teachers.” Canadian Journal of Education 42 (2): 384–414. Tremblay, Reeta, and Grace Wong Sneddon. 2021.“Unpacking the Equity Myth: Diversity and Leadership Deficit.” This volume. Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 2015. Government of Canada. https:// www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525.

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1 Unpacking the Equity Myth Diversity and Leadership Deficit Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay and Grace Wong Sneddon

In the wake of growing multicultural populations in North American and European societies, the terms diversity, equity, inclusion, and exclusion have become the mantra of virtually every organization. But while the diversity agenda has become increasingly institutionalized, in reality, organizations have remained resistant to bringing about substantive changes in the representation of traditionally underrepresented groups, whether in leadership ranks, decision-making processes, or the prevailing organizational culture (Kezar 2008; Ford, Harding, and Learmoth 2008; Beres, Crow, and Gotell 2009). While women remain underrepresented at every level, it is women of colour who are the most underrepresented group of all, lagging behind men of colour and White women. In other words, equity and inclusivity, despite these terms becoming de rigueur, continue to remain elusive. The term “equity myth” has been used to capture this situation. Equity is “promised but denied” (Henry et al. 2017, 3). The equity myth allows a culture of silence to continue while organizations remain complicit in the persistent systemic marginalization and underrepresentation of diverse populations, particularly racialized and Indigenous communities. Why does the equity myth continue to thrive? We argue in this chapter that the equity myth is grounded in the literature and practice of leadership studies. Even as they acknowledge the phenomenon of growing diversity, leadership studies have remained stuck in their basic epistemological assumptions of accountability, responsibility, and performance. Moreover, within the persistent neo-liberal context, diversity in leadership practices has become increasingly recognized as good for business. We propose that a move towards leadership-as-practice might help remedy this state of affairs.

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We divide our discussion into four parts. The first section points to the challenges of unpacking the equity myth. There is a paucity of workforce statistical data on intersectionality. The only dimension of the equity issue for which we have statistical evidence is with respect to gender. The fact that no data are being collected on intersectionality (women of colour and Indigenous peoples) indicates that organizations have not taken this dimension seriously and have allowed the equity myth to perpetuate. The second section explores how particular theories and ideological ways of thinking about leadership have provided pathways that reinforce colonial, Euro-centric organizational practices. Leadership studies have more-or-less remained static and have not kept up with the academic debates on diversity. The latter, in contrast to the leadership literature over the years, have taken on a challenging task in understanding the complex, multiple intersectionality of identities and “the differences that differences make” (Owen 2009). The third section engages with the literature on Critical Leadership Practices which has made a serious attempt to push the field of leadership studies out of its epistemological trap and bring about a merging of the distinct trajectories and discourses of leadership studies and diversity literature. It proposes new directions for research and practice for diversity leadership by selecting particular emphases from each source with the greatest potential to contribute to diversity leadership. In the fourth section, building upon the Critical Leadership Practice studies, we propose that the newly emerging scholarship on “leadership-as-practice” is most probably the best way to interrupt the present organizational and leadership practices and allow us to deal effectively with the equity myth.

D iv e r s it y in t h e Work f orce – t h e D a t a Defi ci t Diversity portfolios are common in corporations, universities, non-­governmental organizations, and the public sector. No doubt, during the last forty years, and largely in response to the feminist challenges, there has been a paradigmatic shift in organizational structures and recruitment practices through the ­adoption of affirmative action and employment equity policies. This equity agenda has been incremental, occurring in different phases. Moreover, the pace and process have varied from country to country and from organization to organization. While this movement might have been sequential for some organizations, others might have worked on issues related to several phases at once. What

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is evident is that all organizations now speak to the need for a respectful and inclusive culture. In order to show their commitment to an inclusive workplace culture, they carry out regular diversity audits to explain their progress. As a result, during the past two decades more women – though mostly White, but some of colour – have been hired to make organizations more representative of the societal culture and to end discrimination policies. Despite the increasing number of women entering the labour force, they have a marginal presence in leadership positions of organizations. The World Economic Forum, in its 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, presented a pessimistic picture of women in leadership positions. Not only are women under-represented in every industry, but limited growth in female representation is envisioned over the next ten years. One of the most referred to sources of data, with regard to the leadership gender gap, is the Fortune 500 list of companies. It is reported that in Fortune 500 companies, women hold only 19 per cent of board seats, 15 per cent of executive officer positions and 5.8 per cent of ceo positions. There is a significant leadership racial gap, and the glass ceiling persists, especially for women of colour. Statistics Canada, which only reports on gender, presents a similar picture. In 2018, 61.4 per cent of Canadian women participated in the labour force as compared to 70 per cent men. But they occupied only 34 per cent of the managerial positions, men occupying 66 per cent. If one were to drill these data down to racialized minorities, one might find shocking results. As Malinda Smith (2018) points out, the data on gender remains undifferentiated, and it is challenging to substantiate the existence of barriers and obstacles which racialized minorities face. Through the meticulous work of the Academic Women’s Association at the University of Alberta, Smith and Bray (2018) have provided us with a more or less complete picture of equity at Canadian universities. They confirm the conclusions Joanne Moody (2011) and Guofang Li et al. (2005) made about the barriers faced by faculty women, both White and racialized, in the academy. The results are most revealing of ninety-seven universities’ equity and diversity goals in recruiting into leadership positions: among the university presidents 74.2 per cent are men (65.9 per cent White men) and 25.8 per cent women (23.7 per cent White women); 6.2 per cent are visible minority males, 2.1 per cent Indigenous men and 2.1 per cent Indigenous women. There are no visible minority women presidents. Similarly, in other executive ranks, women do not fare much better. What is more shocking in Smith and Bray’s data is the racialized and gender wage gap for university professors. There is a 15 to 20 per cent wage gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous professors.

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Similarly, according to a study of the leadership teams of the largest foundations and non-profits in the United States in 2017 conducted by Battalia Winston, the non-profit sector also suffers from homogeneity. While 42 per cent of the leaders of these organizations were women, 87 per cent were White, 6 per cent African Americans, 4 per cent Hispanic, and 3 per cent Asian – a shocking figure as women of colour are 39 per cent of the nation’s female population and 20 per cent of the entire US population. Wolfe and Dilworth (2015, 686) use critical race theory to explain the leadership disparity between African Americans and other administrators of colour in higher education. They refer to the American Council on Education study, which notes that “barriers encountered by administrators of colour could be divided into three sections: (a) social, (b) organizational and institutional, and (c) internal”; and “each set of barriers is nested within a larger context (i.e., internal nested within organizational which, in turn, is nested within social).” In the same vein, Lucas and Baxter (2012, 50) point out that one of the major consequences “of inequalities in access to corporate leadership positions is that it is harder for persons in certain social groups to exercise their will in organizations. In this way, the experiences of women, persons of colour, and members of other disadvantaged groups in organizations are shaped in significant ways by processes of power and influence.” Moreover, members of diverse identity groups suffer not only from concrete institutional obstructions to accessing leadership positions, but the confluence of gender and race also give rise to the less visible psychological barriers of discrimination. Beyond simple binaries of racialized categories (e.g., the Canadian trope of visible minorities and implied White majorities) or male/ female gender differentiation, the move towards a richer framework of intersectionality obliges us to examine the relevance of structural and contextual conditions that drive variation between groups. There are no neutral organizational practices. And institutional stickiness in terms of bringing about real change means that diversity must be traced to the situating of leadership positions in the racial, gender, and class hierarchy. Getting empirical evidence of the intersectional leadership deficit is the first step in dismantling the equity myth. In short, the equity myth will likely endure in the absence of good data. Undifferentiated data that does not consider intersectionality – gender, race/ ethnicity, social class, and other forms of inequality – will continue to hinder the policy actions aimed at transforming both social and political institutions. Consequently, the prevailing equity myth will allow a culture of silence to continue and be complicit in the ongoing persistence of the systemic barriers of marginalization and underrepresentation of diverse populations.

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L e a d e r s h ip S tu d i es – t h e E p is t e m o l og i ca l Trap Shore et al. (2011) aptly suggest that although leadership studies began to pay attention to the concept of inclusion during the past decade, “inclusion remains a new concept without consensus on the nature of this construct or its theoretical underpinnings“ (1263). While the field of leadership has been evolving during the last one hundred years, and more positive forms of leadership are being integrated into literature, such as relational, shared, and distributed leadership – signalling differences from more traditional, hierarchical, or vertical models of leadership – it, nevertheless, has remained stuck in the Weberian conceptualization of efficiency, accountability, and responsibility (Tremblay 1999). Acknowledging the limitation of the organizational culture, a product of social and power relations, the contemporary approaches to the studies of leadership can be seen as “add-ins” or “add-ons” to Weber’s transactional and transformational leadership models. Some of the examples of these models include transformational leadership (Bass and Steidlmeier 1999), shared leadership (Pearce and Conger 2003), authentic leadership (Luthan and Avolio 2003), and complexity leadership (Uhl-Bien and Marion 2008). But they all suffer from the Weberian bias. For Luthan and Avolio (2003), shared leadership, for example, is the direct response to diversity concerns, without paying much attention to the power dynamics. Similarly, Walumbwa et al. (2008) emphasize four essential characteristics of authentic leadership: balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, relational transparency, and self-awareness. Each of these has remained consistent with the Weberian framework of objective standards for the leadership to make decisions. Despite the recognition among some leadership strategists (Bennis and Nanus 2004) that transactional leaders should be viewed as managers and that transformational leaders are, by definition, the ones who can bring about changes in the corporate culture in response to the diversity demands, leadership studies are completely silent about questions like what is being transformed and who derives the benefit from change. Their silence is particularly evident in asking the questions: do these transformational leadership strategies marginalize and silence race/ethnicity, social class, gender, and sexual orientation? Moreover, as Lumby and Morrison (2010) point out, the transformative leaders’ emphasis remains on outcomes and performance and even when diverse “leaders” are recruited in organizations, they are “re-categorized into a homogenized group where what they do matters more than who they are” (5).

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Within this framework, the terms “performance” and “excellence” are used interchangeably. For example, within a university setting, faculty members are judged on their performance through a single standard of excellence. Excellence is accompanied by privilege – “the ‘silent laws’ of exclusion” by the established elites to keep tight control over the prevailing organizational norms and to remain resistant to new ideas and to new groups of people. All this gets even more complicated when we add to it the individual characteristics of transformative leadership – the organizational idol. Just who is capable of bringing about change, particularly in responding to the diversity agenda? Jackie Ford (2018, 225) points out that much of the transformative leadership literature “focuses almost exclusively on the nature, the types, and the need for leadership and this has led to the valorization of masculine characteristics and behaviours as the norm – while at the same time pretending and/ or assuming gender blindness.” And to this we can add colour blindness. In contrast, the diversity literature, which evolved largely after the 1970s, addressed the feminist concerns about the mainstream organizational theories, questioning the meritocracy and the objective, rational basis of organizations. It asserted that the question of the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, as well as overall discrimination against women in the workplace, could not be addressed without active engagement with the issues of organizational discourse, organizational culture, and the social construction of power and dominance. Unfortunately, the leadership studies did not take advantage of this insightful discussion and debate, which we summarize below. Within the gender literature, Grant and Tancred-Sherriff (1989) observed the dual structures of uneven representation of women within the state hierarchy. Naff (1994) pointed to the perpetuation of a glass ceiling through formal and informal structural barriers. Kanter’s socially-constructionist approach (1977) suggested that male homosociability and a desire for sameness lead to the inclusion of only those who effectively fit the image of the “White” male leader, speaking their language. Guy (1993, 289) pointed out challenges for newcomers (identity-based diverse groups plus women) to break into leadership positions because “the confluence of opportunity, power and proportion produces upward cycles of advantage (for men) or downward cycles of disadvantage (for women).” A complex literature on gender, power, and organizational structures (the state and its various institutions) emerged during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Organizations came to be viewed as sites of gendered contests which shape the organization both diachronically and synchronically. Franzway (1989), in her influential study on feminism, bureaucracy and the State, was to assert that “reform is not just a matter of changing the personnel

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at the top. It is a matter of unpacking a complex texture of institutional arrangements which intersect with the construction of masculinity and femininity” (31). Moreover, she points out that as the system legally labels the formal restrictions on the entry of women or other marginalized groups into organizations as discriminatory, the masculinization project continues to operate powerfully, albeit, subliminally. In short, this discussion of the institutionalization of domination by feminist scholars who study diversity pushed forward the theoretical argument that organizations do not operate in a static manner. They are constituted and reconstituted through specific, historically located social processes, replacing one form of hegemonic masculinity with newer models. In other words, the rules of the game for institutionalized domination change. Gender relations within organizational structures take different forms and thereby demand different strategies of resistance. Others, with a similar sociological approach, were to extend this discussion from gender to race relations and ethnic identity (Alderfer et al. 1992; Omi and Winant 2018). The recent intersectional scholarship pursued by women of colour has taken diversity literature to a different level. Intersectionality literature has transformed the debates on the politics of difference. It seeks to address the complexities of identities by unravelling the multiple marginalizations of race, class, gender, or sexual orientation at both the individual and social/­ institutional levels and by exposing the interactivity and connection between these levels. In other words, individual identities are multi-faceted and context specific. More recently, indigeneity has emerged as an important category of cultural and political identity. In White settler colonial nation-states like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, the recent discussion on politics of identity and difference is framed within the conceptual framework of indigeneity, coloniality, and raciality. Although the concept is widely debated, indigeneity is now being applied locally and globally to address identities/groups with a unique way of living that have been marginalized and require special protection. The differences between the diversity and leadership literatures have become further pronounced in an increasingly neo-liberal discursive environment of “economic rationalism” and “corporate managerialism.” The effect of the neo-liberalism, led by Thatcher, Reagan, and Mulroney in the 1980s, as Michèle Lamont and Nicolas Duvoux (2014, 58) explain, has manifested itself in a series of mutually reinforcing changes ­occurring simultaneously at multiple levels: the promotion of market ­fundamentalism at the economic level; the distinctive use of rhetoric,

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laws, and public policy to reinforce market mechanisms at the political level; the multiplication of auditing tools at the administrative level (with an eye for greater accountability and marketization); and a deep transformation of shared definitions of worth (in favour of ­economic performance) and a narrowing of symbolic communities and ­solidarities at the cultural level. Moreover, austerity and economic efficiency have become the main discourse of neo-liberal governments. Implications for diversity and diversity agendas are deep and significant. Performance indicators, accountability, and outcomebased decision are the mantra for all organizations to meet the state-required standards of efficiency and austerity. Neo-liberalism pushes for maximum individualization, constraining “the subject to act in a capital-enhancing fashion everywhere.” It pushes for a “culture of performativity, leading individuals and institutions to increasingly focus on outward performance as measured against multiple performance indicators” (Blackmore 2008, 74). While adhering to the classical liberal principles of individual freedom and autonomy, as Wendy Brown (2016, 3) observes, it hollows out social programs, including diversity initiatives, including dismantling “classical twentieth century solidarities among workers, consumers, and electorates.” All of this suggests that leadership studies and practices continue to be epistemologically and ideologically trapped in the Weberian framework of objectivity, accountability, and performance.

C r it ic a l L e a d e r shi p S tu d i es a nd   Re c o n s t r u c t i ve P roject It has been challenging to reconcile the two distinct literatures: the leadership literature has more-or-less remained static (making incremental changes while maintaining its core assumptions), while diversity studies has seen a huge transformation, with some irreconcilable conceptual positions and with some highly contested concepts. There is an emerging recognition that the “equity myth” is likely to continue if the two academic discourses of leadership studies and diversity literature maintain their distinct trajectories. This recognition has resulted in some recent scholarly efforts to propose new directions for research and practice for diversity leadership by selecting particular emphases from each literature that have the greatest potential to contribute to diversity leadership. Much of the impetus to this reconciliation is given by the emerging critical leadership studies (cls) – an offshoot of critical management studies. There has been a significant push for both leadership and diversity scholars

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to “incorporate each other in their research paradigm” (Chen and Velsor 1996, 286). Lumby and Morrison (2010) seek for an interdisciplinary approach while paying attention to the heterogeneous local context. They seek to move forward the diversity leadership theory and practice by “considering the symbiosis of how diversity is theorized and researched, and how this relates to existing leadership power structures” (3). Recognizing the different policy foci of the two literatures, Chao C. Chen and Ellen Van Velsor, as early as 1996, proposed to select areas of emphasis from each literature which had the “greatest potential to contribute to diversity leadership” and to accomplish the two-edged goal of “how organizations can develop diverse and global leaders and how these leaders themselves could lead diversity more effectively” (1996, 163). In 2009, Alvesson and Billing pleaded for an integration of gender and organization research in order to avoid two of the major shortcomings of today: the neglect, on the one hand, of important gender issues in most mainstream research, and the ghettoization of gender research, on the other hand, a result of its not taking any other aspects of organizational life into account. Jacky Lumby and Marlene Morrison (2010) link the two literatures through theoretical and methodological interdisciplinarity by considering the symbiosis of how diversity is theorized and researched, and how this relates to existing and future leadership power structures. Jean Lau Chin (2010, 221) suggests a paradigm shift and moving beyond the “traditional partitioning of knowledge of leadership into separate theoretical schools.” Eagly and Chin (2010) propose that we should join the two bodies of theory and research – “one pertaining to leadership and the other to diversity.” This would enrich “both domains of knowledge and provides guidelines for optimizing leadership in contemporary organizations and nations” (216). Similarly, there have been some recent attempts to combine the intersectional approach with leadership studies. As this approach maintains that the complexity of identities interacts with institutions, it has pushed the diversity leadership studies to seek answers beyond differences between male and female leadership styles. Agnes Richardson and Cynthia Loubier (2008, 143) made one of the first attempts to examine “the interaction of gender, race, and professional background toward understanding perceived leadership identity and perceived differences in leadership behaviour and leadership efficacy” by studying the leadership traits of two university presidents – one male and one female. Their findings pointed out that “while there may be distinctions between leaders, these differences involve an intersecting of a number of surface and deep-level diversity factors” (156). Vonzell Agosto and Ericka Roland (2018) explain how intersectionality and transformative leadership theory can be of service to one another. Pointing to the limitation of studies of diversity and leadership,

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they suggest that researchers pay attention to “both micro-level and macrolevel analysis of the inequities being confronted by leadership practice” as well to “leading” practices rather than focusing on individuals’ experiences as “leaders” and “leadership” capacity (255). Celina McEwen, Helena Liu, Alison Pullen, and Carl Rhodes (2019) have argued for bridging two sets of literature – relational leadership studies and critical diversity studies. They have developed a new concept, the idea of “relational intersectionality.” Relational inter­ sectionality allows us to move beyond considering leadership as simply interpersonal interaction, a way of dealing with the difficulties and possibilities that arise when people of, inter alia, different gender, culture, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and physical ability come together in social relations. However, one must keep in mind the caution that Valerie Hunt, Shauna Morimoto, Anna Zajicek, and Rodica Lisnic (2012) lay out in their study of the US’s National Science Foundation’s Equity Programs and Higher Education. While applauding the intersectional approach, they make us aware of the challenges associated with its application to the equity policy process. They aptly note, “Although intersectionality provides an important framework to analyze policy initiatives, including equity policies, its application to equity policy analysis has been hindered by challenges associated with how to actually translate the complexity of intersectional thinking into public policy scholarship” (270). This brings us back to our previous discussion on the intersectional data paucity. In order to deal with the diversity leadership deficit and locked-in organizational “White privilege,” we need to pay simultaneous attention to institutional discourses as well as to good data. Both are critical in establishing benchmarks in order to advance an equity and diversity agenda. This should, in turn, result in policy interventions designed to create more equitable public and private organizations. The studies described above have attempted not only to reconcile leadership studies with the evolving diversity literature, but have also pushed the former to look beyond the business case for managing diversity. This new diversity leadership literature has begun to include debates on questions such as: is diversity about recognition, accommodation, and valuing of difference? If yes, then is diversity to be managed or recognized? Or is it about diversity for equity, and should we be concerned with “the differences that differences make” (Owen 2009)? And more significantly, is diversity about increasing numerically the underrepresented marginalized communities in the ranks of leadership or changing the organizational culture and discourse about differences or both? In the following section, we pose a practical question: how should we move forward? We propose a move out of the silos/debates and into everyday practice to address, in particular, the leadership deficit of people of colour.

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W h a t is t o b e D o n e : Di srupti n g T heory a nd   Em p h a s iz in g Practi ce? During the past two decades, the welfare state in the Western hemisphere has seen a discursive shift. In a democratic polity, where the notions of legitimacy and citizenship are intertwined, it was the liberal welfare state which was mandated to intervene on behalf of the marginalized groups to undo or at least mitigate the effects of structural inequities. Consequently, one saw the initiation of affirmative action programs and employment equity policies in order to arrive at a non-discriminatory outcome in terms of ethnicity or gender or immigrant background. A diverse set of policies and strategies for achieving gender equity, with a wide range from soft to hard affirmative action quotas were adopted. Diversity was to be valued. It was good for doing business as well as pursuing social justice. Thus, these policies would bring about dual outcomes: increase the representation of marginalized people in both public and private organizations by removing structural barriers and, in the process, change the organizational culture by mainstreaming diversity in institutional structures, visions, and strategies. In Canada, the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney passed the Employment Equity Act in 1986, making it mandatory for any federally regulated organization with one hundred or more employees to “undertake proactive measures to remove, prevent, and remedy systemic discrimination affecting the employment access, career progression, and fair treatment of designated groups” (Agocs and Osborne 2009, 241). It designated four disadvantaged populations to be covered under this program: women, members of racialized groups (visible minorities), persons with disabilities, and Aboriginal peoples. The government preferred the term equity over affirmative action in order to signal “a substantive conceptual difference between equality as sameness and equity as requiring interventions to level the playing field and to ensure just outcomes in employment practice” (Henry et al. 2017, 10). One would have thought, given the many policy and organizational changes during the past two decades, enhancing the opportunities for women and other minorities in a range of political, cultural, and social fields, that we had moved beyond asking the question about glass ceilings, and formal and informal structural barriers to leadership. Unfortunately, this debate continues. Grant and Tancred-Sheriff’s (1989) remarks about the dual structures of uneven representation of women in bureaucracies remain largely true to this day. Despite the fact that the words “diversity,” “equity,” “cultural pluralism,” and “multiculturalism” are now an integral part of every organization’s

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vision and strategic plan, women and other racial minorities remain not only unevenly distributed within both public and private organizations, but the positions they occupy have marginal organizational power, with an absolute underrepresentation in the upper-levels of leadership. The glass ceiling perpetuates through both formal and informal structural barriers. Even women and people of colour, when they go up the leadership ladder, are still confined to “feminine” areas or “diversity/equity” defined jobs (Lord and Maher 1991). Several images have been used to describe barriers which result in the underrepresentation of minorities in leadership positions – a glass ceiling, glass escalator, glass walls, and glass cliff (Smith 2015, 485). Systemic inequities continue to exist despite the recognition of diversity, the acknowledgment of indigeneity, and the abundance of equity policies. Consequently, the diversity leadership deficit, a product of both structural failure and the onslaught of the neo-liberal ideology, has kept the debate alive. Scholars continue to produce distinct, often disjointed, bodies of policy literature. In the neo-liberal context, with its emphasis on managerial performativity and corporatization values, “the discourse of diversity has been readily appropriated for its symbolic value: diversity is productive in that it mobilizes all talent within an organization as long as it does not challenge the dominant economistic mode of operations, the entrepreneurial cultures or strategic leadership” (78). How do we move out of the silos/debates and into everyday practice? And how do we, in particular, address the leadership deficit of people of colour? Wolfe and Dilworth (2015, 667) assert that this can only be explained by unravelling both “the historical patterns of exclusivity” as well as the organizational culture within which “predominantly White institutions originate, exist, and operate through the intersection of group relations.” They maintain that an intricate and complex relationship between race, culture, and history creates an organizational framework which reinforces and normalizes White privilege. Here they apply the concept of “whiteness as property.” For them, the continuing privilege of the White leadership and the exclusivity of the “others” is thus a by-product of the historical patterns of leadership and the titles/ranks granting them property-like rights. The women of colour who aspire to leadership positions face another challenge in their professional journey. Women and people of colour, as they move up the leadership ladder who, in their role as transformative leaders successfully brought about change by “doing things differently,” tend to become a part of, what Limerick and Anderson (1999) term as “a remasculinization of the central elite” – adapting to the existing male norm. In addition, Jackson and O’Callaghan (2011) suggest that people of colour are generally identified as outsiders, and this status often proves difficult to overcome.

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How do we, then, move from theory, which has unravelled (and is still unravelling) the complexities surrounding the “equity myth,” to the practice of leadership? How do we tackle issues in the practice of leadership, namely, of representation, racism and discrimination, gender and discrimination, and structural barriers? Within this context, questions which emerge as relevant are: how should leaders facilitate change as a function of their leadership; how can hegemonic organizational practices be contested when faced by issues of race, gender, and class; and under what conditions can the project of a different, more democratic future, be generated which would transform the existing order?

Leadership-as-Practice Perhaps one of the ways to get us out of the conundrum outlined above and to move forward can be found in the new and upcoming literature, “­leadership-as-practice,” a perspective intended to help intersect theory and practice. Here leadership is conceptualized as a practice rather than as residing in the traits or behaviours of a particular individual. Joseph A. Raelin (2016) describes this approach as a movement. Leadership as a practice is defined as “a coordinative effort among participants who choose through their own rules to achieve a distinctive outcome.” Accordingly, leadership-as-practice is less about what one person thinks or does and more about what people may accomplish together. It is thus concerned with how leadership emerges and unfolds through day-to-day experience. With its purposive focus to seek a distinctive outcome (equity and diversity), leadership in practice “unfolds through day-to-day experience. The social and material-discursive contin­ gencies impacting the leadership constellation … do not reside outside of leadership but are very much embedded within it” (Ford 2016, 223). This, for Ford (one of the contributors to Raelin’s book), requires the development of a relational and inter-subjective approach which would disrupt “the complacency that is present in many contemporary accounts of leadership. Developing subjective approaches opens up the possibility for reflection, for questioning assumptions and for surfacing different meanings and so creating, through the acts of dialogue, new meanings and understandings” (2016, 237). In the same vein, Carroll, Levy, and Richmond (2008), arguing for leadership as practice, point to the major assumptions of relationality underlying the practice theory. They suggest that individuals operate in a “field of relationships” with “bundles of practices.” This means that leadership is practice that is “the source of meaning and normativity” and “social sites in which events, entities, and meaning help compose one another” (366).

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Leadership-as-practice opens up a real possibility of reimagining diversity practice. Diversity tools which are based on the conceptualization of leadership as a practice would generate opportunities for broader inter-personal dynamics, which, in turn, would allow a challenge to unconscious or unspoken biases or motivations. It would help build both a horizontal and a vertical dialogue between the leaders and the followers, encouraging all to recognize “the importance not only of difference (by gender, race, class, age, sexuality, etc.), but also to embrace and value such diversity and strategies for inclusion in our workplaces” (Raelin 2016, 238). In short, the leadership-as-a-practice approach opens the space for a critical, reflective and collaborative dialogic process. And when practitioners adopt this approach, they are “better able to understand and reflect on their own actions and, consequently, better able to reconstruct their activity in light of their reflections and on behalf of their mutual interests” (Raelin 2011, 206). Raelin adds to this discussion another concept, “leaderful practice,” committed to building a democratic ethos co-created in an interdependent collaborative way by the members of the organization. Leaderful practice has four distinct values – the so-called four Cs: collectiveness (“everyone in the entity can serve as a leader”), concurrency (“the extent to which members of the unit of organization are serving as leaders at the same time”), collaboration (“the extent to which members are co-creating their enterprise”), and compassion (“the extent to which members commit to preserving the dignity of every single member of the entity regardless of background, status, or point of view”). It is the realm of practice which takes centre stage. It emerges “as a perfectly acceptable place to learn to lead. Learning is vital to leadership when we view leadership as a process and as a practice. Viewed in this way, leadership can become self-correcting. Any leader using the new diversity tools developed under this new conceptual framework of leadership-as-practice would have to adapt themselves to doing things differently: live with ambiguity and think about process rather than performance. Leadership-as-practice/leaderful practices push the leadership to accept ambiguity, a product of multiple frameworks and subjectivities, and the heterogeneous local context and social sites (DiTomaso and Hooijberg 1996, 179). In the realm of practice where the four Cs operate, there will be an understanding that there is power inequality and conflict of interests. Leadership is, thus, political in nature. The leaderful practice, by moving diversity from the periphery to the centre, makes it imperative to accept ambiguous spaces which emerge in the process of co-creating a democratic ethos. Thus, process rather than performance becomes the hallmark of ­leadership. Focus shifts from “outcome variables of leadership performance

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to process variables of leadership emergence, selection, and development” (Chen and Velsor 1996, 294). In short, doing diversity, within this conceptual framework, may bring about ambiguity as the everyday lived experiences of racialized and marginalized communities cannot be captured in a linear manner. This new way of doing diversity might give us some hope that we are in the process of moving from embedded institutional practices and discourse where equity is both promised and denied.

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Shore, Lynn M., Amy E. Randel, Beth G. Chung, Michelle A. Dean, Karen Holcombe Ehrhart, and Gangaram Singh. 2011. “Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future Research.” Journal of Management 37 (4): 1262–89. Smith, Amy E. 2015. “On the Edge of a Glass Cliff: Women in Leadership in Public Organizations.” Public Administration Quarterly 39 (3): 484–517. Smith, Battalia. 2017. “The State of Diversity in Nonprofit and Foundation Leadership.” Battalia Winston. http://www.battaliawinston.com/wp-content/ uploads/2017/05/nonprofit_white paper.pdf. Smith, Malinda, and Nancy Bray. 2018. “Equity at Canadian Universities: National, Disaggregated, and Intersectional Data.” Academic Women’s Association, 22 June 2018. https://uofaawa.wordpress.com/2018/06/22/ equity-at-canadian-universities-national-disaggregated-and-intersectional-data. Tremblay, Reeta Chowdhari. 1999. “Inclusive Administration: Feminist Critiques of Bureaucracy.” In Bureaucracy and Alternatives in World Perspectives, edited by Keith Henderson and O.P. Dwivedi, 69–94. London, uk: MacMillan Press. Uhl-Bien, Mary, and Russ Marion, eds. 2008. Complexity Leadership. Charlotte, n c: Information Age Publishing. Villemure, Serge, and Anne Webb. 2017. Strengthening Research Excellence through Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Natural Sciences and Engineering. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Walumbwa Fred O., Bruce J. Avolio, William L. Gardner, Tara S. Wernsing, and Suzanne J. Peterson. 2008. “Authentic Leadership: Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Measure.” Journal of Management 34 (1): 89–126. Wolf, Richard K., and Frank Heidman. 2014. “Guest Editors’ Introduction: Indigeneity, Performance, and the State in South Asia and Beyond.” Asian Ethnology, Special Issue 73: 1–18. Wolfe, Brandon L., and Paulette Patterson Dilworth. 2015. “Transitioning Normalcy: Organizational Culture, African American Administrators, and Diversity Leadership in Higher Education.” Review of Educational Research 85 (4): 667–97. Zanoni, Patrizia, Maddy Janssens, Yvonne Benschop, and Stella Nkomo. 2010. “Unpacking Diversity, Grasping Inequality: Rethinking Difference Through Critical Perspectives.” Organization 17 (1): 9–29.

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Theme One Relationality Catherine M c Gregor and Shailoo Bedi

Three themes organize this collection: relationality, intersectionalities, and reimagined realities. We begin with relationality not only because it is central to some of the chapters in this collection, but also as a way of honouring its significance in disrupting the binary logic that leadership theories help to maintain. Leadership as a social phenomenon and a practice commonly places the leader above others while invoking power over and models of authority. Relationality offers a paradigm shift that describes leadership intersubjectively and suggests a nonhierarchical and more inclusive model of engagement. Relationality problematizes “great man,” individualistic, or trait-based theories and situational and transformative paradigms (Huber and West 2002). As readers consider the four chapters in this section and throughout the volume, they will notice how relationality emerges through trust, shared purpose, and engaged, collaborative action for effecting just outcomes. They will learn how individuals can reciprocally influence one another, work interdependently, and develop synergies through conjoint (or shared) agency and distributed leadership (Gronn 2002). Edwards (2010) sees relationality as a joint form of power that creates a dynamic space for more “fluid and joint actions” (62). Socially just leadership depicted in this volume is characterized by such fluid joint action. People can ask for and provide support to others; such work is accomplished alongside others, with reciprocal and parallel regard. Relational agency, then, does not differentiate between the value of one or the collective when seeking to align and/or re-create understandings – the purpose is in realizing a shared goal. Relational agency is implied in much of the responsive forms of socially just leadership described in this volume.

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Perhaps most importantly, relationality is a crucial feature of Indigenous worldviews and epistemologies. For Indigenous peoples, relationality is ­situated in place – an anchor for relational engagement with kinship ­networks extending into the past, the present and the future. Kindredness is another feature of Indigenous relationality, a way of understandings one’s place in the world as wholly interconnected with all living things (De Lissovoy 2010). McGregor and Bedi (chapter 2) explore the idea of relationality as central to the nested practice of Indigenous leadership. Relations are explored through Indigenous understandings of “all my relations,” spanning present, past and future. Collective forms of performance in diverse or hybrid spaces of action are highlighted in their chapter. Similarly, Cormier and Vanden Boomen (chapter 3) explore how place intersects with relationality and kinship, essential components of both Indigenous worldviews and social justice action between settlers and Indigenous communities. Building on Cajete’s work (2016), they discuss how differences can be embraced in a process of regular interaction and how relationality can be a means to replace the structural and cultural ­violence inherent in Western education. McLaughlin (chapter 4), a student affairs leader, used bell hooks’s Teaching to Transgress to understand how White, heterosexual men ­working in student affairs can practice leadership in more socially just ways. He found that empowerment is enabled relationally, and that shared reflection creates spaces to dismantle power differentials while enhancing authenticity. McLaughlin writes that leadership involves participatory change and role modelling. Finally, Etmanski and co-authors (chapter 5) write about their project, where relationality grounded their use of participatory theatre to bring Indigenous people and settlers (artists, staff, and faculty) to walk together in shared humanity. However, the authors also acknowledge the difficulties inherent to the shared goal of reconciliation and the limits to the notion of relationality as jointly held power, noting that power dynamics remain.

R e f e r e nc e s Cajete, Gregory A. 2016. “Indigenous Education and the Development of Indigenous Community Leaders.” Leadership 12 (3): 364–76. https://doi. org/10.1177/1742715015610412.

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De Lissovoy, Noah. 2010. “Decolonial Pedagogy and the Ethics of the Global.” Discourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 31 (3): 279–93. https:// doi.org/10.1080/01596301003786886. Edwards, Anne. 2010. “Relational Agency: Working with Other Practitioners.” Journal of Professional and Practice Based Learning. https://doi.org//10.1007/ 978-90-481-3969-9_4. Gronn, Peter. 2002. “Distributed Leadership as a Unit of Analysis.” The Leadership Quarterly 13 (4): 423–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843 (02)00120-0. Huber, Stephan Gerhard, and Mel West. 2002. “Developing School Leaders: A Critical Review of Current Practices, Approaches and Issues, and Some Directions for the Future.” In Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration, edited by Kenneth Leithwood et al., 1071–101. Dordrecht, nl : Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0375-9_37.

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2 Touchstones and Relationality Trajectories of Indigenous Leadership Catherine M c Gregor and Shailoo Bedi

This book explores the terrains of socially just, diversity leadership in many ways. Contributing authors identify how diverse leaders have been constrained in educational settings and offer pathways or approaches that might rectify injustices or resist non-inclusive practices. Yet when our proposal was reviewed by external peers, they identified a gap in our approach – we had failed to consider the historical presence of diverse leaders and how these histories trace persistent, ongoing efforts in achieving educational equity. Can it be said that we are exploring diverse terrains if we fail to look at diverse histories and what these histories might tell us about educational leadership practices, particularly those that exemplify and demand justice for excluded communities? In this chapter, we take up this challenge by interviewing three Indigenous leaders who have been involved in education in British Columbia: Dr Lorna Williams, Nella Nelson, and Ry Moran. We explore their experiences as educational leaders and how their work advanced the cause of inclusive and socially just education for Indigenous learners and future educational leaders. We asked them to reflect on their own experiences and to help us think about how diversity leadership work unfolds in diverse settings and in response to historical contexts, discourses, and events. We also asked them to help us think about the catalysts that had driven action and change in historical and contemporary contexts – and how political texts, such as The Indian Control of Indian Education (i c i e 1972), drove the advancement of Indigenous peoples. This chapter describes their leadership as practices that disrupt, interrupt, and redirect education structures informed by historical, political, and cultural texts. After summarizing our observations using the themes of

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touchstones, chains, and relationality, we propose a nested model of Indigenous leadership: a fluid, non-temporal, and intersectional approach to leadership performance. First, we introduce our leaders.

D r L o r n a W ill ia m s , Ne ll a N el s on, a nd R y M o ran Dr Lorna Williams is a member of the Lil’wat community. She is currently an Emeritus Professor after serving as a professor at the University of Victoria, where she introduced courses and programs in Indigenous learning to students, faculty, and staff. As an active and prolific speaker, Lorna shares ideas about Indigenous principles of learning, Indigenous languages, and cultural approaches to education. She has published many papers, books, and book chapters devoted to Indigenous education, served on many committees, and authored multiple reports, inquiries, and reviews about Indigenous education. Dr Williams is a recent recipient of the Order of Canada. She has devoted a lifetime of work to Indigenous education, first as a teacher in her home community of Mt Currie, later as a researcher into the trauma of residential schooling and the forced loss of first languages, and then as a world-renowned leader in Indigenous education. Nella Nelson, Klaapalasugwela is from Alert Bay, a small village in the traditional Kwakwaka’wakw territory. Following a legacy of women leaders in her family, she has a proud history as a strong, culturally knowledgeable woman in her community. Nella was a district-level Indigenous educator for the Victoria school district for nearly thirty years, serving multiple school boards and initiating many programs for K–12 students. She began her career working at sj Willis School, where she taught about residential schooling and shared local cultural knowledge in an experientially focused program for high school students when little, if any, information about colonization was included in the curriculum. She became a certified teacher and, as a districtlevel employee, was charged with managing and supporting Indigenous education. Nella and her partner Alex have been recognized for their community service and their role as foster parents to more than forty Indigenous children and youth, while also parenting their own child. Recognized as an Indigenous expert and community advocate, Nella is a sought-after speaker for educational events. Nella and Alex are also honoured alumni leaders who continue to offer their mentorship to future teachers and other educational professionals at the University of Victoria. Nella serves as an adviser to the Faculty of Education’s Indigenous education department.

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Ry Moran is a member of the Red River Métis and founding director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (nctr) at the University of Manitoba. He now works as a reconciliation associate university librarian at the University of Victoria. From 2010 to 2020, Ry worked to create a permanent home for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and was responsible for gathering millions of records that documented the residential school system from more than twenty government departments and almost one hundred church archives. Ry has spent countless hours working alongside Elders, traditional knowledge keepers, and residential school survivors to ensure their stories are never forgotten. As an adult educator, Ry taught at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and continues to work with adults, including working closely with the Canada School of Public Service on a variety of executive training and learning initiatives. Ry is married with two children.

I n d i g e n o u s L e a d ers hi p: I n s p ir e d t o S e r v e C o mm uni ty Our interviews illustrate that Indigenous leaders reflexively respond to social, cultural, and political contexts, the actions of others, and opportunities afforded in space and time. The most important way we heard this expressed was via a directly expressed commitment to justice and service to their community. In each case, these leaders have persistently sought to improve the conditions for Indigenous peoples and have courageously fought against discrimination, bias, and injustice regardless of the personal toll such work might take. Each had a powerful vocation – a deep sense of purpose – that drove them to take particular actions, engage in difficult conversations, act courageously, and design pathways to advance their community in diverse ways. Each expressed through the descriptions of their lives a deep hope in the possibility of change. Sometimes they simply had to bear witness to ugly truths or the pain and trauma caused by colonial practices and racist views. In these moments, hope helped them to stand strong. Yet they were also inspired by others. Each referenced powerful touchstones used to keep themselves focused on service to their community and people, touchstones they shared to highlight the inspiration that guided their steps, even when paths were not clear or obstacles appeared. For example, Lorna shared stories of how her family created opportunities for her to advance her skills as an organizer and teacher. Nella shared stories of how fishing taught her strength and the value of hard work. Ry shared how world travel revealed the inequities of First Peoples and inspired him to work for change. They shared stories about how other leaders worked tirelessly for Indigenous peoples, inspiring actions

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of leadership. Each leader also drew upon historical documents and events as important frames for their actions. These stories illustrate how the past illuminates the present while guiding towards transformation.

Touchstones as Catalysts We use the term touchstone here quite purposely because we think it helps us to understand the scope and range of catalytic events, processes, tools, people, systems, organizations, and texts that advanced socially just leadership by Indigenous leaders. Touchstones remind us that the storying and re-storying of experience helps engage, motivate, and inspire ourselves and others. Touchstones are points of understanding and places of sense making. They connect individual experience with the collective and shared purposes of communities. They create reflective moments in which to deeply listen to what these experiences reveal about ourselves and others. Touchstones also help us to see how leadership stretches across time, space, and place. In trying to understand how leadership advances change over time, we also used the term catalyst. We asked our interviewees to consider the catalysts that drove their leadership and to help us identify how catalysts enabled socially just leadership. Over time, we became more attuned to the ways in which these catalysts symbolically operated as points in a forward-facing trajectory and used the term touchstone to help us see the significance of these events in a different way. In our final section, we share a graphic that models these inter-relationships.

Leading Through Education Another important thread running through our conversations was how vital education is to Indigenous communities. Each leader spoke about how educational pathways were emphasized in their families and in community life. Each had a passionate interest in education for what it could accomplish – making things better for Indigenous peoples. Education is promoted by leaders – in families, communities, and culture. Ry argued that “education is actually all about leadership” because it inspires and invites potentiality in others. Nella emphasized how education was valued as a tool for advancing employment and career opportunities while opening doors to successful futures. Her grandmother’s library exemplified how a deep love for reading and language enabled her to set goals. Lorna also talked about education as a community tool for action – a place to build, restore, and promote Indigenous knowledge. Ry described these people as anchors – individuals

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or groups who wrapped their support around you in a way that makes you feel safe, powerful, and capable. References to the documents and texts these individuals or groups created are also part of how anchoring operates to create a sense of power, agency, and control.

Knowledge for Change The life stories of each of these leaders is centred in knowledge sharing and knowledge building, and each individual expressed how knowledge was understood to be a lever for moving themselves and their communities forward. Lorna’s story about how she came to work with Reuven Feuerstein, a world-renowned psychologist, speaks to how learning advanced her thinking. She described the importance of having a language for the experiences of Indigenous peoples: His work was my obsession for twenty-five years. [He gave me a ­language for] what happens when a child gets separated from their ­culture, their language, when they face racism as a way of life there are many effects on learning. He gave me a language to talk about ­something to that had happened to us. Ry also reflected on the value of education as a means of “passing on” and “protecting and promoting” knowledge. Educators, he argued, are essential links in knowledge sharing; they mediate and promote the ways in which the knowledge can be used and seeded. He applied this understanding of education to his work with the trc and the nctr to “inspire [people] to adopt the path of reconciliation, and to adopt a path to take the hard and difficult steps necessary to challenge their own personal ignorance or their own blinds spots.” Nella Nelson also focused on how she could create spaces for critical reflection among non-Indigenous educators and to connect on a personal, emotional level with people if they are to genuinely hear your perspective. “Because if you close people’s hearts, they’re not going to listen to you, and they’re not going to do their work. So sometimes it got really difficult … I’d have to go away, and I literally role-played my response back. But I worked really hard at keeping the door open and not shutting people’s heart because if their heart is shut, then learning is not going to happen.” Each interviewee described how they assessed emerging situations by considering the educative potential and how direct or indirect educational provocation might advance the cause of Indigenous peoples. Education gave them opportunity to speak and create new truths.

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A Two-Edged Sword Despite understanding the power of education, these leaders also understood education’s dark side as a tool to erase, suppress, segregate and “kill the Indian in each child.” Nella talked about her blonde, blue-eyed niece, whose identity as an Indigenous person was questioned during a social studies class in high school because of her physical appearance and affluence. Ry described how the education system constructs Indigenous peoples as being at fault for their marginalized status. He talked about how human rights are discussed in texts and documents, emphasizing the benevolence of well-intentioned governments, and how the incremental progress of rights over time is ­characterized as a normal social phenomenon. Lorna stated it thusly: “Education has been the battle ground of the minds, the souls and spirits of Indigenous peoples.” As these comments make evident, education is a two-edged sword; on the one hand, it is a mechanism to support transformational change across society, and on the other hand, it systemically and systematically restricts who can benefit and how. This dynamic is illuminated in the federal government’s White Paper and the 1972 Indian Education policy paper. Each use education as a means of delivering on political, cultural, and social goals: one re-centres colonial thinking into a revised pattern, the other substitutes colonial thinking with an Indigenous world view. Working between these spaces becomes the work of Indigenous educational leaders.

A Leaderful Culture Another observation emerging from discussions of the symbiotic relationship between Indigenous leaders and education was where and how leadership emerged. Our interviewees described leaders emerging at all levels of the community – in families, in bands, within First Peoples organizations and in international contexts. For example, Nella talked about the leadership of family members, particularly women, who convinced others in the family of the value of educational attainment. Lorna spoke about how families and Elders guided individuals to become teachers and advocates for communitybased education and to create their own local school; Ry spoke of how Indigenous peoples entered the post-secondary system and served as advocates for change. These examples speak to the individual’s personal power to use education as a tool to advance and transform people, places, and systems. These examples illustrate how leadership develops relationally in local and familial contexts and builds towards more collective actions.

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Relationally focused leadership builds personal and collective commitment and is a strong foundation from which more formal roles of leadership can emerge.

H is t o r ic a l a n d C o nte m porary P r o v o c a t i ons Our interviews also sought to understand the historical trajectories of Indigenous leaders and map pathways toward socially just leadership. To this end, we asked our interviewees to consider leaders who had inspired them and to discuss how these leaders inspired their current work. They mentioned the work of many people, important catalysts who have shaped our interviewees’ understandings of leadership, including Verna Kirkness,1 Murray Sinclair,2 Willie Littlechild, Phil and Ted Fontaine, Carey Newman, Sheilagh Rogers, Bert and Alvin McKay, Bill Mussell, George Manuel, Art Thompson, Butch Dick, Denny Sinclair, Bob Warren, Marie Cooper,3 Carole James, George Watts, and Bill Wilson. We include the complete list shared with us to solidify our observation about the power these individuals have asserted in the past and in the present in the approaches to leadership our interviewees detailed. We provide details on three specific individuals to illustrate the links each leader described as central to their own leadership story. The three interviewees also shared examples of organizations that advance the lives of Indigenous peoples, including the United Native Nations, the Native Brotherhood of bc, World Council of Indigenous People, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Assembly of First Nations. Their stories about leaders and the organizations they served helped us to see the scope and range of leadership practiced in many communities and the ways this work was reflected back into local contexts, enabling others to move forward. It was a lesson in understanding histories but also evidence of the persistent actions advancing the lives of Indigenous peoples on multiple fronts. Clearly, many Indigenous leaders worked in diverse segments of society while always advancing the cause of Indigenous peoples, serving as catalysts and models of leadership that inspired the three educators we interviewed in their own work. However, it is the interplay between past and present and the circulation and recirculation of ideas that advanced the goal of greater inclusion/equity. Past actions seed multiple contexts, and ideas are taken up, modified, adapted, and re-created to fit other spaces, events, or opportunities. A primary feature of how these leaders inspire and enact through their work is the frequent expression of ideas that resist dominant and oppressive practices and advance a more inclusive form of justice. Accessing ideas expressed

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in historical documents, like the icie (1972), was key to this resistance. These texts were discursive tools for socially just leaders – they provide a provocation, a place in which to resist, challenge, or imagine new possibilities. Provocations serve as a type of incitement – a way into action that might build greater collective and personal agency or commitment.

Political Texts as Catalysts Texts catalyze leaders across time, space and cultural/social boundaries. The icie (1972) is an exemplar of how its purpose continues to seed action into the present. All of our interviewees gave examples of how this document was taken up in their own contexts – in creating their own locally controlled school (Lorna), building new Indigenous educational programs and hiring Indigenous educators (Nella), and ensuring Indigenous worldviews are integral to teaching and learning in post-secondary institutions (Ry). The paper’s original mandate was to create a place for Indigenous knowledge and culture within schools and classrooms. These leaders took the incremental win possible, inspired by the fully articulated vision, but framed it to fit within existing circumstances. The paper acted as an entry point into direct actions that moved the bigger idea forward. However, as Ry suggested: “The paper [is also] … a hugely important turning point and assertive moment in our country’s history that absolutely deserves to be respected, lifted up, valued, honoured, and reengaged with fully … because really, what we see is that we’re still more or less asking for the same things today.” He also posited how “each and every one of these papers, each and every one of these sorts of declarations, these studies, these reports … [are] part of this continuous chain … [A] mutually reinforcing chain of human rights.” The idea that connections between people, catalytic events, and principles of human rights is a chain is a powerful metaphor that helped us to see the ongoing connections between past and current Indigenous leaders and to see how political texts act provoke across time and within social, cultural, and political contexts.

Discursive Tools as Provocations While we began by thinking about the i c i e as a provocation for change, Lorna, Nella, and Ry each gave examples of other discursive tools used to incite or provoke change. Nella had an opportunity to advance the development of Indigenous curricula across the province; she was asked to prepare a document to explore how a provincial curriculum might be created. After

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a successful reception by Ministry staff, she mobilized teams of educators to work with her on a broader vision and implementation plan across all bc school districts. A hybrid policy text, the document served to develop the goals and vision for promoting the lives of Indigenous learners while drawing upon existing structures and approaches to designing system-wide change. Provocative texts take a variety of forms. Lorna described being inspired by Reuven Feuerstein’s book, which shared how language and culture are impacted through trauma. She later worked with him in Israel and Vancouver, bc, advancing his theory of “mediated learning.” She said, What I was trying to do is change what people thought about Indigenous children and their ability to learn. What was happening was our children were being streamed into modified classes. [Teachers said] our children can’t learn, they are not as intelligent, they come from poor homes, and it is impossible for them to succeed and learn. So, I had to try and shift peoples thinking about that … I worked with ­everyone in the school district to try and change the way people approached teaching and learning. I also wanted to shift the school ­district’s awareness of its Indigenous population. Here we again see the hybrid nature of their leadership; new texts built on existing knowledge valued in the dominant culture and become counter-­narratives: sites designed to compete with the existing discriminatory discourses. Ry also sought to advance the thinking of others using discursive texts. In his case, the stories of residential school survivors, their families, and the work of the trc commission were collected to document and advance the truth of cultural assimilation and genocide. Framed initially as a legal text, the Commission’s hearings became a site of truth telling, and the nctr served as a permanent site for Canadians and the world to “witness” these truths. He described the nctr as a way to “denormalize”’ the self-aggrandizing myths about Canada’s exceptionality and instead “bring more people around the fire into to actually create a more active and engaged citizenry,” one that demands change, equity, truth, and justice.

Human Rights as Provocative Texts As previously outlined, Ry spoke about the discourse of human rights as a chain that helped unite Indigenous peoples in purposes and provided global connections to ignite social movements to advance universal human rights. Human rights work has been a catalyst for many marginalized groups and is

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an important thread within the Indigenous rights movement. Like education, human rights discourses have universal applicability and bring together a universally inclusive approach to advancing rights. Indeed, education itself is a feature of universal human rights – a way of advancing peoples who have been disadvantaged by social and cultural systems, including colonial practices which have kept Indigenous peoples as “othered” and excluded. Discourses of human rights provided ways to frame action within recognizable authoritative texts, while also serving to ignite resistance to the status quo. Human rights discourses underscore many of the other catalysts mentioned during our discussions. For example, Nella spoke about the Vietnamese refugees she taught who shared in learning about Indigenous student histories and the common ways Indigenous peoples used art and culture to preserve, celebrate, and build cultural pride. Lorna described how George Manuel worked with many Indigenous nations around the globe to create the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (1975). In each case, human rights were foundational to advancing the status of Indigenous peoples. These macro-level discourses were powerful tools that could be used in local and regional contexts.

Provocative Texts as Bridges Earlier we described how Lorna and Nella took actions that sought to advance the cause of Indigenous peoples by taking incremental steps forward, modifying their actions to fit their contexts. In Ry’s case, we describe the use of authoritative texts as a frame for witnessing. These examples illustrate how Indigenous leaders create bridges between cultural differences and across discursive fields. Discourses of culture and linguistic diversity were also important tools for advancing Indigenous peoples’ status while working within acceptable social and cultural norms. For example, Lorna’s stories help illustrate how bridging across cultures through shared experiences helped to build understanding from non-Indigenous peoples. She described working with district leaders to create contemporary songs that celebrated the contributions of Indigenous peoples of the coast. Music was a commonly valued approach to learning and could be used to create new spaces that honoured and valued local Indigenous people’s cultures and knowledge. Later, she created science camps that enabled students to study firsthand the knowledge of First Peoples on the land. Stories were also an important way to influence and lever deeper understanding and resist dominant narratives about Indigenous peoples as deficient. Nella suggested in her interview that she “always looked … for a pathway where I could bring it in, where I could bring a story in, or I can bring whatever in that connected to First Nations people and what, what

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I knew.” Connecting stories to seasonal activities and experiential learning that reimagined colonial stories of discovery and conquest were trademarks of Nella’s teaching designed to displace colonial narratives within local textbooks. She emphasized the importance of creating an emotional experience that could displace discriminatory attitudes and beliefs – stories were an important part of that capacity to decolonize the thinking of non-Indigenous students and teachers. Yet in each case, the narrative frame bridged across cultures, beliefs, and understandings to smooth a pathway toward change and acceptance of Indigenous peoples. These Indigenous leaders walk within and across two worlds. Finding stories that fit within dominant narratives or shaping stories in order to fit with Western-dominated society and organizations is an obvious talent of the Indigenous educational leaders we interviewed. They “walk in two worlds” (Hill, Vaughn, and Harrison 1995); raised in two cultures, Western and Indigenous, simultaneously situated as “inside” and “outside” cultural worlds, they use the knowledge of both to navigate a pathway that serves their communities. In drawing from accepted Western narratives, they enabled moves that advanced change within the dominant system. These stories and frames assisted our leaders in navigating bureaucratic systems to enable action.

A N e s t e d M o d e l o f I n d i g enous Lea d ers hi p As we reflected on the life stories of each leader, we realized how critical context is to this work. While a deep sense of purpose guides each of their steps, and mentors and leaders from past and present inspire them to action, each leader also “sees” the potentiality of openings, spaces or times that can advance an idea or approach and then use contextual levers to realize progress. All sites of change matter: whether the initial foray into action is at the micro/ local/individual level or the macro-system level, each leader took advantage of opportunities afforded to them, often building from the work of others, and then used these subsequent actions as moments to broaden influence and operationalize strategic change. They were also able to “see across” contexts and navigate between the dominant society and Indigenous worldviews. As a part of this navigation, they were also able to create texts and counter texts, enabling a pathway towards a different way of knowing/being in the world. They drew upon historical texts to assess how to move an initiative forward and to work towards collectively held values. They provoked resistance and served as witnesses who relentlessly championed their people and culture, while seeking allies and partners when possible.

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These patterns of action deepened our knowledge of historical and contemporary Indigenous leaders and leadership and inspired us to think about how this work might be characterized in a way that draws on the connectivity between histories, community, culture, leaders, and practices. In figure 2.1, we map the performative domain, the spaces and sites for engagement in  socially just leadership practice. Avoiding hierarchical designs, we ­tentatively describe this characterization as a nested model, one that might better r­ epresent a fluid, non-temporal, and intersectional approach to leadership performance. Given the importance of identity, culture, and community, the core of the model is the relational domain, grounded in all relations, past and present. Cultural knowledge, beliefs, and values are also critically important, as these become the foundations for purpose-based actions. Touchstones, central to this component, travel across time and space and inform the present, past, and future. Historical texts are touchstones that connect between past and present. Indigenous leaders also rely on their ability to navigate, code, interpret, and incrementally design pathways forward – using provocations and texts based in knowledge of two worldviews and how to move between them. Indigenous leaders work collectively and collaboratively, drawing from the expertise of others to create a chain of thinking that operates in social and political systems across time and in the creation of new spaces for action, advocacy, and solidarity. Collective forms of performance in hybrid or new spaces – often involving work with allies – is key to this domain. This form of moving between diverse settings, histories, contextually modified actions, and the constant reading of diverse discourses, both dominant and resistant, is a central feature of navigating a terrain fraught with complexities. When we began this work, we thought contemporary Indigenous educational leadership was an important terrain to explore because we had otherwise silenced those courageous leaders of the past. What we learned from our three interviewees was their experiences and insights into leadership contribute significantly to the broader field of diversity leadership. The practice of storying (and re-storying) these moments continually brings cultural and historical knowledge into focus, keeping histories active and seeding them into the present as dynamic interchanges that simultaneously mark progress and illustrate remaining gaps. In the same way that context provides a frame for enabling (or constraining) action for social justice, history is a catalyst. The narrative frames we use to support change shift over time. Their progress isn’t linear but responds to the dynamics of social, cultural, and political worlds. They are nested and interrelated: their interplay cannot necessarily be predicted, but we can draw connections – create chains that connect across

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Collective performance in new/hybrid spaces Provocations to action Interpreting/coding context Cultural knowledge domain

Relational/identity domain

Figure 2.1  Nested components of Indigenous leadership

time and space – in order to help achieve goals and purposes. Moreover, texts can be powerful provocations to action, and this idea is one we think is worth developing more substantially in how we think about leadership. A shift to a performative lens may also be a useful way to see leadership practices as co-constructed and responsive to local contexts and partners/ communities. Much more needs to be done to ensure that systemic and implicit bias and discrimination is dismantled from educational systems so many more Indigenous leaders can take on formal roles of leadership and shift the leadership culture.

C o n c l u d in g Thou g hts Our conversations with long-time Indigenous educational leaders helped us to see how leadership is practiced, understood, and shaped by political, ­historical and cultural contexts. We described a nested model that challenges traditional ways of thinking about leadership as a function of role and personal agency. The collective and shared values which drive action and resist dominant ways of thinking are strongly linked to provocative texts which re-story leadership as collective, culturally responsive, and relational, essentially answering Dei’s (2019) call for counterhegemonic approaches to displace

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dominant ways of thinking and their implicit Western biases. Yet such counterhegemonic narratives of leadership require space to thrive: a first step would be for provincial and territorial leaders to openly acknowledge and speak to these Western biases, and invite discussion about how systems can be reviewed for implicit bias and exclusionary policies and practices. Local educational leaders need to explore their own personal and collective biases and find ways to honour the relational and collective approaches advocated in this chapter, and others exemplified in diverse communities. Finally, scholars of leadership must similarly embrace counterhegemonic practices as essential features of contemporary leadership work, map these approaches, document how they advance socially just outcomes, and persistently advocate for their ongoing use. Educational spaces can transform learners, families, social systems, and communities, as was argued in the opening of this text. Embracing Indigenous leadership practices is an important way to equitably recognize and honour our differences.

Notes   1 Verna Kirkness appears and reappears in several stories from Lorna Williams, ­illustrating how her leadership advanced a variety of events, including serving as one of the authors for the Indian Control of Indian Education Paper, her work with George Manuel in establishing the World Council of Indigenous People, and her work in setting up the First Nations House of Learning and the nitep teaching program at the University of British Columbia. Her ideas about inclusion were embedded with various forms of written and oral policy work, and while serving to advance a particular idea or event, these ideas continually circulated through various communities across Canada and were subsequently used to advance other efforts in related, but quite different settings.   2 Murray Sinclair is well known as the lead voice for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; his journey, however, began as a young person who supported his aunt, a teacher. His love of learning led him to university, this despite initially being placed in occupational programs because of his Indigenous status. He ­eventually ended up in law school, one of only three or four Indigenous students. His early law career involved working with the First Nations Confederacy (later the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs). He went on to work with many First Peoples and government and was involved in treaty negotiation and legal work designed to advance Indigenous peoples claims for justice. He served as a commissioner on the Aboriginal Justice inquiry Commission and then as a judge in Manitoba who worked to change the criminal code to sentence Aboriginal peoples more fairly, and finally as the lead for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His life’s work, however, was inspired by his grandmother’s words – to use his education to advance Indigenous peoples and communities. His goal of transforming systems

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of justice was bound within his commitment to educating others, primarily through political and social systems.   3 Marie Cooper was a respected member of the ws áneć community who worked tirelessly in the greater Victoria area to transform Indigenous education. As a young woman who wanted to teach, she was denied access to post-secondary ­education in Canada, and so she moved to the US. Later in her life trajectory she returned to Canada, and established a locally controlled and operated Aboriginal school board in Saanich, introducing s e n ć oŧen language programs (1975). Her approach to holistic teaching and learning practices were reflected in the Indigenous education programs she also spearheaded for the Saanich and Greater Victoria school boards. A key feature of her approach was to engage Indigenous voices in decision making through their ongoing participation in program design. Over her lifetime of dedicated service to Indigenous education, she welcomed and mentored many other Indigenous peoples into roles of responsibility with formal school authorities, serving as a bridge between non-Indigenous educators and Indigenous communities.

R e f e r e nc e s Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs. 1969. Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy. Ottawa: Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/inac-ainc/indian_policy-e/cp1969_e.pdf. Dei, George. 2019. “An Indigenous Africentric Perspective on Black Leadership.” In African Canadian Leadership: Continuity, Transition and Transformation, edited by Tamari Kitossa, Erica S. Lawson, and Philip S.S. Howard, 346–69. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. https://doi.org/10.3138/ 9781487531409-015. Hill, Brenda, Courtney Vaughn, and Sharon Brooks Harrison. 1995. “Living and Working in Two Worlds,” The Clearing House 69 (1): 42–9. National Indian Brotherhood/Assembly of First Nations. 1972. Indian Control of Indian Education: Policy Paper. Ottawa: National Indian Brotherhood. https:// oneca.com/IndianControlofIndianEducation.pdf. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, United Nations, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015. Truth and Reconciliation: Calls to Action. https://www2.gov. bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/­ aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf.

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3 Anishinaabeg Views of Socially Just Leadership, Inclusion, and Diversity Eliminating Violence Towards Indigenous Peoples in the Education System Paul N. Cormier and Karyn Vanden Boomen

I n t r o d u c t io n : O u r S pi ri ts Gui d e U s Socially just leadership in Anishinaabeg1 contexts requires constant education and adaptation by embracing the traditional learning and peace culture of local Indigenous peoples that have been distorted by colonial forces in context – a peace culture specific to time, place, and local customs. Given this approach, the Indigenous cultural context for this paper is framed within Paul’s traditions as a status Indian, and member of the Wolf clan whose traditional roles include path finding, teaching, and leading. Karyn’s contribution to this discussion is framed within her experience working in the far north of Canada in adult education, as a White, settler Canadian woman from the Canadian south. We suggest the foundation of socially just leadership in Indigenous contexts can be found in our precolonial systems based on local culture and customs. As Angelle, Arlestig, and Norberg (2015) assert, “social justice is understood in myriad ways, largely based on the context in which it is placed” (21). This paper will first discuss theoretical frames for understanding colonial violence in Indigenous contexts – Path finding [Nandawaabandaan miikana: I’m Looking for the Road]. In Canada, this violence comes in many forms, often unseen to the majority of the population. However, by assuming, recognizing, and accepting violence as a constant in Indigenous lives, we can work towards eliminating violence as an approach towards socially just leadership.

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We will then provide an explanation of interfaces and interface analysis, contextualizing it within adult education in Canada  – Teaching [Gakinoomaagewin: Learning/Teaching]. David Brown (1983) argues that organizational interfaces are where conflict is most intense. Based on the work of Martin Nakata (2007), we will suggest it is the cultural interface that can aid us in identifying and eliminating the violence in Indigenous lives by privileging Indigenous ways of doing, being, and seeing. Finally, we will provide some suggestions for Indigenous socially just leadership – Leading [Ogimaawin: Leadership] in the cultural interface. This requires authentic change by privileging Indigenous traditions. It requires operating from a sense of self, defined by Indigenous traditions in the context in which we work. As a non-Indigenous person concerned with being an ally to Indigenous communities, this is particularly difficult because it requires working from an unfamiliar cultural context. The chapter will conclude with a summary for consideration in thinking about socially just leadership within complex Anishinaabeg systems.

P at h F in d in g   – N a n d a w aaban d aan m i i kana [I ’ m L o o k in g f o r the Roa d ] Colonial Violence, Assimilation, and Structural Violence in Education In his book Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life, James Daschuk (2013) provides clear evidence that early colonization efforts were incredibly violent, and many would argue that although it seems we have progressed, this extreme violence remains imbedded within the structures that dominate Anishinaabeg lives (Cormier 2010; Walker 2004; Borrows 2005). Naomi Adelson (2000) suggests that Aboriginal peoples share “a history of oppressive Canadian government policies and racist practices,” concluding, “Shared cultural and community traumatization are the product of two centuries of internal colonization, neglectful government practices, suppression or banning of Indigenous cultural practices, the dislocation of entire communities in some cases and childhood separation” (12). Thus, to many Indigenous peoples, colonization and the violence associated with it has never ended. It has just become subtle to most of our eyes, and as a result, more difficult to change (Cormier 2019). Many scholars conclude that colonialism is a frame rooted in Eurocentrism (Ariss and Cutfeet 2012; Battiste 2009; Nadasdy 2003) with some of its principal features being: universalism, control, and the belief in the superiority of White settlers with European heritage (Nadasdy 2003). It is a system of

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violence and oppression that impacts everyone touched by it, not just those peoples it intends to oppress (Armstrong 2013; Brigham 2013; Daes 2000). In a paper on Indigenous youth violence, Paul (Cormier 2010) asserted that education-specific violence occurs by limiting Aboriginal youths’ “physical and psychological capabilities through the policies and administrative decisions that limited their ability to succeed in the school system and thereby remaining in a state of poverty and violence” (30). Thus, if we assume the education system is violent towards Indigenous peoples, then the proper response to limiting their ability to succeed is to eliminate the violence. We will now discuss how assimilationist policies infiltrate bureaucratic systems (like the education system from elementary to post-secondary and beyond) to become structurally and culturally violent towards Indigenous peoples.

N e o - c o l o n ia l C u l tura l V i o l ence i n Ed u c a t io n a n d El i m i nati n g V i o l ence Marie Battiste (2009b) describes cognitive imperialism and cultural racism in Canadian education systems. She says educational settings are inherently cultural as values and ideals are transmitted through curriculum content, instructional design, and definitions of success. “Education is not only the arena in which academic and vocational skills are developed but also the arena in which culture, mores, and social values are transmitted to the student. The education system, fostered by government and society, is the basis of Canadian (European) cultural transmission” (193). The author draws attention to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), finding that education in Canada is based on the false assumption of the cultural superiority of European worldviews and that it projects European knowledge as universal, normative, and ideal while marginalizing or excluding Aboriginal cultures, voices, and ways of knowing. Willie Ermine (2007) suggests two harms/pains are happening in this process: first, unlearning culture by force and second, having to learn a new and completely different culture. There are also critiques of neo-colonialism in post-secondary education when approaches to include Aboriginal knowledges and worldviews do not go far enough (Geraci 2012; Klinga 2012). For example, in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations regarding education, Timmons and Stoicheff (2016) speak positively about the role the university can play to eliminate the achievement gap in higher education between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. Leanne Simpson (2017) would argue that current changes to parts of the education system are superficially inclusive because they do not change structures as needed. Martin Nakata (2007) asserts that we cannot just “do” Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum.

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In this brief discussion, we introduce a theoretical basis for reframing the discussion from indigenization or decolonization to one where educational leaders work towards the elimination of violence in their schools and pedagogy. This requires recognition of the violence inherent in the education system. It is violence founded on Eurocentrism, totalizing in its design, and completely embedded in organizational bureaucracy. Often, we are not aware of its presence or the impact it has on our relationships with Indigenous students. Thus, it is an incredibly complex violence to identify and eliminate. Johan Galtung (1990) defined violence as attacks or threats to satisfying basic human needs (broadly stated as life), which are survival, well-being, identity/meaning, and freedom. He suggests a causal flow from cultural via structural to direct violence. Thus, if violence can be understood within this interrelatedness, peace-focused solutions must also be inclusive of the connections. Cultural violence is violence that feels right or, at least, not wrong. The author describes “structural violence [as] a process with ups and downs; cultural violence [as] an invariant, a ‘permanence’” (294). Discrimination and prejudice are the watered-down versions of direct violence; they are the symptoms of cultural violence. Leadership in this type of archetypal structure requires consideration for not only the structures that harbour the violence, but the use of critical selfreflection to ensure we do not unknowingly commit direct violence and perpetuate systemic violence. To this end, this paper proposes the use of “interface” and “interface analysis” as a conceptual tool for considering the elimination of various forms of violence within organizational structures that harbour cultural violence. This approach requires the privileging of Indigenous ways of doing, being, and seeing. We will now discuss how interface analysis, as a conceptual tool, might assist leaders in understanding the violence of westernization on societal governance structures.

T e a c h in g   – G a k inoo maa g ewi n [ L e a r n ing / T e a chi n g]: Interface Analysis and Leadership in the Cultural Interface Edward Azar (1983) describes protracted social conflict as violent events in the developing world occurring in some multi-communal societies where people are deprived of their basic needs on the basis of communal identity, often contextualized in the historical relationship. These frames, and others, suggest conflict is socially constructed, culturally located, and thus any attempts to manage or ameliorate it must respect culture (Avruch 1998).

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Ancona et al. (1999) discuss organizational change management and conclude that it requires learning the shared meanings of mutual settings: “working with some success in different cultural contexts means understanding the assumptions and nuances on which different meaning systems rest” (72). Within various discussions of change management, the bureaucratization of organizations is discussed for its interrelated impacts on conflict in institutions (Brown 1983; Schein 1999; Nadasdy 2003). Adding to this complexity is the subtle violence known as cultural racism or cognitive imperialism, which Marie Battiste (2009) suggests is “the imposition of one worldview on a people who have an alternative worldview, with the implication that the imposed worldview is superior to the alternative worldview” (193). Bureaucracy greatly limits, even seemingly makes impossible, an individual human’s ability to change because the system is based on Eurocentrism (Nadasdy 2013). Thus, as Martin Nakata (2007) asserts when discussing the cultural interface, “All knowledge production about Indigenous peoples still works within a wider set of social relations that rationalize, justify, and work to operationalize a complicated apparatus of bureaucratic, managerial, and disciplinary actions that continue to confine the lives of Indigenous peoples (8). Cultural interfaces require specific attention and approaches to identifying and eliminating violence. Although the colonial cultural interface is characterized as culturally violent, if considered in relation to the positive dynamics of conflict, it may also provide a rich environment for teaching and learning. In Ojibway, the word for teaching is Gakinoomaagewin; however, this word is the same for learning. Thus, in Anishinaabeg contexts, teaching and learning are synonymous and require the leader to be a teacher and a learner, transforming the interface into a dynamic space of active reflection, understanding, and teaching. Leadership in this complex system requires individuals to find ways to identify points of conflict, facilitate ways of healing from colonial violence, and discover pathways to peace. We will now define interface, provide adult education as an example of the omnipresent violence in educational interfaces, and discuss how Aki (Earth)–based learning informs the elimination of violence in the education system.

D e f in in g I n ter f ace In his book Managing Conflict at Organizational Interfaces, David Brown (1983) defines organizational interface as “the meeting grounds where social units come face to face and parties interact. These social units may be groups, departments, or whole organizations, and their contact may be recurrent and well-established or fleeting and episodic” (1). Known and unknown divergent

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interests occur at interfaces – spaces existing in between, or linkages between social units. Conflict is particularly important at interfaces, Brown asserts, because interfaces are between social units and “authority, responsibility, and appropriate behavior are often unclear” (16). Brown notes that conflict at organizational interfaces often involves common and conflicting interests, and how the various parties perceive the conflict determines the type of interaction and the extent to which positive outcomes and opportunities for change are possible. In his work on violence and peace, Johan Galtung (1969) says that peace and conflict are better understood as “region[s]” not “point[s]” and structural violence is a matter of social justice. The author helps us understand violence in a way that is open to realities beyond originally expected overt violence: “ethical systems directed against intended violence will easily fail to capture structural violence in their nets … If the concern is with peace, and peace is the absence of violence, then action should be directed against personal as well as structural violence” (172). He distinguishes between negative peace (the absence of personal violence) and positive peace (the absence of structural violence) to show how there are better forms of peace. Thus, colonization can be interpreted as meaning violence is the status quo until the structures that harbour the violence can be transformed. In colonial states, violence already exists. It is not minority groups, like Indigenous peoples in Canada, creating violence; they are responding to already violent situations within a shared space. We will now discuss how the education system (exemplified here as the field of adult education) can be conceptualized as a cultural interface and analyzed for its violent nature to deconstruct the meanings, histories, theories, and discourses that assist leaders in recognizing the features of structural violence and negative peace. This provides the opportunity to harness the positive nature of conflict at the interface, emphasizing the importance of conflict in developing identities, the positive nature of conflict, and the functional purposes of non-violent conflict as first conceived by Lewis Coser (1964) and Georg Simmel (1955).

Ad u l t Ed u c a t io n a s an E xa m p le o f C o l on ia l   V io l e n c e a t t h e C u l tura l Inter f ace Post-secondary education (pse), adult basic education (abe), and literacy programs are referred to as adult education in Canada. Transformative learning theory pervades the field of adult education and has roots in modernist assumptions that relate to Eurocentrism (Brookfield and Holst 2011; Cranton 2013; Lange 2013; Nesbit 2013). Elizabeth Lange (2013) suggests, “This

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fascination with transformation is connected to assumptions that emerged during the Enlightenment, such as the belief in the improvability of societies and individuals, and the desirability, even necessity, of profound change over tradition and continuity” (107). Like transformative learning, adult education has roots in modernism (Brigham 2013; Cranton 2013; Lange 2013; Nesbit 2013; Plumb 2013). Patricia A. Quigley (2013) explains that adult education is a phrase originally meaning the education of adults who have not been properly educated as children, and remains among the oldest, most enduring hegemonies of “deficit perspective” in Western society. Literacy in any society, she concludes, is not simply a prevailing question of who can read and write, but rather the accommodation of prevailing values (82–4). Class underpins the rationale for [the] operation of adult basic education and literacy, asserts Butterwick (2013), concluding “these programs were created to enhance the upward mobility of learners who, for diverse reasons, face barriers given their limited attainment of education credentials, the lack of recognition of their credentials, and/or ability to speak and write in the dominant language” (131–2). Official literacy has always been based on French and English and the associated settler cultures, without any emphasis on other languages in literacy policy: “With roots deep in a history of colonization, we can begin to see how a largely unquestioned ‘deficit perspective’ has come to be normalized” (84). Suzanne Klinga’s (2012) literature review of adult education programs for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit, Johanna Geraci’s (2012) work with Nunavut Arctic College, and the Canadian Council on Learning (2007) reveal similar findings, that programs do not reflect Aboriginal worldviews and realities. Hugh Shewell (2004) connects the assimilationist and integrationist properties of federal welfare policies for Aboriginal peoples to the origins of adult education and community development programs in Canada. The origins of adult education in Canada are linked to the federal government’s political economy, both in the past and currently (Brigham 2013; Nesbit 2013; Gibb and Walker 2013; Quigley 2013). Shauna Butterwick (2013) invokes class struggle and concerns with poverty as a lens to inform necessary improvements to adult basic education and ­literacy programs. She says, “In a rich nation like Canada, poverty is often hidden or ignored,” which is “particularly true of First Nations peoples who are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty” (133). These dynamics highlight the hidden injuries of class and other intersecting colonial oppressions at the cultural interface. These concerns have to be understood within a historical context where Eurocentric histories and

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knowledge are often presented as universal promoting “discriminatory behaviour in classrooms, biased institutional policies, as well as stereotypes and negative portrayals of certain groups in the media,” to “reinforce and sustain systems of domination” (120).

In t e r f a c e Ana l ysi s a nd S y s t e m ic T r a ns f or m ati on Through Aki (Earth) Based Learning Protracted social conflicts require specific attention to culture. In this brief example, the cultural interface of adult education and Indigenous peoples is analyzed for its specific cultural relics. Reflecting the structural conditions of Eurocentric institutions, this type of system is built on assumptions that emerged during the Enlightenment, characterized by a deficit perspective, the perception that adults were not properly educated in youth, upward mobility, and securing of jobs within the modern economic system based on the language requirements of the colonizer (French and English). Paul’s recent research in Indigenous Activity-Based Learning suggests the way to eliminate violence from this type of archetypal system is to begin with Indigenous worldviews and values that flow from Aki (Earth/Land). Aboriginal worldview is typically discussed as having four common elements within the confines of a circle, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual portions that make the entire individual (Bopp, Bopp, Brown and Lane 1985). At the core of this concept is the connection beyond the individual to family, community, nation, and Mother Earth (the world), including the environment – land, water, air, and spirit. In Anishinaabeg, the word for land is “Aki,” but the literal translation is actually “Earth.” Thus, when we speak of land, we are actually speaking of the entire Earth. For Anishinaabeg peoples “land learning” is actually “Earth learning.” Earth or “Aki” based learning flows from the Indigenous responsibility towards Mother Earth. Kanawayandan D’aaki means “keep my land,” and practice is critical to maintaining an intimate relationship with it, explains Rachel Ariss and John Cutfeet (2012). The emphasis of worldview is to maintain our special bonds with the land – which is the ground, the animals, the water, the fish, the trees and us – all of what has been made by the Creator in our ­territories … it is not possible to learn of and relate to all of the land without having an intimate relationship with it. (45)

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This perspective speaks to the fundamental beliefs that form our identities as Indigenous peoples. Traditional Aki-based lifeways are economic, social, and – we would assert – complex educational systems. They encompass various spheres of life that often are inseparable from one another, reflecting Aki-based worldviews founded on active recognition of kinship relations extending beyond the human domain (Kuokkanen 2011). Thus, activities like hunting become not only “an enterprise that produces food, clothing, tools, and other necessities of life requiring interdependence of female and male labour in a foraging society” (228), but also a process of acculturation. Interaction with Aki becomes a process of active cultural learning – it is the foundation of Anishinaabeg learning systems. Kincheloe and Steinberg (2008) explore “the educational and epistemological value of indigenous knowledge in the larger effort  … to act educationally and politically on the calls for diversity and justice” (135). Such an effort entails intercultural and interracial efforts to question the hegemonic and oppressive aspects of Western education and to work for justice and self-direction for Indigenous peoples around the world. Importantly, they note this will be a dynamic process, an unresolved conversation. Working to embrace the cultural interface and the critical Indigenous standpoint involves endless and often unconscious negotiations between Western and Indigenous worldviews (Nakata 2007). Eliminating violence in this context requires privileging Indigenous ways, working with local communities to define educational “Aki” based structures. We will now provide examples of how we employ socially just leadership strategies in these violent settings.

L e a d in g [ Og i m a a w in: Lea d ershi p] Eliminating Violence as Indigenous Leadership in the Cultural Interface In her book, Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit, author Marie Battiste (2013) suggests authentic change in education means that every person is operating from a sense of self that is defined by one’s own self rather than the expectations of others, “And in every part of the life journey we are moving toward understanding, learning, and always self-improving as we operate from that core of our revealed self” (183). Acknowledging what she calls authenticity in education by other authors (hooks 1994, 2003; Ermine 1995), she summarizes, we must “acknowledge that each person has a unique and personal journey that will yield to their learning so that they find a way

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to express fully their own purpose, vision, and journey” (183). This concept of authentic self is critical for understanding “Ogimaawin” / leadership in Anishinaabeg contexts. We will now provide some lessons based on this discussion and our practical experiences that attempt to translate Anishinaabeg ways of leading that characterize the authentic self. These include privileging Indigenous ways; considering leadership as a process and journey; the affiliative, relational, and educative features of the role; and the value of acknowledging strengths through diversity. Privileging Indigenous Ways: Contemporary governance systems that dominate Anishinaabeg lives are founded on the Eurocentric worldview. Thus, Eurocentrism dominates in the cultural interface, and leadership requires a privileging of Indigenous ways to create balance. It is not enough to simply treat Eurocentric and Indigenous systems equally because no Indigenous worldviews dominate the education system. This necessitates an understanding of our Anishinaabeg traditions and the system of the colonizer, becoming what Dale Turner (2006) called “word warriors,” learning the non-Indigenous world through Eurocentric education and training while grounding ourselves in our traditions. For Paul, this has meant not only learning the traditions of his own people, but the traditions of the local communities he is working with, including lines of communication (formal and informal); identifying and considering the individuals who hold influence in communities (formal and informal power); learning the local cultural protocols, traditions, and ceremonies; understanding local history; and identifying allies. For Karyn, this has meant ongoing attention to unlearning normative Eurocentric ideas and prioritizing listening to different Indigenous and non-Eurocentric perspectives and knowledges, accepting accountability, possibility, and actions available in the interface. Considering Leadership as a Process: Ogimaawin – leadership has cultural context. It is about understanding that from an Indigenous worldview, life is a journey, a constant negotiation and renegotiation of “Aboriginality” as Naomi Adelson (2000) explains, “a critical political tool; an essential space of otherness that is shifting, complex, and dynamic [yet] in which Aboriginal imagination can produce identity” (14). This type of leadership requires acute self-awareness while recognizing the pressures of the dominant system on identity development. Indeed, working in the cultural interface requires treating our work as an unresolved conversation, embracing strategies based on our distinct intellectual traditions. Learning, research, peace, and even reconciliation all speak to the journey; they are all processes. Thus, this type of leadership requires process thinking, an understanding that we never get to the end.

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Affiliative, Relational, and Educative Features of Leadership Roles: Gregory Cajete (2016) asserted that “leadership taken out of lived Indigenous contexts, is little more than an academic exercise, and one that privileges and reinforces a western paradigm of theorizing leadership” (264), arguing instead that “communal and culturally relevant forms of leadership are what matter most for Indigenous peoples and Indigenous leaders are developed out of a community context of affection, affiliation, and education” (264). Certainly, the cultural interface requires not only the theoretical, but consideration for practical approaches and solutions, and perhaps there is no better example than traditional Indigenous forms of teaching and learning. Traditional Anishinaabeg learning systems are founded on our relationships with Aki – Earth. Our ceremonies, the purest form of learning in Indigenous contexts, nurture and renew that relationship. Being Indigenous is being relational through practice and modelling our beliefs. Value of Acknowledging Strength through Diversity: In the anthology Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision, (Battiste 2009), the contributing authors discuss the importance of postcolonial imagining and visioning for decolonizing education. They assert that postcolonial educators must “transform education from its cognitive imperialistic roots to an enlightened and decolonized process that embraces and accepts diversity as normative” (xxix). Postcolonial visioning is “a process of evoking” the first stage teachers need to go through toward postcolonial education” (Cajete 2009, 191). Leanne Simpson (2017) similarly says, “if we are serious about decolonizing our political systems and governance, we must be prepared to blatantly reject the colonizer’s view of our knowledge and we must embrace strategies based on our own distinctive Indigenous intellectual traditions” (76). It is not enough to “just do” we must build our approaches on the Anishinaabeg worldview beginning with the identification of our governance systems before Europeans came to Turtle island including the education system. As stated above, it seems simple to say that Wolf clan members are path finders, teachers, and leaders, but these words come with cultural context and thus require learning their meaning within a unique physical as well as social and spiritual context. The authentic self, like culture, and thus, organizations, are constantly changing. Indeed, embracing change is a critical component of working within an Indigenous worldview and the cultural interface. This temporal reality necessitates embracing differences “in constant interaction with other people” (Goddard 2015), within the rubric of socially just leadership, which requires treating people with respect, using power and authority for the collective good, and above all, “policy should be seen as having a guiding function rather than being directive and absolute” (111). This will

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enable ethical, just, and sustainable practices that can only occur when the “arrangements that hold unjust or irrational practices in place are exposed and placed under scrutiny” (Walsh, et al. 2020, 406).

C o n c l u s ion: R e t u r n in g t o O ur Spi ri ts “No matter how dominant a worldview is there are always other ways of ­interpreting the world” (Little Bear 2009, 77)

Education in Canada is violent – more directly for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit who experience cognitive imperialism (Battiste 2009), but also for any settler Canadian complicit in ongoing violence inherent to a colonial system (Brigham 2013; Daes 2000). In fact, Angela Cavender Wilson (2004) asserts that many Indigenous “young people would rather drop out of school rather than subject themselves to institutions that implicitly or explicitly denigrate Indigenous peoples” (366). Existing critical voices and resurgences show the possibility and foothold for change and an understanding that interfaces (Schein 1999) between social units can be considered as a conceptual tool for eliminating violence in the education system and other Eurocentric governance structures. In their explanations of the cultural interface (Nakata 2007), ethical space (Ermine 2007), and the interfaces inherent to the zone of Aboriginal adult education (Atleo 2013), these Indigenous scholars make arguments that necessitate recognizing Canada’s colonial history and its impact on relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The study of structural and cultural violence, as discussed by Johan Galtung (1969, 1990), requires a keen understanding of complex systems and their interaction. Violence that “feels right or at the least, not wrong” necessitates recognition that the processes we use to transform this violence must not only work to eliminate direct overt violence, but the structures supporting that violence. In Indigenous contexts, this requires considering models of change that privilege Indigenous thought, which provide opportunities for structural change and learning. Martin Nakata (2007) describes “the corpus” as that body of knowledge, both historical and ongoing, that is produced by others “about us” across a range of intellectual, government and historical texts. These iterations of the power/knowledge force can be used to analyze normative White culture for constructing cultural enclaves within the established order. Socially just leaders in Indigenous contexts should embrace our traditions and the values of

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traditional societies – some of which have been discussed here. Educational leadership in this context is “a communal activity ‘informed by multiple intersectionalities of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexuality and enacted into practice that is situated within a conjuncture of particular historical, social, political and economic moments’” (Blackmore 2018 as cited in Walsh et al. 2020, 404). Returning to our Wolf spirits, we can truly become teachers, leaders, and path finders.

Note   1 Anishinaabeg is the traditional name of the Indigenous people from the North Shore of Lake Superior in Northern Ontario, Canada where Paul is from.

R e fe r e nc e s Adelson, Naomi. 2000. “Re-imagining Aboriginality: An Indigenous Peoples’ Response to Social Suffering.” Transcultural Psychiatry 37 (1): 11–34. Ancona, Deborah, Thomas Kochan, John Van Maanen, Maureen Scully, and Eleanor Westney. 1999. Managing for the Future: Organizational Behaviour and Processes, 2nd ed. Sylva, n c : South-Western College Publishing. Angelle, Pamela S., Helene Arlestig, and Katrina Norberg. 2015. “The Practice of Socially Just Leadership: Contextual Differences Between US and Swedish Principals.” International Studies in Educational Administration 43 (2): 21–37. Ariss, Rachel, and John Cutfeet. 2012. Keeping the Land: Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Reconciliation and Canadian Law. Halifax, ns: Fernwood Publishing. Armstrong, Helen. 2013. “Indigenizing the Curriculum: The Importance of Story.” First Nations Perspectives: The Journal of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre 5 (1): 37–64. Atleo, Marlene. 2013. “The Zone of Canadian Aboriginal Adult Education: A Social Movement.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada, edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 39–50. Toronto, o n : Thompson Educational Publishing. Avruch, Kevin. 2008. “Chapter 8: Culture.” In Conflict: From Analysis to Intervention, edited by Sandra Cheldelin, Daniel Druckman, and Larissa Fast, 167–80. New York, n y : Continuum. Azar, Edward. 1983. “The Theory of Protracted Social Conflict and the Challenge of Transforming Conflict Situations.” Monograph Series in World Affairs 20 (2): 81–99. Battiste, Marie. 2009a. “Introduction: Unfolding the Lessons of Colonization.” In Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision, edited by Marie Battiste, xvi–xxx. Vancouver, b c : u b c Press.

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– 2009b. “Maintaining Aboriginal Identity, Language, and Culture in Modern Society.” In Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision, edited by Marie Battiste, 192–208. Vancouver, b c : u b c Press. – 2013. Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit. Vancouver, bc: Purich Publishing Limited. Bopp, Judie, Michael Bopp, Lee Brown, and Phil Lane. 1989. The Sacred Tree: Reflections on Native American Spirituality. 3rd ed. Detroit, m i: Lotus Light Publications. Borrows, John. 2005. Crown and Aboriginal Occupations of Land: A History and Comparison. Toronto, o n : Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario. Brigham, Susan. 2013. “Theorizing Race in Adult Education: Critical Race Theory.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada, edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 119–28. Toronto, on : Thompson Educational Publishing. Brookfield, Stephen, and John Holst. 2011. Radicalizing Learning: Adult Education for a Just World. San Francisco, ca: Jossey-Bass. Brown, David. 1983. Managing Conflict at Organizational Interfaces. Reading, m a: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Butterwick, Shauna. 2013. “Class and Poverty Matters: The Role of Adult Education in Reproduction and Resistance.” Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada, edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 129–38. Toronto, o n: Thompson Educational Publishing. Cajete, Gregory A. 2009. “Indigenous Knowledge: The Pueblo Metaphor of Indigenous Education.” In Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision, edited by Marie Battiste, 181–91. Vancouver, b c : ubc Press. – 2016. “Indigenous Education and the Development of Indigenous Community Leaders.” Leadership 12 (3): 364–76. Canadian Council on Learning. 2007. Redefining How Success is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning. Cormier, Paul. 2010. “Indigenous Youth Conflict Intervention: The Transformation of Butterflies.” First Peoples Child and Family Review 5 (3): 23–33. – 2019. “The Paradox of Complexity in Peace and Conflict Studies: Indigenous Culture, Identity, and Peacebuilding.” In Routledge Companion to Peace and Conflict Studies, edited by Sean Byrne, Thomas Matyok, Imani Michelle Scott, and Jessica Senehi. London, u k : Routledge. Coser, Lewis. 1964. The Functions of Social Conflict. New York, ny: The Free Press. Cranton, Patricia 2013. “Adult Learning Theory.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada, edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 95–106. Toronto, o n: Thompson Educational Publishing. Daes, Erica-Irene. 2000. “Prologue: The Experience of Colonization Around the World.” In Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision, edited by Marie Battiste, 3–8. Vancouver, b c : u b c Press. Daschuk, James. 2013. Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life. Regina, sk: University of Regina Press. Ermine, Willie. 2007. “The Ethical Space of Engagement.” Indigenous Law Journal 6 (1): 193–204.

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Galtung, Johan. 1969. “Violence, Peace, and Peace research.” The Journal of Peace Research 6 (3): 167–91. – 1990. Cultural Violence. Journal of Peace Research 27 (3): 291–305. Geraci, Johanna. 2012. Developing an Adult Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum, Assessment and Instructor Training: A Review of the Literature. Nunavut Arctic College. Gibb, Tara, and Judith Walker. 2013. “Knowledge Economy, Discourses and Adult Education in Canada: A Policy Analysis.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada, edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 258–69. Toronto, o n: Thompson Educational Publishing. Goddard, J. Tim. 2015. “When the Walls Have Fallen: Socially Just leadership in post-traumatic times.” Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Practice 30 (1): 106–18. Government of Canada. 2016. Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Ottawa, o n : Government of Canada. hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress. New York, ny: Routledge. – 2003. Teaching to Community: Pedagogy of Hope. New York, ny: Routledge. Kincheloe, Joe, and Shirley Steinberg. 2008. “Indigenous Knowledges in Education: Complexities, Dangers, and Profound Benefits.” In Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies, edited by Norman Denzin, Yvonne Lincoln, and Linda Smith, 135–56. Thousand Oaks, ca: Sa ge Publications. King, Thomas. 2003. The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative; 2003 Massey lecture. cb c Massey Lectures. Toronto, o n: House of Anansi Press. Klinga, Suzanne. 2012. Literature Review – State of Practice: Essential Skills Applications with First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada. Canadian Career Development Foundation. Kuokkanen, Rauna. 2011. “Indigenous Economies, Theories of Subsistence, and Women: Exploring the Social Economy Model for Indigenous Governance.” The American Indian Quarterly 35 (2): 215–40. Lange, Elizabeth. 2013. “Interrogating Transformative Learning: Canadian Contributions.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber and Tara Gibb, 107–18. Toronto, on : Thompson Educational Publishing. Little Bear, Leroy. 2009. “Jagged Worldviews Colliding.” In Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision edited by Marie Battiste, 77-85. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. McLean, Scott. 2016. “From Cultural Deprivation to Individual Deficits: A Genealogy of Deficiency in Inuit Adult Education.” Canadian Journal of Education 39 (4): 1–28. Nadasdy, Paul. 2003. Hunter and Bureaucrats: Power, Knowledge, and Aboriginal State Relations in the Southwest Yukon. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Nakata, Martin. 2007. “The Cultural Interface.” Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 36, supplement: 7–14. Nesbit, Tom. 2013. “Canadian Adult Education: A Critical Tradition.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 1–15. Toronto, o n: Thompson Educational Publishing.

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Plumb, Donovan. 2013. “Adult Education as a Realist Emancipatory Practice.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada, edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 149–59. Toronto, o n : Thompson Educational Publishing. Quigley, Patricia. 2013. “Learning from Landmarks: To Reshape Adult Literacy Policy in the Twenty-First Century.” In Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning in Canada, edited by Tom Nesbit, Susan Brigham, Nancy Taber, and Tara Gibb, 82–92. Toronto, o n : Thompson Educational Publishing. Schein, Edgar. 1999. “Organizational Culture.” In Managing for the Future: Organizational Processes and Behaviour, edited by Deborah Ancona, Thomas Kochan, John Van Maanen, Maureen Scully, and Eleanor Westney, 76–93. Sylva, n c: South-Western College Publishing. Shewell, Hugh. 2004. Enough to Keep Them Alive: Indian Welfare in Canada, 1873 –1965. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. Simmel, Georg. 1955. Conflict: The Web of Group-Affiliations. New York, n y: The Free Press. Simpson, Leanne. 2017. “Our Elder Brothers: The Lifeblood of Resurgence.” In Lighting the Eighth Fire: The Liberation, Resurgence, and Protection of Indigenous Nations, 73–87. Vancouver, b c: Langara College. Timmons, Vianne, and Peter Stoicheff. 2016. “Post-Secondary Education in Canada: A Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.” In Policy Brief (Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy), 1–4. https://www.schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca/research/publications/policy-brief/ Post-Secondary-Education-in-Canada-A-Response-to-the-Truth-andReconciliation-Commission-of-Canada.php. Turner, Dale. 2006. This is Not a Peace Pipe: Towards Critical Indigenous Philosophy. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. Walker, Polly. 2004. “Decolonizing Conflict Resolution Addressing the Ontological Violence of Westernization.” The American Indian Quarterly 28 (3/4): 527–49. Walsh, Lucas, Amanda Keddie, Jane Wilkinson, and Luke Howie. 2020. “An Ecological Case-Study of the Benefits and Challenges of Socially-Just Leadership Engaging in ‘Challenging Conversations’ About Social Disharmony.” Journal of Educational Administration and History 52 (4): 403–16.

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4 Leadership in Transgression Teaching to Transgress, the Social Change Model of Leadership, and the Student Affairs Practices of White Heterosexual Men Conor M c Laughlin

All of this started with a new job and a supervisor handing me Feminism is for Everybody. Inspired, I read any book by bell hooks I could find. Eventually, I came to Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, and it put words to a number of ideas I had been trying to articulate and struggling to translate into action. hooks’s (1994) work challenged me to examine my own ways of knowing, to ask myself how existing as a White, heterosexual, cisgender man with a number of other privileged identities affected how I did my work. I came to the question, which guided the exploration that makes up this chapter, “can Teaching to Transgress serve as a way to help White, heterosexual men who work in student affairs practice leadership in more socially just ways?” To examine this question, I worked with a group of nine White, heterosexual, cisgender men who work as student affairs professionals across the United States as they read Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom1 and reflected on the ways in which the book might offer them new or deeper insights into themselves and their practices.

F r a m in g t he I s sue Colleges and universities are constantly working to enhance the diversity of their campuses. While not mandated, almost all are aware of the substantial benefits of diversity to students attending college (Bollinger 2012). Though

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the diversity of the student body is important, an environment of physical and psychological safety (Bell [2000] 2010) is needed to sustain the benefits of this diversity (Griffin [1980] 2017). Incidents on individual campuses may seem isolated. However, the number of these incidents continues to rise each year (Bauer-Wolf 2019). The larger pattern across campuses informs the perception of climate for students with minoritized identities (Griffin [1980] 2017). To this end, student affairs professionals are expected to understand social justice and its relevance to their work with students and develop their capacity to practice leadership (acpa and naspa 2015). These capacities do not exist as distinct ideas or separate practices, but rather interconnected and in support of one another in better service of students (O’Brien 2018; a c p a and n a s p a 2015). The Social Change Model of Leadership (s c m ) (Komives and Wagner 2016) is ever-present in discussions of leadership on college campuses. It, like hooks’s (1994) work, describes co-creating spaces in which our actions can create justice. Each of these ideas works together to inform an approach to leadership from which justice can be practiced in the work of student affairs professionals.

P r e v io u s S c h o l arshi p The Social Change Model of Leadership scm prioritizes positive social change and the processes necessary to achieve it (Dugan and Komives 2010; Komives and Wagner 2016). Much of the research done on the social change model has focused on college students and their efforts to learn and employ the model (i.e., Komives et al. 2009). scm , however, does not explicitly address the roles power and dominance, at the individual, group, and systemic levels, play in shaping the efforts of students attempting to practice this sort of leadership (Dugan et al. 2015).

Dominant Group Identities Given the importance of this suggestion by Dugan and colleagues (2015), it is important to understand the nature of dominant group identities, or identities that benefit from systems of oppression, including the ways in which they shape practices of leadership. Whiteness, masculinity, and heterosexuality are all examples of identities that, while socially constructed, also hold material consequences for all participants in the systems which construct them (Harris 2010; Evans and Reason 2007; Evans and Broido 2005). People

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holding these identities (among many others) are ascribed unearned privilege and are unaware of the different ways those who hold other identities are treated in the world (Goodman 2014; Evans and Broido 2005). Members of these three groups are the ones most resistant to social justice and change (Goodman 2014). This resistance creates barriers that deny those who hold these identities more meaningful ways of understanding the world and deeper, more intimate relationships with people around them (Davis and Wagner 2005; Harris 2010; Cobham 2011; Goodman 2014). Members of privileged groups can be important stakeholders in creating social change (Crowfoot and Chesler 1996; Reason et al. 2005; Harris and Edwards 2010); they need to take up opportunities to disrupt the socialization that creates and maintains these barriers (Goodman 2014). Cultivating a new, more critical awareness is necessary for those who hold these identities to begin participating in social justice movements and creating positive social change (Evans and Broido 2005).

Social Justice and Leadership in Student Affairs Student affairs professionals play a number of key roles in the educational experiences of college students. These roles present opportunities to push students to the margins or to enact justice (Griffin [1980] 2017) through education and interaction. Student affairs professionals, then, need to examine the ways in which their dominant group identities and privileges shape their engagement with their students, their understanding of leadership, and the ways in which they put leadership into practice (Dugan et al. 2015). College Student Educators International (acpa) and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (n a s p a ), the two major international professional organizations for student affairs professionals, have identified ten key competencies to cultivate and enhance in the ongoing professional development of student affairs professionals (2015). Two of these competencies are leadership and social justice. Understanding the interconnected and interdependent nature of these competencies captures a much more rich, complex narrative of the work (O’Brien 2018). Additionally, leadership is a frequently listed skill in job postings for student affairs professionals at all levels (Hoffman and Bresciani 2012). While the theoretical model for enhancing these competencies asserts an orientation towards an integrative practice (acpa and naspa 2015), it then becomes important for professionals to develop competencies in interconnected ways.

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Teaching to Transgress and Student Affairs There is a vast body of literature that discusses the approach to education described by hooks (1994) in Teaching to Transgress and its benefits in classrooms at the primary and secondary level (such as Berry 2010; Cochran-Smith 2001; Grace and Benson 1999) as well as, though to a much smaller degree, at the post-secondary and graduate levels (such as Bradley 2009; Danowitz and Tuitt 2011). While less substantial, a growing body of literature suggests the approach to education described by hooks (1994) in Teaching to Transgress is an approach that will help student affairs professionals develop a greater capacity to engage in social justice work (McLaughlin 2017a, 2017b; Stewart 2008; Watt 2015), often as a call to action to orient values at the centre of their work interacting with college students (Nicolazzo and Harris 2014; Jones and Stewart 2016; McLaughlin 2017a). However, none of these scholars have explored the ways in which hooks’ (1994) philosophy of education can also function as a process of developing awareness and calling to action. I began to explore the possibilities that this work could hold in this regard, reflecting on my own experiences with raising consciousness, developing a motivation to align values with action, and better understanding how to translate that motivation into action and further learning.

M e t h o d o lo g y The question guiding this chapter, “can Teaching to Transgress serve as a way to help White, heterosexual, men who work in student affairs practice leadership in more socially just ways?” emerged from a larger study of the experiences of these participants and their reading Teaching to Transgress. The larger study from which this chapter is drawn used elements of phenomenological (Jones et al. 2013) and grounded theory (Charmaz 2014) methodologies to address the research question. I employed a purposive sampling approach (Bryman [2001] 2012) and conducted three interviews with each participant, in addition to collecting journals kept through the process of reading Teaching to Transgress, to understand the participants’ experiences and learning.

W h a t Em e r g e d The findings of this study coalesced around three major themes, that transgressive teaching aligns with held ideas of leadership as a process of communal, participatory change; relationship building; and setting an example for others. Each of these were ways that participants already viewed leadership, and they

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spoke to how hooks’ (1994) work helped to concretize their leadership in their work as student affairs professionals. These findings help to illustrate the ways that Teaching to Transgress can play a role in shaping thinking and practice on leadership in the field of student affairs.

Communal Participation in Change Most of the participants spoke about leadership as creating positive change in the world. They also spoke to the ways in which that change is both communal and participatory, rather than being imposed. Their articulations of leadership also evolved as they read hooks’ (1994) work. These new insights often described leadership as the creation of change rooted in community and encourage everyone’s participation. Fred, a Director of Student Conduct who moved to a role as the Director of Student Life, spoke about leadership as “giving power to others.” In a later interview, Fred defined leadership as “the collective need for positive change and to make our experience, however long we are on this planet, better.” He connected this to his experience reading Teaching to Transgress, describing the way that hooks challenges him to do this work with others and also on himself. Seth, a director of University Centres at the time of this study, also spoke about the ways in which leadership is a way of supporting and empowering others as they work to create positive change. During our initial interview, he said “holding space around others to be at their best, to become what they want to become.” After he finished Teaching to Transgress, Seth said that the experience helped him to articulate the importance of participation and inclusion in his approach to leadership, “Co-creation can’t happen if you can’t bring all of themselves.” He continued, “My approach to leadership is always wanting to do more co-creation and [reading Teaching to Transgress] expanded that understanding.” Jerome, an assistant director of student activities, described a similar conception of leadership, “True leaders are the ones that can help people grow in areas they need to.” He also spoke about his experience reading Teaching to Transgress as affirming his ideas that those practicing leadership “[are not] the source of power and knowledge in a space, making sure the community you are leading has a say, using their voice instead of me trying to speak for them.” He continued describing the ways in which his experience reading Teaching to Transgress solidified these ideas of leadership, “It’s easy to preach a nonhierarchical community-based leadership style when in actuality that’s more difficult to pull off. [Reading Teaching to Transgress] gives examples and provides some concrete ideas on how to do that.”

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Building Relationships Many participants spoke about leadership as being connected to the relationships a person builds with other people. Many of them connected this notion to transgressive teaching through the ways in which identity and systems of power influence and impact how each of us builds and sustains those relationships. The participants spoke about the ways this experience helped them to reflect on how they build relationships, and how those relationships are informed by the participants’ positions on spectra of race, gender, and sexuality. Raymond, an assistant director of Student Conduct, said that his primary understanding of leadership was as a process of relationship building. “When I think of leadership, I think in relation to other people, interaction and connection with other people.” Raymond said that his experience of reading Teaching to Transgress offered him a chance to see this awareness of power put into practice. He said “I think it has been encouraging for me to be more engaged in the areas of connection with students and staff, trying to incorporate [that relationship] more than it has potentially been done in the past.” Ernie, an assistant director of Residence Life, spoke about connected leadership, relationships, and his experience reading Teaching to Transgress. He said in our second interview “as a straight White cisgender man, to recognize the racism that exists and to have to rely on the students to tell me when they perceive that and that is a dangerous place to be in.” He spoke about the way in which the experience challenged him to be more thoughtful about how his position and power shape the relationships he builds with students and colleagues in hopes that he could use that awareness to build deeper connections across identities of race, gender, and sexual orientation. He also mentioned that perhaps relationships could be built by sharing power, “other people to hold the leadership role but then providing leadership within the role that I am given.” Terrance, an associate director of Residence Life, spoke directly about the ways in which he believed that the experience of reading Teaching to Transgress helped him to practice leadership. During our post-interview he said, “I think this is helping me be more relational in an authentic way around issues of race, where as I have engaged in the past. [This book] has produced much deeper, authentic relationships, especially with my colleagues of colour. If anything, my purpose has been enhanced.” David, a Dean of Students, spoke of his experience in a similar way. During our second interview, David described a shift in his orientation to leadership to a more reflective and thoughtful approach, saying that “Post-hooks my leadership is a little more interior.” He said that he often finds himself asking questions of himself, “Am

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I reflecting on this week enough? Am I reflecting on my identity in a way that helps me to become more effective and engaged?” He also said that “this experience has me doubling down on empathy. I think the next level of leadership is the ability to be more aware of identity, listening to others, and value their lived experience.” David described this experience as one that has helped him set his priorities for the next ten years of his career, which he said he believes will likely be the last ten years he has before retiring.

Setting an Example Terrance made a similar connection to his experience reading the book and took it as a challenge to act with integrity in his work. He said that the experience inspired him to “be more real, to talk about race and not feeling like I got to worry about you know how this can impact my career.” Later in that interview, Terrance said that he also was inspired to examine how he deals with critical feedback, “[am I] somebody who is so egotistical we can’t handle critical feedback, or [am I going to be] somebody who owns that this feedback is true?” Terrance often described the importance of seeing other White, heterosexual, cisgender male student affairs professionals engaging in social justice work in this way, and he needed to be willing to do the same. Ernie spoke about this idea in a similar way. In our first interview, he described leadership as “being accountable and effective with your time and resources.” He returned to this idea during our final interview, in which he described leadership as “making sure how you present yourself and the actions you take represent the values that you have,” adding “intentional about how inter­ actions impact others.” Ernie connected these concepts to the responsibility he feels to serve the students at his university, who are “primarily first generation, low-income school, and that’s the background I come from. It’s making sure others see me as approachable no matter my position. They should know that they can rely on me and I’m here for them.” Fred, during our first interview, spoke about being accountable as well. He described an aspect of his practice of leadership by saying, “we know that we have tremendous influence over who gets funded or who gets opportunities. I would hope that leaders in student affairs, myself included are asking folks to reexamine why they do what they do.” He returned to this idea again in our final interview. He spoke about the decisions he has to make, saying, “I don’t make them in a vacuum. I ask for feedback. I check in with folks. I’m transparent where I am struggling.” Fred said that he believes transparency is connected to other aspects of how he believes he can practice leadership in his position, “it should empower and engage people in the process.”

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Raymond, during our first interview, said, “The first thing that comes to mind is role modelling” when asked about leadership. While reading Teaching to Transgress, Raymond returned to this idea, “questioning how things functioning and whether functioning the way we really want them to do and leading to the outcomes we would like, and who else needs to be involved at the table. I feel like part of what she is doing is joining, to be a part of the process. Leadership is often role modelling and being a part of what you want to see happen.” Gene, who worked in scholarship programs at a large, public research University, also spoke about leadership in a similar way. He said that he believed student affairs professionals can “demonstrate the right behaviour, a different way to demonstrate or a better way to illuminate values.” He reflected on his own work with students at a university at which he had also been an undergraduate student. He said that he puts a great deal of effort “to help them open their mind, expand their mind to [experiences and people] which they may never have experienced.” Gene said that he believes it was important for students to see someone like them role modelling this sort of behaviour because it gave them the opportunity to see themselves in the p­rocess, “When they see it they can then model that same kind of behaviour.” Jerome spoke about role modelling in a way that echoes Gene’s perspective. He wrote in one of his journal entries, “it can be very difficult when students are married to an idea what education should look like.” He continued reflecting on the possibility that transgressive teaching offered, “I think it’s really important things to still help them and embrace that change, role model that things don’t have to be as rigid for education to happen.”

G r o w t h a n d W o r k to be Done Growth in Leadership and Social Justice The process of identifying one’s own values and articulating their place within practicing leadership is a particular way in which student affairs professionals can begin their leadership development (a c p a and n a s p a 2015). Additionally, by participating in this experience and examining their identities (acpa and naspa 2015), they are doing important, foundational work to develop their competency for social justice. Teaching to Transgress (hooks 1994) provided the participants with an opportunity to understand enacting a more communal approach to change, a core component of the s c m (Komives and Wagner 2016) and Teaching to Transgress (hooks 1994). Participants reflected on their own positions within systems of power and

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how they can use this reflection as one part of building more meaningful relationships across difference in their work (acpa and naspa 2015). This also addresses the value of student affairs professionals’ cultivating environments in which all participants’ contributions are welcomed and valuable (acpa and naspa 2015), one part of mutually shaping a more just, inter­ dependent society (acpa and naspa 2015; Bell [2000] 2010). This can begin the process of engaging these White, heterosexual men as stakeholders in creating change rather than opposing forces to it (Evans and Broido 2005; Reason et al. 2005; Harris and Edwards 2010). scm emphasizes building a common purpose and working in collaboration (Komives and Wagner 2016) as a part of creating positive change (Dugan 2006). Student affairs professionals must “Build mutually supportive relationships with colleagues and students across similarities and differences” (acpa and naspa 2015, 27) as part of developing their capacity for practicing leadership. The participants examining their own leadership perspectives through hooks’ (1994) work can represent the beginning of a desire to build the deeper, more intimate relationships often blocked by the ignorance of experiencing privilege (Davis and Wagner 2005; Harris 2010; Cobham 2011; Goodman 2014). Setting an example, both by acting with integrity and being a role model, illustrates what sc m calls congruence (Komives and Wagner 2016). The participants of this study responded to a call to examine their understanding of and commitment to social justice and leadership (acpa and naspa 2015). In doing so were willing to explore new possibilities for deepening their commitment to these values and expressing them in practice (acpa and naspa 2015). While we know that this often is not experienced by students whose identities have been and continue to be pushed to the margins (Dugan, et al. 2012), we also know that when these experiences happen they can be critically important to the students and their success (Griffin [1980] 2017; McLaughlin 2017a).

Work to be Done Much of the work still to be done represents the ongoing nature of professional and human development (acpa and naspa 2015). It can also leave unexamined the tension of challenging systems of White supremacy, heterosexism, and patriarchy by studying them without furthering their normality (Goodman 2014; Evans and Reason 2007; Bonilla-Silva [2003] 2010; Cobham 2011; Evans and Broido 2005). For example, many of the participants spoke about themselves as leaders. Many would talk about sharing resources in ways that emphasized their own benevolence rather than the agency of all people; they spoke about others’

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dependence on them for space and power instead of constructing systems and spaces in interdependent ways (Bell [2000] 2010; hooks 1994). This speaks to the difficulty of even doing this imagining, let alone putting it into practice, because of the ways in which the advantages of privilege are internalized (Bell [2000] 2010) and shape all aspects of thinking (Goodman 2014; acpa and naspa 2015). The participants in this study only discussed their experiences at the individual level. While this is one dimension of how systems of oppression work, they also operate at the group and systemic levels (Bell [2000] 2010). Similarly, sc m situates social change within the interaction among individual, group, and societal values (Komives and Wagner 2016). While the participants did discuss shifts in their thinking and some initial individual actions, even those who held positions of high-level power within an institution did not discuss the ways in which they could make systemic change. This is a critical piece of making positive social change (Komives and Wagner 2016) or disrupting systems of dominance (hooks 1994), and it may not have been a result of this experience. This ultimately means that while the participants were able to meet some of the foundational level outcomes for professional development in their field, they minimally engaged in development at the intermediate or advanced level (acpa and naspa 2015).

Recommendations The findings of the study present implications for professional preparation and development. This study affirms previous research that Teaching to Transgress (hooks 1994) can call student affairs professionals to align their practice with the stated values of their field (a c p a and n a s p a 2015; Nicolazzo and Harris 2014; McLaughlin 2017a; Stewart 2008; Watt 2015). The findings of this study indicate that the content of the text can be a valuable conduit for learning about practicing leadership in ways that support professional development outcomes toward social justice and leadership competency (acpa and naspa 2015) and a commitment to lifelong learning (Komives and Carpenter 2009). More broadly, this study points to the need for an ongoing curriculum for unlearning White supremacy, heterosexism, and patriarchy as part of the practice of leadership. Each of these professionals, and the collective whole of which they are parts, have a great power to shape the experiences of every student on every college campus (Griffin [1980] 2017). Because of the ways in which maintaining the status quo of these systems will be rewarded (hooks 1994), transgressing these norms has to be a part of how we understand practicing leadership.

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Co n c l u s i on bell hooks (1994) concludes Teaching to Transgress by writing, The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a ­location of possibility. In that field of possibility, we have the ­opportunity to labor for freedom, the demand of ourselves and our comrades, an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom. (207) The participants of this study arrived to it willing to think differently about their work and explore new approaches to practicing leadership. It was often difficult and challenging; the experience in many ways illustrated how difficult it is to unlearn investments in and benefits from systems of White supremacy, heterosexism, and patriarchy (Lipsitz 1998). While the experience did not present a complete roadmap or a checklist to follow, it did provide an opportunity to make gains in development and illuminate more work to do. The work of student affairs professionals is important to the creation of environments of learning, and their work holds the same potential for liberation as the work of faculty in the classroom. The change around which SC M is built is the same change hooks (1994) calls us to make possible in spaces of education throughout Teaching to Transgress. Considering the connections between these ideas, the possibilities they offer, rather than focusing on the divisions between them or the difficulty of the challenges they present, allows us to transgress the boundaries of how we understand and practice leadership. When we are willing to find leadership in transgression of these boundaries, leadership can become a practice of freedom.

Note  1 Teaching to Transgress explores how the ideas of critical race theory, feminism, postcolonialism, and neo-Marxism have become intertwined as an intersectional framework for examining issues of difference and oppression, marginalization, and domination. Some quotes help to illustrate key perspectives: “White women have yet to get a critical handle on the meaning of ‘whiteness’ in their lives, the ­presentation of whiteness in their literature, or the white supremacy that shapes their social status” (104) and “critical pedagogies of liberation … necessarily embrace experience, confessions and testimony as relevant ways of knowing,

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as important, vital dimensions of any learning process” (89). Quotes like these were features of discussions with research participants and as this chapter will ­illuminate, became provocations for deep, reflexive thinking and difference and inclusion.

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Dugan, John P., Corinne M. Kodama, and Matthew C. Gebhard. 2012. “Race and Leadership Development Among College Students: The Additive Value of Collective Racial Esteem.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 5 (3): 174–89. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029133. Dugan, John P., and Susan R. Komives. 2010. “Influences on College Students’ Capacities for Socially Responsible Leadership.” Journal of College Student Development 51 (5): 525–49. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2010.0009. Dugan, John P., Susan R. Komives, and Thomas C. Segar. 2008. “College Student Capacity for Socially Responsible Leadership: Understanding Norms and Influences of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation.” naspa Journal 45 (4): 475–500. https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.2008. Dugan, John P., Michelle L. Kusel, and Dawn M. Simounet. 2012. “Transgender College Students: An Exploratory Study of Perceptions, Engagement, and Educational outcomes.” Journal of College Student Development 53 (5): ­719–36. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0067. Dugan, John P., Natasha T. Turman, and Mark A. Torrez. 2015. “Beyond Individual Leader Development: Cultivating Collective Capacities.” New Directions for Student Leadership 148: 5–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20149. Eaton, Paul William. 2016. “The Competency-Based Movement in Student Affairs: Implications for Curriculum and Professional Development.” Journal of College Student Development 57 (5): 573–89. https://doi.org/10.1353/ csd.2016.0061. Evans, Nancy J., and Ellen M. Broido. 2005. “Encouraging the Development of Social Justice Attitudes and Actions in Heterosexual Students.” New Directions for Student Services 110: 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.164. Goodman, Diane J. 2014. Promoting Diversity and Social Justice: Educating People From Privileged Groups. Hoboken, nj : Routledge. Grace, André P., and Fiona J. Benson. 2000. “Using Autobiographical Queer Life Narratives of Teachers to Connect Personal, Political and Pedagogical Spaces.” International Journal of Inclusive Education 4 (2): 89–109. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/136031100284830. Griffin, Kimberly A. (1980) 2017. “Historical Overview of American Higher Education.” In Student Services: A Handbook for the Profession, edited by John H. Schuh, Susan R. Jones, and Vasti Torres. 3–19. San Francisco, ca: Jossey-Bass. Harris, Frank, III. 2010. “College Men’s Meanings of Masculinities and Contextual Influences: Toward a Conceptual Model.” Journal of College Student Development 51 (3): 297–318. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0132. Harris, Frank, III, and Keith E. Edwards. 2010. “College Men’s Experiences as Men: Findings and Implications from Two Grounded Theory Studies.” Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice 47 (1): 43–62. https://doi. org/10.2202/1949-6605.6085. hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York, n y : Routledge. Jones, Susan R., and Dafina L. Stewart. 2016. “Evolution of Student Development Theory.” New Directions for Student Services 154: 17–28. https://doi. org/10.1002/ss.20172.

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Jones, Susan R., Vasti Torres, and Jan Arminio. 2013. Negotiating the Complexities of Qualitative Research in Higher Education: Fundamental Elements and Issues. New York, n y : Routledge. Kiesling, Scott. 2007. “Men, Masculinities, and Language.” Language and Linguistics Compass 1 (6): 653–73. Komives, Susan R., and Stan Carpenter. 2009. “Professional Development as Lifelong Learning.” In The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration, edited by G.S. McLellan and J. Stringer. 371–87. San Francisco, ca: Jossey-Bass. Komives, Susan R., Nance Lucas, and Timothy R. McMahon. 2009. Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference. Hoboken, n j: John Wiley and Sons. Komives, Susan R., and Wendy Wagner, eds. 2016. Leadership for a Better World: Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership Development. San Francisco, c a : John Wiley and Sons. Lipsitz, George. 1998. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. Philadelphia, p a: Temple University Press. McLaughlin, Conor P. 2017a. “Listening for What is Being Asked: lg bt Students of Color Needs in Interacting with Student Affairs Professionals.” InterActions: ucla Journal of Education and Information Sciences 13 (1): 3–19. – 2017b. “A Movement Against and Beyond Boundaries: Exploring the Impact of Transgressive Teaching on the Student Affairs Practices of White, Heterosexual Men.” PhD diss., University of San Diego. https://digital.sandiego. edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1079&context=dissertations. Nicolazzo, Z., and Crystal Harris. 2016. “This is What a Feminist (Space) Looks Like: (Re)Conceptualizing Women’s Centres as Feminist Spaces in Higher Education.” About Campus 18 (6): 2–9. O’Brien, Jonathan J. 2018. “Exploring Intersections Among the acpa/nas pa Professional Competencies.” Journal of College Student Development 59 (3): 274–90. Reason, Robert Dean, and Nancy J. Evans. 2007. “The Complicated Realities of Whiteness: From Color Blind to Racially Cognizant.” New Directions for Student Services 120: 67–75. Reason, Robert Dean, Elizabeth A. Roosa Millar, and Tara C. Scales. 2005. “Toward a Model of Racial Justice Ally Development.” Journal of College Student Development 46 (5): 530–46. Stewart, Dafina L. 2008. “Confronting the Politics of Multicultural Competence.” About Campus 13 (1): 10–17. Watt, Sherry K. 2015. Designing Transformative Multicultural Initiatives: Theoretical Foundations, Practical Applications, and Facilitator Considerations. Sterling, v a : Stylus.

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5 Walk with Me Engaging in Participatory Theatre to Walk the Path to Reconciliation in a Canadian University Context Asma-na-hi Antoine, Will Weigler, Krystal Cook, Lisa Corak, Shirley Alphonse, Catherine Etmanski, Niels Agger-Gupta, and Cheryl Heykoop

This chapter documents a collaborative effort to create a series of experiential educational events that began to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commis­ sion of Canada’s (trcc) Calls to Action (Truth and Reconciliation Commission 2015b) at Royal Roads University (rru). Walk with Me was a structural and organizational leadership effort that built upon the perspectives of the Heron Peoples Circle of Elders/Old Ones1 and engaged Indigenous people and descendants of immigrants2 as co-leaders. The process sought to bridge silos between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, staff, and faculty to build collaboration across the University. In this chapter, we describe the event, offer insights from the creative process, and make direct connections to leadership learning and practice. We conclude by acknowledging this project is one partial and imperfect step on a long road to reconciliation.

L o c a t in g O urse l ves This project is dedicated to teⱥ ie Nadine Charles, Scia’new First Nation. We also acknowledge friends who have contributed to this project’s inspiration and development on the grounds of rru: Keil Kodama, Kolby Koschack, Roland Ginger, and members of the Heron Peoples Circle. We have much admiration and gratitude for your contributions throughout 2017–19.

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We are grateful to live, work, and learn on the traditional lands of Lekwungen (Esquimalt) and Xwsepsum (Songhees) ancestors and families. Asma-na-hi (Caring for Precious Ones) Antoine’s families come from Toquaht Nation, Nuu-chah-nulth lands, and Saik’uz Nation, Carrier Sekani lands, and she is the Director of Indigenous Engagement at rru. Catherine Etmanski’s heritage is from the Kasubian region of Poland, Clanranald in Scotland as well as Dutch, British, and Irish-American. She is a professor and director of the School of Leadership Studies (s ols) at rru. Cheryl Heykoop’s heritage is Dutch and English. She is an associate professor with sols at rru. Krystal Cook is a Kwakwaka’wakw woman from the Namgis First Nation, a theatrical performer, facilitator, and poet. She works with Aboriginal Nations Education Division in School District 61. Lisa Corak’s heritage is Australian and Croatian. She is a coordinator with sols at rru. Niels Agger-Gupta’s heritage is multicultural: German-Norwegian-Indian. He is an associate professor with s ols at rru. Shirley Alphonse is from the Cowichan Tribes and serves as a spiritual representative of the T’Sou-ke Nation. She is also a member of the Heron Peoples Circle, and was the Elder in Residence for bc Premier John Horgan. Will Weigler is a Settler theatre director, playwright, producer, and professional storyteller living on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples.

C o n t e x t f o r t h i s P roject: T h e   E r a   o f  R e c o n ci l i ati on an d C a n a d a ’ s   C o l o n i a l  H i story Indigenous3 people in Canada have “withstood the near destruction of their populations, social structures, and cultures as a result of colonial interventions” (Ball 2005, 3). These colonial interventions have included violent acts of warfare, exposure to diseases, segregation, and restriction of travel through a system of land reservations, forced sterilization, confinement of Indigenous children in government-sponsored residential schools, and social policies that promoted the legal adoption of Indigenous children into White families (Ball, 2005). Through the recent trcc process, the government of Canada now recognizes that the consequences of such colonial interventions were “profoundly negative and … had a lasting and damaging impact on Aboriginal culture, heritage and language” (Regan 2010, 1). The legacy of these damages – especially in terms of personal and intergenerational trauma, legal discrimination, and other forms of systemic racism – continues to this day. Revealing collective

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truths (Newman and Etmanski 2019) about this context is part of the current era of truth and reconciliation in Canada. The trcc findings call for all Canadians to take action towards reconciliation (Truth and Reconciliation Commission 2015a). Moreover, it is essential – and urgent – for educational institutions to take an active leadership role. Specifically, the trcc’s Calls to Action (2015b) challenged members of institutions of higher education to 62. ii. … educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms. (Truth and Reconciliation Commission 2015b, 7), and, 92. iii. Provide education for management and staff on the history of Aboriginal peoples … which will require skills-based training in ­intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and ­anti-racism. (10) Since education has historically been used as a tool (some might say a weapon) of colonization, these Calls to Action present a genuine challenge, both p­rofessionally and personally, to administrators, faculty, and staff in higher education. According to Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg author Leanne Simpson, “the ­academy must make a conscious decision to become a decolonizing force” (2014, 22). Since many of us had worked with theatre-based methods, we knew performative engagement was an approach that could aid us in entering into the conversation about reconciliation in a vital and memorable way, thus creating a powerful and embodied learning and teaching experience and authentic community-building effect (see e.g., Bishop, Weigler, Lloyd and Beare 2017; Weigler 2015; 2016). The performative aspects we describe below enabled us to welcome participants into conversations about reconciliation in ways that moved beyond intellectual engagement into embodied experiences.

C on ce p t u a liz in g L e a de r shi p i n thi s C ontext Although we know that the path to reconciliation requires leadership, the question of what constitutes good leadership, or even leadership per se, is highly contested (Grint 2005). The School of Leadership Studies (s ols) works with a variety of leadership definitions, but Northouse’s (2015) simple definition comes closest to our aspiration: “the term ‘leadership’ is reserved for those who influence a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (13). In our view, leadership links relationship-building within a group or team to the

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purpose of creating or promoting action, which is what we endeavoured to do in this project. Moreover, the term performative engagement that we use in describing the leadership learning aspects of Walk with Me combines the concepts of experiential learning, theatre, and engagement in the tradition of Matarasso (2019) and Weigler (2015; 2016). Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationships have traditionally suffered under the history of ethnocentric, heroic (Carlyle 1841), charismatic, patriarchal leaders and leadership. Yet, a number of positive shifts in the field of Leadership Studies have built momentum toward needed changes. A major shift has been the development of a body of scholarship on Indigenous Leadership (e.g., Kenny and Fraser 2012; Thomas 2018) as well as Indigenous and decolonizing methodologies (Kovach 2009; Tuhiwai Smith 2012; Tuhiwai Smith, Tuck, and Yang 2019; Wilson 2008). The concept of socially just and culturally responsive leadership (Lopez 2016; Peters et al. 2020) has developed in a parallel fashion. Shields (2010) suggested that a pedagogy in which students have the opportunity to make meaning ­collectively is “fundamental to the creation of learning environments that are both socially just and deeply democratic” (115). Peters et al. (2020) stated Within the extant literature, cultural responsivity is argued to involve cultural sensitivity, cultural knowledge, cultural empathy, and ­cultural guidance … and most recently, cultural humility … Further, authors suggest that social justice involves actions that address ­multiple fluid systems of privilege and marginalization, ­disadvantages and ­advantages, and practices and systems of inequity. (954) Perhaps more pointedly, and one of the elements giving impetus to our initiative, Lopez (2016, 28) argued that socially just leadership “is about finding the courage to challenge injustice” and better serve people on the margins through changes to policy and practice. Although the construct of social justice “includes various subconstructs, such as diversity, change, equity, inequality, oppression, marginalization, disruption, decolonization, and affirmative action” (Peters et al. 2020, 954–5), we were advised early in this project to be cautious of concepts such as ­diversity or even intersectionality that unconsciously centre the non-­ Indigenous experience and gaze. We learned these concepts may inadvertently reinforce many Canadians’ belief that Canada’s Indigenous populations are simply additional cultural communities in Canada’s mosaic (Newman 2016). According to authors such as St. Denis (2011) and Tuck and Yang (2019), official multiculturalism is seen by Indigenous communities as more evidence of colonial thinking. It dismisses the genocidal practices waged against

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Indigenous peoples – including residential schools, treaties, the Indian Act, and more – and wrongly homogenizes diverse Indigenous cultures into just another minority. Socially just and culturally responsive leadership must acknowledge this reality. Mindful of these aspects of leadership, as a team, we chose to play a leading role in facilitating an organizational dialogue among staff and faculty at rru to better understand reconciliation and begin responding to the trcc’s Final Report and Calls to Action (2015b). In doing so, the descendants of immigrants on our team were mindful not to take on a re-colonizing stance of speaking for Indigenous peoples in Canada, while at the same time, avoiding putting the Indigenous members of this team in the position of being the ­so-called wise dispensers of historical knowledge and cultural perspectives to non-Indigenous participants. Rather, we sought to create an authentic ­collaborative partnership of project co-designers that could serve as an example of creative, engaging, and collaborative leadership working toward decolonization in both process and content, however imperfectly. Below, we share the story of how we came together to initiate this project and how we conceptualized the Walk with Me experience.

Co n c e p t D e v e l op m ent A core intention in designing this experiential learning event was to create an environment where staff and faculty from across the r r u community could come together to engage with the perspectives of Indigenous peoples without Indigenous facilitators as the authorities on the delivery of cultural content. Instead, descendants of immigrants could do our own work by drawing on the writings of Indigenous authors and historical documents. We, therefore, invited participants to engage in a direct embodied and ­performative dialogue with a series of writings about experiences and legacies of colonization, rather than just having an intellectual conversation about these. We hoped direct personal investment and human connections with these profoundly moving stories would lead participants to a new way of perceiving the lives and perspectives of Indigenous peoples and perhaps stir a renewed commitment to becoming more connected with them, taking steps to forge the kind of relationships that lead to personal understanding and sustained support. The use of performative engagement strategies was a way to develop empathy among participants and also, significantly, to address leadership in the context of promoting diversity by facilitating participants’ direct engagement with the voices and experiences of the authors they encountered in this work.

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Staging Walk with Me required multiple collaborative partners within a post-secondary institution without any theatrical programming or infrastructure (outside of student improvisations as part of class assignments in other subject areas). Nevertheless, many members of the r r u community are familiar with experiential, arts-based methods, as they are a cornerstone to rru’s Learning, Teaching, and Research Model (Harris et al. 2019).

C o n t r ib u t o r s t o S ucces s This project could not have been successful without support from the Heron Peoples Circle. After all, it was their stories we were remembering and honouring throughout. Through Asma-na-hi’s leadership, the Office of Indigenous Engagement Services hosts monthly meetings with the Heron Peoples Circle. These meetings provide ongoing opportunities for guidance on rru projects related to Indigenous ways of being, doing, and knowing. Catherine was invited to give presentations about the Walk with Me event at three Heron People Circle meetings. She described the purpose of the project and the collaborative way the group was working and asked for guidance. After her initial presentation, a member of the Heron Peoples Circle, Elder Shirley Alphonse, chose to join the core working team to provide more regular, ongoing guidance. The title of this event was born when Elder Shirley suggested that no one could actually “walk in my shoes” if they have not experienced what she or other Indigenous people have experienced, but perhaps they could instead “walk with me” for a little while. At subsequent meetings, members of the Heron Peoples Circle reinforced foundational points, such as (1) the need to invite an Indigenous and a non-Indigenous theatre artist to work together as co-facilitators; (2) the need to highlight the problematic nature of the word reconciliation so that we did not claim that this work would achieve reconciliation, but that we were taking one step on a much longer path; and (3) the request to showcase maps that did not include colonial borders. Collaboration with members of the Heron Peoples Circle enabled us to tether this project to their insights regarding the purpose and intentions behind the spirit of reconciliation. Coming together as a team took goodwill, hard work, reflexivity, humility, and collectively overcoming misunderstandings. For example, when the group first formed in the summer of 2018, we learned that one of the sources of funding (a Diversity Fund) and our resulting desire to address reconciliation through an intersectional lens, was perceived as problematic. A visiting Elder participating in that day’s conversation wanted nothing to do with a project about diversity. She stated emphatically that the concepts of multiculturalism and diversity have served to further marginalize Indigenous peoples in Canada,

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who are not just another cultural community among many others, but have a long history as independent Nations and have endured land seizure, broken promises, and genocide as a result of systematic cultural imperialism and White supremacy (see, e.g., Lowman and Barker 2015; St. Denis 2011; Tuck and Yang 2012). Non-Indigenous members of the team had not previously fully understood that the terms diversity and multiculturalism could be understood as oppressive until this conversation. Reframing the intent of the initiative and gaining clarity on this perspective allowed us to move forward with a deepened sense of humility and openness to learning. In future meetings, we took the time needed to slow down to ensure all voices could be heard and check that we had a shared understanding.

W a l k in g T o ge t h e r : A n O vervi ew of   t h e   E x p e r ie n t ia l L earni n g W orkshop The full-day event consisted of several one-hour experiential learning workshops involving fewer than twenty participants each hour. Each group of participants was guided through a series of clearly defined experiential stations across a large room, metaphorically taking steps on the path to reconciliation. Members of the Heron Peoples Circle were present throughout the day to offer support, guidance, and wisdom in various capacities, and a team of volunteers supported the preparation and delivery of the Walk with Me event. The first event was successfully hosted on 16 October 2018 with sixty participants, and again on 19 February 2019, with fifty participants. The sessions were attended by employees from across campus, including program staff, librarians, gardeners, faculty, educational technologists, marketing, recruitment, and senior executives. Because this event was specifically intended to enhance organizational learning among employees, we intentionally did not invite students. However, we hope and anticipate that the effects of this experience will have a ripple effect for the students we serve. Each experiential learning workshop began with a brief orientation outside the event space, explaining a little about what would happen inside, the potentially sensitive nature of the topic and experience, and a reminder for participants to take care and be gentle with themselves and others. Once participants entered the workshop space, they were greeted by members of the team and welcomed to the ancestral lands of the Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) and Lekwungen (Songhees) families.4 During some workshops, one member of the Heron Peoples Circle was present to offer a greeting in the Lekwungen language. On other occasions, we played a recorded welcome from Lekwungen (Songhees) Elected Chief Ron Sam. Participants were invited to set an intention for the day, become present in the experience, and orient

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themselves to the five stations or experiences they would walk through together. Through this welcome and introduction, the intention was to establish a sense that this was the opening to engage in a sacred space within which special rules are obtained, set apart from business-as-usual at the university.

Step One: Grounding in Place The first station grew out of a discussion in our planning committee about the significance of locating oneself as living and working on the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples. Heron Peoples Circle members’ presence at the event contributed to the awareness that understanding where we are located was not an issue of the past; Xwsepsum and Lekwungen families continue to live and thrive on this land. At this station, participants were invited to learn more about the Indigenous name of their place of birth or where they currently reside. We brought in various maps of the province of bc, the entire breadth of Canada, and the continent of North America, all of which included Indigenous place names. We invited participants to place a symbol (sticker) on the place where they came from, or currently live, and added a space for those born outside of North America. A volunteer equipped with an app on their iPad could also enter the location of a participant’s birthplace or current residence, and it would show the Indigenous name of that area (Nativeland n.d.). Name badges were available for participants to write down the place name(s) that resonated with them. Finally, lapel buttons were created for participants to acknowledge the ancestral lands of rru.

Step Two: Connecting with Stories Participants were invited to look through a series of short excerpts from memoirs, poetry, fiction, historical documents, song lyrics, and testimonies about Indigenous experiences, mostly written by Indigenous authors. We asked that they choose one with a title that intrigued them and discuss the reading with three or four others. (Please see our associated website www.walk-with-meonline.com for a complete list of the readings we used and other resources.)

Step Three: Embodying the Stories Participants were invited to set aside scholarly analysis and approach the writings from a place of empathy. For example, we suggested that when they shared their thoughts with one another, they might use words such as, “I ­wonder …” or “I feel …” or “Inside my heart …”

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We wanted to discourage readers from projecting attitudes of pity toward the Indigenous people in these different narratives or to perceive them as helpless or powerless victims. We found an answer to this challenge by offering participants a handout with a mix-and-match set of two columns that could combine to contain the powerful paradox of an individual or a people who strive to hold on to their inherently buoyant, resilient, and loving spirits while experiencing extraordinarily oppressive circumstances. By focusing the readers’ search parameters (so to speak), we could help participants to see what they might not otherwise have recognized within a story of personal and social trauma. To round out the prompt, we asked them to search within the reading for a physical action that they felt embodied a particularly significant aspect of what happened. At this point, the activity turned performative. On the flip side of the handout was the following invitation: Now that you have identified one or more physical actions that ­capture the gist of the situation and relationships in the reading, does this remind you of a memory of a moment from your own life? [emphasis added]. Perhaps it was something from your family’s ­history, or ­something you once heard about, read, or witnessed as a bystander. In collaboration with your partners, your task is to ­create a short poem, a brief story, a single performed image, a few lyrics of a song, or a ­simple movement, that incorporates that very same physical action in the context of your own experience. Borrow the power of that physical action itself (and the reaction it prompted in you) as the central element in your new creative work. Resist the temptation to re-enact the events in the passage you read because these stories are not our stories to tell. Ground it in your own ­experience [emphasis added]. Take ten to fifteen minutes to develop and practice your piece. When everyone is ready, we will reconvene to share with each other what we’ve created. Since performance-based work is uncommon in our daily university interactions, we acknowledged that moving into a more performative space could be perceived as a risk for many participants. As such, we described the room as being a perfection-free zone, explaining to participants that no one was expecting their presentations would be a polished performance.5 Each group embraced the task with enthusiasm, though some showed a little more trepidation than others. With just a bit of encouragement, clarification of the task, and time-keeping announcements from the facilitators, everyone had soon created a short performative response to their readings.

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Table 5.1 Reflection prompts used during the Walk with Me event Loving while experiencing Creating/appreciating beauty while experiencing Giving care while experiencing Holding onto a connection to a person/place while experiencing Finding resilience while experiencing Achieving victory while experiencing Embodying strength while experiencing Being clever and resourceful while experiencing

Humiliation Fear or terror Loss Isolation Loneliness Grief or sadness Bullying Anger or deprivation

Step Four: Performing Our Empathetic Response to the Stories We then gathered again in one large group and moved to a collection of chairs arranged in a semicircle, all facing a slightly raised stage. It was at this fourth station that we were joined by several members of the Heron People Circle, whom we invited to share in the presentations. Each group took turns moving to the stage, first sharing their names and what they did at the University, then offering their brief performances based on the elements in their readings that had moved them and resonated with something in their own lives. Hanging above the stage for all to see was a long paper banner emblazoned with the quotation by Thomas King (2003) in large letters: “Don’t say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You’ve heard it now.”6 After each group’s presentation, the audience – co-participants, facilitators, and Heron People Circle members – reflected on what they heard and saw. The performers then shared their own thoughts about the performed piece they had created and the story they had read. When all the presentations had been offered and discussion came to a close, we invited everyone to move to the fifth and final station near the exit.

Step Five: Closure through Smudging and Encouraging Allyship As they exited the room, participants found several large wall posters identifying specific actions one can take to build respectful, sustainable relationships with Indigenous people and their communities, and to support aspirations for social justice. We also set up tables with a wide array of books, primarily by Indigenous authors, who have written about the legacy of colonialism. We

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placed notepads and pens on the tables and encouraged participants to jot down (or photograph) book titles and authors that intrigued them so that in the days and weeks ahead, they could seek out copies to read at bookstores and libraries. Elder Shirley then invited those who were interested to engage in a smudging ceremony. Lastly, participants filled out feedback forms and made their way out the exit, leaving the facilitators time for a short break before the next scheduled group arrived at the entrance door.

Re fl e c t io n s f r o m P arti ci pants Guiding questions in the written feedback form focused on the participant experience, the process of the experience, and actions participants would take moving forward. Shared with permission, and in response to the question, “what was the most remarkable moment during your experience today?” participants wrote of the powerful or intense emotions that surfaced through the process of reading, performing, and witnessing others perform. Participants also wrote of the value of being together in community with a shared sense of purpose. They noted how they welcomed the multiple perspectives and insights that emerged and were impressed by the creativity and connections formed in a short period of time. Reflecting on how the experience could be improved, many participants noted there was little they would have changed aside from making the event last longer. Participants frequently suggested fifteen to thirty minutes more would have supported further integration and reflection of the experience (recognizing that not all staff members are able to leave their desks for more than an hour or so at a time). Generally, though, participants wrote about their appreciation for the experience and expressed particular gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the Heron People Circle members and participate in a smudging ceremony. Reflecting on one action they could take as a result of their experience, participants expressed a desire to learn more about Canada’s colonial history through reading, asking questions, starting conversations, taking time to be on the land, and participating in similar activities. As one participant noted: “understanding the past is the first step to moving forward.” Participants also emphasized the importance of learning more about their own ancestry and having conversations about the experience with others, including their children, family members, and loved ones. In reviewing the feedback, it was evident that the experience was powerful, and many participants indicated serious interest in participating in follow-up activities or steps on the path to reconciliation.

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Cl o s in g In the introduction to this chapter, we suggested this work was both a structural and organizational leadership effort. It was structural insofar as we used maps and residential school stories to spotlight the fundamental structure of White supremacy and racism that underpin Canada’s existence. Moreover, it was organizational leadership insofar as our efforts rippled out in concentric circles throughout the university as an organization. We, the authors, leveraged our diverse roles both within and external to the university. The two artists’ positions as external to the university, for example, created a certain amount of distance in relationships that supported creative expression. Through relationship and commitment to a shared purpose, we asked for and received help from people from across the university, from funding review panels, to operations and catering staff; from the President’s office to our ­colleagues in the School of Leadership Studies, and more. The Walk with Me events themselves attracted participants from all departments, and guided them to make a personal investment in their own direct learning. This experience could be summed up by Lao Tzu, “When the work’s done right; with no fuss or boasting; ordinary people say; Oh, we did it” (as cited in Le Guin 2019, Koan 17). In this way, we hope this work provided inspiration for participants’ ongoing steps toward reconciliation at this university and beyond. Anecdotally, we have heard that it has. Our work together shed light on how long of a journey true reconciliation will be. The impact of residential schools and the near destruction of Indigenous culture, heritage, and language, as outlined at the outset, has left a legacy that is not easily undone, and certainly not reconciled within the timeframe of this project. Although we have a desire to walk together in our shared humanity, we acknowledge that unconscious biases, misunderstandings, and multi-faceted power dynamics may persist whether they are named or not. In ongoing conversations, we question whether decolonizing a fundamentally colonial structure such as a university is even possible. At the very least, we have come to understand that “reconciliation must become a way of life. It will take many years to repair damaged trust and relationships in Aboriginal communities and between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015a, 184). In accordance with the Heron Peoples Circle guidance, we have intentionally framed our efforts in this project as only one step on the long path toward reconciliation. Theatre artist and facilitator, Krystal Cook, affirms this experience was about opening the door to us all collectively writing the new story of our shared future together.

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Notes An abridged version of this work was originally published in Interface, the ­newsletter of the International Leadership Association (i l a) (www.ila-net.org) and can be found here: https://intersections.ilamembers.org/member-benefit-access/ interface/grassroots-leadership/walk-with-me-2. It will also be included as chapter 4 in the il a’s forthcoming publication: A Grassroots Leadership and Arts for Social Change Primer for Educators, Organizers, Activists and Rabble Rousers: edited by Susan J. Erenrich and Debra DeRuyver (2021).   1 Some members of the Heron People Circle prefer the term Elder, while others ­prefer to be referred to as Old Ones. In this chapter, we will simply refer to those who guided this project as members of the Heron People Circle.   2 At this moment in time, we have been encouraged by members of the Heron People Circle to use the term “descendants of immigrants” (instead of settlers). Members of the Heron People Circle (formerly known as the Elders’ Circle) advise Royal Roads University on Indigenous protocols and projects. As always with ­terminology, we understand that the preferred or more respected terms are those chosen by the individuals involved and can change over time.   3 In this chapter, we chose to use the term Indigenous unless we are quoting another author. We acknowledge that, in the land now called Canada, this term is ­frequently used interchangeably in different contexts with the terms, First Nations, First Peoples, Aboriginal, Native, and Indian. Each term has a nuanced meaning and political context. We recognize that wherever possible, it is preferable to use the specific nation or tribe’s name. At r r u , members of the Heron People Circle prefer the term Indigenous.   4 Although we are all learning how to acknowledge the lands on which we are ­gathered at the beginning of an event, only certain people have been granted the authority to welcome people to these lands. This is why we played the recorded welcome by Chief Ron Sam when a member of the Heron People Circle was not available to offer a welcome.   5 The concept of establishing a non-threatening perfection-free zone comes from community-based musician Doug von Koss (2007) who lives and works in San Francisco. See https://dougvonkoss.com/elder.htm.   6 In Thomas King’s (2003) book, The Truth About Stories, which is the compilation of his talks for the Massey Lecture series, he concludes each essay with this line. Readers can also hear these stories online: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ ideas/the-2003-cbc-massey-lectures-the-truth-about-stories-a-native-narrative1.2946870.

R e fe r e nce s Ball, Jessica. 2005. “‘Nothing about Us without Us’: Restorative Research Partnerships Involving Indigenous Children and Communities in Canada.” In Exploring Ethical Research with Children, edited by A. Farrell, 81–96. Berkshire, u k : Open University Press / McGraw Hill Education.

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Bishop, Kathy, Will Weigler, Tracey Lloyd, and David Beare. 2017. “Fostering Collaborative Leadership through Playbuilding.” In Adult Learning through Collaborative Leadership: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, edited by Catherine Etmanski, Kathy Bishop, and M. Beth Page, 156, Winter: 65–75. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco, ca: Jossey-Bass Quarterly Sourcebooks. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20260. Carlyle, Thomas. 1841. On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History. London: James Fraser. Grint, Keith. 2005. Leadership: Limits and Possibilities. New York, ny: Red Globe Press. Harris, Brigitte, et al. 2019. “Learning, Teaching, and Research Model.” Royal Roads University. https://www.royalroads.ca/sites/default/files/2021-02/LTRM_ booklet.pdf. Kenny, Carolyn, and Tina Ngaroimata Fraser. 2012. Living Indigenous Leadership: Native Narratives on Building Strong Communities. Vancouver, bc: u bc Press. King, Thomas. 2003. The Truth About Stories. 6th ed. Toronto, o n: House of Anansi Press. Kovach, Margaret Elizabeth. 2009. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. Reprint. Toronto, o n: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. Le Guin, Ursula K. 2019. Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way. Boulder, c o : Shambhala. Lopez, Ann E. 2016. “Toward a Theory of Culturally Responsive and Social Justice Leadership.” In Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Leadership in Diverse Contexts: From Theory to Action, edited by Ann E. Lopez, 15–31. New York, n y : Palgrave Macmillan US. https://doi.org/10.1057/ 978-1-137-53339-5_2. Lowman, Emma Battell, and Adam J. Barker. 2015. Settler: Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada. Halifax, ns : Fernwood Publishing. Matarasso, Francois. 2019. A Restless Art: How Participation Won, and Why It Matters. London, u k : Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. https:// arestlessart.com. “Native-Land (Map).” n.d. Native-Land.ca - Our Home on Native Land. Accessed 5 October 2018. https://native-land.ca. Newman, Carey Hayałka̱ng̱a̱me’, with Catherine Etmanski. (2019). “Truthful Making the Witness Blanket, an Ongoing Process of Reconciliation.” Report from the field. Engaged Scholar Journal 5 (2): 235–43. https://esj.usask.ca/index. php/esj/article/view/68347. Newman, Keith. 2016. “Canadian Public Opinion on Aboriginal Peoples: Final Report.” Environics Institute for Survey Research, Canadians for a New Partnership, Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Inspirit Foundation, Institute on Governance, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Reconciliation Canada, and Tides Canada. https://nctr.ca/ assets/reports/Modern%20Reports/canadian_public_opinion.pdf. Northouse, Peter G. 2015. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th ed. Los Angeles, ca: S a g e Publications.

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Peters, Harvey Charles, Melissa Luke, Janine Bernard, and Heather Trepal. 2020. “Socially Just and Culturally Responsive Leadership Within Counseling and Counseling Psychology: A Grounded Theory Investigation.” The Counseling Psychologist 48 (7): 953–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000020937431. Regan, Paulette. (2010). Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Shields, Carolyn M. 2010. “Transformative Leadership: Working for Equity in Diverse Contexts.” Educational Administration Quarterly 46 (4): 558–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X10375609. Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake. 2014. “Land as Pedagogy: Nishnaabeg Intelligence and Rebellious Transformation.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education and Society 3 (3): 1–25. St. Denis, Verna. 2011. “Silencing Aboriginal Curricular Content and Perspectives Through Multiculturalism: ‘There Are Other Children Here.’” Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies 33 (4): 306–17. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10714413.2011.597638. Thomas, Robina A. 2018. Protecting the Sacred Cycle: Indigenous Women and Leadership. Vernon, b c : J. Charlton Publishing. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015a. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. https://irsi.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/ inline-files/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf. – 2015b. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. Winnipeg, m b : Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. https://www2. gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/ aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf. Tuck, Eve, and K. Wayne Yang. 2012. “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education and Society 1 (1): 1–40. https://www. researchgate.net/publication/277992187_Decolonization_Is_Not_a_Metaphor. Tuhiwai Smith, Linda. 2012. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. 2nd Rev. ed. London, uk: Zed Books. Tuhiwai Smith, Linda, Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang, eds. 2019. Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View. New York, n y: Routledge. https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.4324/9780429505010. Weigler, Will. 2015. From the Heart: How 100 Canadians Created an Unconventional Theatre Performance about Reconciliation. Victoria, bc: vi de a . – 2016. The Alchemy of Astonishment: Engaging the Power of Theatre. Victoria, bc: University of Victoria. https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/7756. Wilson, Shawn. 2008. Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Winnipeg, m b : Fernwood Publishing.

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Theme Two Intersectionality Catherine M c Gregor and Shailoo Bedi

In our second theme, intersectionality, our contributing authors provide narratives and lived experiences that embody how diversity leaders incorporate social justice in their everyday practice and through their intersecting identities. The notion of intersectionality and its connection to identities and ways of being is an important consideration in this section. Intersectionality has been written about extensively in the diversity literature, particularly among feminists (McCall 2005; Zack 2007), Black feminists (Anthias and Yuval Davis 1983; hooks 1984; Collins 2000; Yuval-Davis 2006), and critical race theorists (Crenshaw 1989; McCall 2005; Parker 2003). Intersectionality offers a path to thinking about how oppression operates and overlaps across diverse subjectivities. Moreover, intersectionality helps us to understand the creation of exclusive/inclusive spaces based on identities. This volume fully explicates intersectionality because much of the work on diverse educational leaders has been absent from the leadership literature; our contributing authors offer a space in which to investigate these dynamics. Although concepts and discussions surrounding intersectionality permeate the entire volume in that each author situates leaders as subjects positioned by and within complex socio-cultural contexts, this section showcases chapters that extensively explore intersectionality as an important component to identity creation and its connection to diverse leadership practices. Authors in this theme describe the stories of those engaged in the daily struggles of being diverse leaders. Identity work is also foundational to these chapters as the authors set out to talk about the intersectional nature of their multiple identities and the ways in which their identities inform both what they do and what they say in their practice.

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The intimate nature of diversity leadership comes through powerfully in these chapters, using storytelling about lived experiences and life histories. The authors of “Race and Gender: Chinese Canadian Women and Leadership” (chapter 6) highlight the complexity of access to formal leadership positions, especially for identities at the intersection of race and gender. Through stories grounded in historical and social contexts, the authors expose the difficulties and barriers faced through multiple diverse identities. They challenge us to see the structural inequities that restrict formal leadership positions to normative identities and exclude others. Similarly, Chan and Sivia, authors of “Diversity Leadership in Our Own Words” (chapter 7), describe how navigating across diverse identities, histories, contexts, and experiences creates conditions of “lived contradiction” (Turner 2002, 75), and how marginalities and vulnerabilities work outside and inside margins of difference. Travelling across and through these boundaries illustrates the fluid and conflicting roles and expectations that diversity leaders face. In “‘Fitting In’ and Identity Creation: The Lived Experiences of Racialized Minority Administrators in bc,” Bedi (chapter 8) critiques the existing leadership scholarship because it reifies traditional ways of thinking about leadership practice. Drawing on life history methodology, the author explores the impacts of identity issues, as well as critical issues in identity creation for racialized minorities in formalized leadership roles and how occupying hybrid identities has allowed them to subvert dominant narratives of leadership. In their chapter titled “(Re)Creating Equitable Spaces: Racialized and Indigenous Leaders in Canadian Universities,” Handford and Yahia (chapter 9) use Critical Race Theory to help us to understand the difficulties and barriers experienced by racialized and Indigenous leaders. The lived experience of the ten leaders in their study illustrates how oppression overlaps leaders’ diverse subjectivities. And yet, the data from the study yielded six strengths-based themes that communicate the importance and possibility of creating inclusive, equitable spaces in Canadian universities. In “Betwixt, Between, and Amongst: Intersectionalities,” Sider and co-authors (chapter 10) turn the spotlight away from leaders’ lived experiences and onto students to explore how school leaders can include students with special education needs. The authors employ intersectionality to show how classrooms are often exclusive spaces based on students’

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abilities. Ultimately, they show that an intersectional lens can “inform our work to support all students in today’s diverse inclusive schools.” Early in their chapter, entitled “Creating Space to Promote Social Change: The Lived Experiences of Black Women Educators as Diverse Leaders in Classrooms,” Wright Fields, Early, and Howell acknowledge that “the identities and lived experiences of educational leaders and those they encounter influence the nature of leadership.” In their exploration of Black women educators, they show how these leaders lead “through” their identities, integrating their “perspectives and lived experiences … to foster transformative learning.” The authors assert that talking about intersectionality in the classroom is a way of speaking “truth to power.” Authors of these chapters use theory to tease out understandings of how diversity leadership has unfolded or been resisted. Readers will likely not be surprised that each chapter offers a unique theoretical lens and an interdisciplinary stance to extend our understanding of how intersectionality is central to diverse leadership experiences. While leadership theory is obviously foundational to each approach, all authors explore how diversity leadership can be better understood when we enrich it with the complexity of social and cultural life, and with identities that resist normative forms of leadership practice and move fluidly between the intersections of multiple ways identity can manifest for diverse leaders.

R e fe r e nce s Anthias, F., and Yuval-Davis, N. 1983. “Contextualizing Feminism – Gender, Ethnic and Class Divisions.” Feminist Review 15 (1): 62–75. https://doi. org/10.1057/fr.1983.33. Collins, Patricia Hill. 2000. Black Feminist Thought. 2nd ed. London, u k: Routledge. Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum: 139–67. hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. London, uk : Routledge. McCall, Leslie. 2005. “The Complexity of Intersectionality.” Signs 30 (3): ­1771–800. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/426800. Parker, Laurence. 2003. “Critical Race Theory in Education: Possibilities and Problems.” In Critical Theory and the Human Condition: Founders and Praxis, edited by M. Peters, C. Landshear, and M. Olssen, 184–98. Peter Lang Publishing.

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Turner, Caroline. 2002. “Women of Color in Academe: Living with Multiple Marginality.” The Journal of Higher Education 73 (1): 74–93. Yuval-Davis, N. 2006. “Intersectionality and Feminist Politics.” European Journal of Women’s Studies 13 (3): 193–209. https://doi. org/10.1177/1350506806065752. Zack, Naomi. 2006. “Can third wave feminism be inclusive? Intersectionality, its problems, and new directions.” In The Blackwell Guide to Feminist Philosophy, edited by Linda Alcoff and Eva Feder Kittay, 193–207. Blackwell.

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6 Race and Gender Chinese Canadian Women and Leadership Grace Wong Sneddon, Lokpriy Shrma, and Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay

In May 2002, the Government of Canada officially declared May as Asian Heritage Month so that Canadians could learn “more about the history of Asian Canadians and to celebrate their contributions to the growth and prosperity of Canada.” While this may indicate Canadian society’s increasing commitment to the promotion of equity and a diversity agenda, it nevertheless obscures the reality of the persistence of a gendered/racialized leadership gap. Moreover, the institutionalization of whiteness contributes widely to the ongoing marginalization of racialized minorities and Indigenous persons, particularly of women, across all institutions and in leadership roles. While some women of colour have successfully navigated gender/race-specific challenges, their success says more about their perseverance than it does about a change in the Canadian exclusionary discourses and practices of leadership. In this chapter, we ask the question, why have diverse leaders of colour in Canada, particularly women, been unable to advance within fields of professional practice, and in formal leadership roles? In this chapter, we use the case study of Chinese women to explain the persistent racial/gender leadership deficit; our central argument is that Canada’s exclusionary citizenship practices have remained more or less stable over time and as a result, women of colour have remained on the periphery of Canadian leadership. We also explore how “double marginalization” along with patriarchy, exclusionary immigration, and citizenship policies conspired to persistently stereotype women’s racialized bodies. We show the ways diverse Canadian institutions remain permeated with gender and race biases, and end with consideration of how such histories and practices can be dismantled.

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S t a t is t ic a l R ea l i ti es In 2016, about 7.67 million individuals reported being members of the visible minority population (figure 6.1), 22.3 per cent of the total Canadian population, the highest proportion among the G8 countries; 51.5 per cent, or 3.94 million, were women. Visible minority women made up 22.6 per cent of the total women population in Canada (figure 6.2). In 2016, the three largest visible minority women groups in Canada were South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan), Chinese, and Black. According to Statistics Canada, if current growth trends continue, the visible minority population will represent between 31 per cent and 36 per cent of the Canadian population by 2036. In their 2016 report on “Visible Minorities and Women in Senior Leadership Positions: London, Hamilton and Ottawa,” Medianu and Esses underscore the fact that a negligible number of women of colour can be found in leadership positions. Lamontagne points out that only 3.4 per cent of top executives in Canada were members of visible minorities; only a fraction of them were women. Medianu and Esses reveal that this negligible representation of women leaders of colour can be found across all sectors and in most of the cities in Canada – in Montreal, where 31.2 per cent of senior leaders were women, “only 1.9% out of 31.2% women senior leaders were visible minority women, although visible minority women accounted for 11.5% of the population” (2016, 11). In Toronto, “the ratio of non-visible minority women to visible minority women was 6:1 across all sectors analyzed in the study area of the G TA .” In Ottawa, with its 19.4 per cent visible minority population, “11.9% of senior leaders were visible minorities, only 4.2% of senior leaders were female visible minorities, although female visible minorities account for 10% of the population of Ottawa” (24). A recent study by the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Diversity Institute (2019) has brought into light that while women continue to make slow progress, the advancement for women of colour persists in corporate leadership position. In eight major cities of Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Hamilton, London, and Ottawa) with a 28.4 per cent racialized population, only 10.4 per cent of people of colour, predominantly men, occupy governing board positions in corporations, post-secondary educational institutions, and municipalities. In addition, White women outnumber racialized women on corporate boards (Statistics Canada 2006).

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9,000,000 19.4% 7,674,580

8,000,000 19.4%

7,000,000 16.2%

6,000,000

13.4% 5,068,090

5,000,000

11.2% 3,983,845

4,000,000

9.4%

3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 0

6,264,750

3,197,480

6.3% 2,525,480 4.7% 1,577,710 1,131,825

1981

1986

1991

1996

Total visible minority population

2001

2006

2011

2016

Percent of the total population

Figure 6.1  Number and proportion of visible minority population in Canada, 1981 to 2016

25% 22.6% 19.3%

20% 16.0% 15%

13.5% 11.0%

10%

9.0% 6.0%

5%

0%

4.7%

1981

1986

1991

1996

2001

2006

2011

2016

Figure 6.2  Proportion of visible minority women population in Canada, 1981 to 2016

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D iv e r s e W o m e n o f Co l our a nd   L e a de r s h ip : Mu l ti p l e a nd   R e in f o r c in g   M ar g i na l i zati ons Our prime objective is to enhance our understanding of the impact of social exclusion, status, privilege, and hierarchy upon the diversity framework, particularly where gender and race intersect. We ask the question, why have diverse leaders of colour in Canada, particularly women, been unable to advance within fields of professional practice, and in formal leadership roles? Our focus is on Chinese-Canadian women. Why Chinese-Canadian women? The Chinese were some of the early non-White migrants to Canada, and the Chinese women were the earliest victims of the systematic gendered and racial discrimination of Canadian exclusionary policies and their institutionalization of whiteness in Canadian society. Second, the Chinese community in Canada is also growing considerably faster than the overall population. Between 2001 and 2016, for example, the Chinese population rose by 44.1 per cent, while the overall population grew by 14.8 per cent. As a result, the proportion of Canadians of Chinese origin increased from 3.7 per cent to 4.6 per cent of the total population. Third, as with the overall population of Canada in 2016, there were more women of Chinese origin living in Canada than men. While women accounted for 50.8 per cent of the general population, 52.7 per cent of the Chinese population were women (figure 6.3). The Chinese women population in Canada is highly concentrated in two provinces – Ontario and British Columbia. In 2016, 80.2 per cent of women who reported Chinese origin lived in one of these two provinces: Ontario was home to 47.6 per cent, while 32.6 per cent lived in British Columbia. In 2016, there were 395,310 women of Chinese origin in Ontario, while another 270,675 resided in British Columbia. In other provinces, 81,165 lived in Alberta and 55,135 in Quebec, while Saskatchewan and Manitoba each had one per cent in 2016 (table 6.1). In addressing the issue of the leadership deficit of the Chinese-Canadian women, we point out that since their arrival into British Columbia (their first entry point in Canadian society), they have suffered multiple and reinforcing marginalizations. In the first place, like their male counterparts, they were not only subjected to the exclusionary citizenship regime – initially by British Columbia and then by the Canadian government, but they also became victims of the normative and moral framework of both the White society and their own patriarchal clan societies. The latter, who were the intermediary between Chinese labour and Canadian society, did as much harm to their own women as did the Canadian White society. The negligible number of ChineseCanadian women who aspire to leadership positions have had to negotiate

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830,660 52.7%

900,000 800,000 700,000 600,000

565,300 51.6%

529,400 48.4%

632,310 52% 584,260 48%

692,420 52.3% 632,325 47.7%

746,400 47.3%

500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0

2001

2006

2011

Chinese women population

2016

Chinese men population

Figure 6.3  Chinese population in Canada, 2001 to 2016 Table 6.1 The Chinese women population in Canada, by province and territory, 2016

Total Chinese women population Nunavut Northwest Territories Yukon

As a percentage of the total Chinese women population in Canada

40

0.0%

155

0.0%

240

0.0%

Newfoundland and Labrador

1,065

0.1%

Prince Edward Island

1,305

0.2%

New Brunswick

1,955

0.2%

Nova Scotia

4,430

0.5%

Saskatchewan

7,995

1.0%

Manitoba

11,195

1.3%

Quebec

55,135

6.6%

Alberta

81,165

9.8%

British Columbia

270,675

32.6%

Ontario

395,310

47.6%

Canada

830,660

100.0%

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with these “multiple jeopardies” (Klein 2019, 236) arising out of an inter­ locking and interactive play between the legal and the cultural institutions. In order to explain the racial/gender leadership deficit, our central argument is that Canada’s exclusionary citizenship practices have remained more or less stable over time. There is a path dependency to these historical and socio­ logical practices, which have played a significant role in keeping social and political networks segregated, thereby maintaining a racial/gender leadership deficit despite a progressive, diversity policy agenda. We also suggest that “whitewashing” can only be explained if we drill “down to the historical roots of socially constructed identity categories.” We cannot change the present without understanding the past. We feel it is important to recognize this whitewashing and expose it for what it is. Charles Mills suggests that “White supremacy is the unnamed system that has made the modern world what it is today. It is a political system, a particular power structure of formal or informal rule, socioeconomic privilege, and norms for the differential distribution of material wealth and opportunities, benefits and burdens, rights and duties” (1997, 1). Is there an escape from the stickiness of existing institutional and political arrangements of citizenship rules? The path dependency literature tells us that change is possible when a critical juncture appears. We argue that we are in the middle of just such a critical juncture with the Black Lives Matter, Me Too, and #StopAsianHate movements and that this provides the real possibility of moving towards more equitable leadership outcomes. This would allow for shifting the persistent symbolic and cultural factors that have until now played an important role in gendering and racializing institutions and their practices. Our argument consists of two mutually reinforcing parts. First, we suggest that the citizenship policy regimes initiated during the formative Canadian state-building period in the mid-nineteenth century with their differential allocation of “entitlements, obligations, and dominations” have continued to define and legitimize race-centred exclusionary practices to this day. But persistence remains invisible. There is no clearer example than the Federal Government’s Anti-Racism Strategy (2021), which specifically fails to mention anti-Asian racism in its foundational policy document. It is largely due to “the popular iterations of Canada’s citizenship” and the branding of multiculturalism, which has become more and more loaded with the “recognition and accommodation of ethnic and cultural diversity.” In short, the visible population has been rendered invisible within the policy context. Second, the institutional order and the patterns of institutional development have served to conflate the cultural with the political, making it challenging, if not impossible, to talk back to the dominant discourses and practices. The

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image of the Chinese as racially inferior and inassimilable was to become widespread in mainstream Canadian society during the early years of Canadian state building when, for example, the media portrayed Chinese women as “syphilitic women luring young white men to eternal damnation” (Woon 2007, 91). This negative cultural space, along with the patriarchal practices within the migrant Chinese society, has played a dominant role in marginalizing Chinese-Canadian women. The Chinese clan associations, which provided opportunities to the marginalized Chinese community for interaction with their own familial community and the Canadian society, further stereotyped the negative image of Chinese women. We begin with the life experiences of Lillian Eva Quan Dyck – although a success story, it also shows her persistent struggle in handling multiple jeopardies.

L i ll i a n E v a Q u a n D y c k   – A S uccess S tory o f L e a der s h ip , Al b e it o f a D oub l y Mar g i na l i ze d I n d i g e n o u s a n d C h in e s e - Cana d i an W om an Lillian Eva Quan Dyck, a member of the Cree Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, and a first-generation Chinese Canadian, is at once the first female First Nations senator and first Canadian-born senator of Chinese descent. Her lived experiences illustrate some of the prevailing legislation that affected her and her family and defined her career. Lillian Dyck was born in 1945 in North Battleford to a Chinese father and Cree mother, twenty years his junior. Her father had immigrated to Canada in 1912 and paid a Chinese head tax of $500, roughly equivalent to two years’ salary. He opened a café, but since by law he could not hire a White person, he hired a Cree woman, Lillian’s mother. The family moved around small towns in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where they were the only Chinese people, clearly the outsiders. Eventually Lillian and her brother, Winston, helped run the café when they got home from school. Lillian says about school, “I think being smart was the thing that saved us. Even though people picked on you, you could still pass your grades. My dad would show off my report card to his friends.” Lillian’s mother was a residential school survivor, who “transmitted the shame she learned there to my brother and me.” “Our mom said to us, ‘Don’t tell anybody that you’re also Indian because it’ll be too difficult. There will be too much discrimination.’” “Because our last name was Quan, everybody thought we were just Chinese,” she explains (2002, 47–50). Within racialized groups, there were interlocking hierarchies of discrimination, whereby the dominant group chose to value some over others. The racism did not end with grade school but continued

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into the workplace. Repeatedly, she felt she had to work to develop the inner strength to stand up for herself, recognizing that some people would never see her as an equal in the workplace. Lillian Dyck’s experiences as a doubly marginalized Indigenous and ChineseCanadian woman resonate with what racialized people experience in the workplace – having to prove themselves repeatedly. Despite gender equity, anti-discrimination legislation, and ensuing policy programs introduced in Canada during the past six decades (Abella 1984), a leadership gap for racialized women persists.

C h in e s e Imm ig rati on: His t o r y   a n d   t h e   P ast Matter Immigration from China to Canada began with the discovery of gold fields in Fraser Valley in British Columbia in the late 1850s. However, a larger number of Chinese migrants from the Guangdong province in southern China were to arrive for the construction of Canadian Pacific Railways. Upon the completion of the railways in 1885, most would stay in the province of British Columbia, where they opened laundries, tailor shops, restaurants, and grocery stores, while others would move to the Prairie provinces, Ontario, and Quebec. It is British Columbia that was to set in motion the exclusionary race and gendered citizenship regime as far as the Asian population was concerned. As one of the last provinces to gain entrance into the Canadian Federation in 1871, British Columbia learned lessons of state building from the discriminatory narrative of California and its enactment of the Page Act of 1875. The British Columbia government was intent on building a White Canada. It was to introduce some 175 laws and numerous policies (between 1875 and 1950) to enable institutions to normalize the systemic, historical violence against Indigenous, Chinese, South Asian, and Japanese people, denying them the right to acquire Crown land, to access certain jobs and professions, and to vote in municipal and provincial elections. The Federal Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and a head tax of fifty dollars on every Chinese person seeking entry into Canada ushered in a process by which the provincial exclusionary principles targeting one race dovetailed with those of the senior government (Anderson 1991; Shah 2001). The head tax, which was increased to a punitive five-hundred dollars in 1903, would set an effective barrier to the entry of married Chinese women, resulting in the creation of a gendered immigration system. The prohibitive cost meant that mainly Chinese men immigrated. The few women who did enter Canada were wives of merchants; almost all other women were denied entry as

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suspected sex workers. Amendments to the Chinese Immigration Act in 1887, 1892, 1900, and 1903, and the subsequent Immigration Acts of 1906 and 1910, introduced a progressively more restrictive immigration policy. It ­formalized a deportation process, enhanced the government’s powers to make arbitrary judgments on admission, and prohibited the entry of immigrants. Chinese women were to feel the impact of these laws, policies, and practices most acutely. Their scope was substantially broadened by the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, which curtailed almost all Chinese immigration to Canada by narrowing the acceptable categories of Chinese immigrants and had the intentional harmful effect of denying family unification. The labourer men who arrived in Canada to make a living were unable to bring their wives and children to join them, and many were to ultimately die alone without their families. The Chinese Immigration Act was finally repealed in 1947. This provided an opportunity for men, some of whom had been living alone for decades, to bring their families to join them, but there were still many restrictions, and very few were ultimately able to access this window. The father of one of the authors of this chapter was one of the fortunate ones. He lived alone for thirty-nine years before he was able to bring his wife and son to join him in Canada. In his free time, he taught himself to read and write English and was able to save enough money for their travel: he was ready when the Act was terminated. Some of British Columbia’s municipal and provincial laws and policies endured well into the 1970s and 1980s, and their legacy has continued to support a culture that privileges the dominant White culture and contributes to the relative paucity of leadership opportunities for diverse identity groups, particularly Indigenous people and people of colour. One result of these bylaws was the exclusion of these groups from white-collar professions in law, pharmacy, and/or education because these were available only to those who were on the voters list. Jobs that paid better were also denied them. The 1889 bc Public Works Loan Act prevented Chinese and Japanese people from working in construction. The 1923 Women/Girls’ Protection Act that prevented the Chinese from hiring White women or girls contributed to the need for family members to work in restaurants and laundries because of their limited capacity to hire others. The use of family was essential to maintain the running of the business, which reduced their capacity to work in other jobs or areas. Historical narratives usually indicate that many Chinese worked or had family restaurants and laundries, but omit the fact that these were the only choices available to them. These laws and policies that severely restricted the space open to the Chinese Other have had a profound impact on generations of Chinese, even to this day. In other words, this continuously restricted space

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can be traced back to specific historical processes, and the peculiarity of institutional behaviour should be seen as a classic case of path dependency and institutional stickiness contributing to the persistence of exclusionary citizenship practices.

D o u b l e M a r g ina li zati on Along with these concrete institutional obstructions is the confluence of gender, race, and other identities. Informal institutions came to co-exist alongside formal institutions, filling in the gaps of an exclusionary politics of citizenship through a set of norms and everyday discriminatory practices against the Chinese community. Chinese women have been entrenched for centuries in a patriarchal society, whether they were brought up in China or Canada. In Canada, they experienced a gendered immigration system, segregated schooling, and were stereotyped and racialized, caught in the model minority myth and worked hard for the few available opportunities in white-collar professions with limited access to mentors and networking opportunities. Chinese Canadian women were caught in this binary by the expectations from husbands and fathers to bear children and by the dominant discourse of the historical “­teaching” of racialized bodies of domesticity, that is, servitude, which left little room for leadership. Under the cultural and strict patriarchal control, Chinese women were confined by gender, not race. Chinese-Canadian women, who arrived in Canada during its early statebuilding years, were stereotyped as immoral and not respectable not only because they were Chinese but also because they were women. On the one hand, they were subjected to discrimination by virtue of their association with the Chinese men who were viewed by the White society and portrayed in the popular culture as degenerate and degraded. On the other hand, they were subjected to the patriarchal rules of the clan and county societies of their Chinese villages, which came to occupy a prominent place in British Columbia, providing a support structure to Chinese immigrants in their adjustment as immigrants to a new society. This historic double marginalization continues to promote a stereotypical and/or hegemonic understanding of Chinese women in Canada, creating strong barriers to their representation in leadership positions. The portrayal of Chinese women as sex workers in North American popular culture can be traced back to the immigration of Chinese women into the United States and then to Canada. For example, early- to mid-nineteenthcentury films reflect prejudiced stereotypes of the time, and, with a receptive audience, they reinforced those stereotyped images. Asian women had become

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the objects of an almost mystical sexual fascination during the rise of European colonial involvement in Asia. This emotive representation of Chinese women aroused a strong sense of averse moral judgement, coupled with an imagined threat that shaped immigration policy, curbed Chinese immigration, and fostered sacrificial stereotypes of Chinese women as either a China Doll/Lotus Blossom (someone submissive) or a Dragon Lady (someone who is dangerous). Neither narrative evoked feelings of trust. Tarnished by the media, impacted by history, and by an underlying racist narrative/rhetoric, women of colour have had an uphill journey in the workplace. Williams and Multhaup suggest that women of colour are more often assigned office/housework creating barriers to their advancement in leadership positions (2018). In her report, Karen Horting, ceo of the Society of Women Engineers (swe) supports this assertion and adds that not only are people of colour assigned more office administrative tasks than White employees at the same level, they have less access to networking opportunities and feel unable to be as assertive (quoted in Sprunt 2016). Given these implicit biases, people of colour can often experience internalized oppression where, as an oppressed group, they believe and accept what the dominant group is saying about them. Moreover, people of colour are frequently held to a higher standard of success or excellence. Asians, often seen as the model minority, a contested stereotype, where the bar is continually being raised with expectations. While the clan associations provided some stability to Chinese immigrants in their adjustment to the unfamiliar Canadian society – both in terms of language and culture, they also brought with them the Chinese patriarchal ideology, reinforcing male power and female subordination. The majority of the early Chinese immigrants to Canada came from the five counties of Guangzhon, and nearly all were single men. They lived communally in Chinatown for security, companionship, and economic reasons and, not least, to escape from the racism of the dominant White society. There were two distinct kinds of associations: the clan associations that gathered men who bore the same surname, and the county associations, which emerged initially from their function to collect the bones of deceased members in British Columbia to ship back to their home village. Along with the establishment of the clan and county associations (by 1886, fifteen clan associations had been established in bc), other associations emerged with specific foci on youth, Christianity, business, as well as loyalty to political parties in China. In the early 1900s, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (c c b a ) emerged as a consolidation of the various associations forming a united front to lead the Chinese community to fight against racism and discrimination. These associations exercised a huge influence on various aspects of Chinese

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immigrant society in the host country, particularly in reinforcing the traditional patriarchal Chinese structure. Victimization by their own culture was not uncommon for ChineseCanadian women. Even some strong women participated in promoting the traditional patriarchal Chinese culture. Woon notes, “In Lee’s aforementioned novel, Mui Lan, the lonely wife of Wong Gwei Chang, seeks pleasure in using patriarchal power to oppress her daughter-in-law Fong Mei, a ‘paper bride’ who failed to give birth after five years of marriage. To get herself out of the situation, Fong Mei has an affair and produces three illegitimate children. She, in turn, victimizes her two daughters, one of whom is driven to suicide” (89). The leadership of these clan and other community associations remained exclusively in the hands of the male members of the community. Women were not officially allowed to join the associations until the 1940s. Even then, they were relegated to women’s groups whose task was to serve tea, order supplies, or make meals for the membership. If they were permitted to be part of a project, it would be in the capacity of fundraising. In Lai’s book, Chinese Community Leadership, one becomes aware of the lack of women in any capacity and especially in leadership roles. The men in leadership roles met to design strategies to repeal the Chinese Immigration Act or end general infringements on Chinese human rights in Canada, but women were not permitted to share in this powerful fellowship. Lai’s entire book consists of names and photos of men as prominent leaders, whereas women are essentially invisible, with the exception of two wives of influential male members noted for their fundraising efforts (2010). Without any doubt, the Chinese women were indeed doubly marginalized; within their own culture, it was a patriarchal society with no consideration for leadership, and outside of their culture, the dominant culture also did not consider them worthy for any leadership position. Even today, Chinese men mainly head the Chinese Associations with a women’s subcommittee group tasked with the responsibilities of making tea during association meetings and ordering the banquet meals for celebratory events.

R ace , C u l t u r e , L e a d e r s h i p, an d Insti tuti ona l S t ic k in e s s : I n s i d e r / O utsi d er B i nary Our discussion above has shown how institutions, as they have evolved in Canada, remain permeated with gender and race biases. They are encompassed in the dynamic mechanism of creating and recreating gender/race norms. There is an intricate and complex relationship between history, race, and culture, gendering, and racializing the formal and informal regulations that comprise institutions. In other words, history matters, and its legacy results in

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an organizational framework reinforcing and normalizing White privilege and White leadership to the exclusion of others. “White is to be in a privileged position within society and its institutions, to be seen as an insider and to be granted the benefits of belonging,” Jackson and O’Callaghan state. “People of colour get judged on what they have accomplished and are deemed not ready, whereas white men tend to get judged by their potential” (2016). They suggest that because people of colour are generally identified as outsiders; it is often difficult for others to see them as those who belong (2016). An outsider is a code word for anyone who does not belong to the dominant group; that is, anyone who is not White, male, middle-class, heterosexual, and middle-aged. Historically, the term outsider has a more sinister connotation; Whites have depicted people of colour as non-human, savage, child-like, dangerous, genetically inferior, ugly, stupid, lazy, depraved, deprived, merely different, totally dominated, and angry. These terms cast people of colour as outsiders to civilization, as violators of an alleged social contract who must be dragged out into the light of White rationality. Lack of representation is often tied to other dimensions of discrimination, such as everyday experiences with racism, the ways in which institutions produce polished images of themselves as diverse, an expansive conception of what equity is, and the effectiveness of mechanisms to address inequalities. DiAngelo makes two points on the concept of whitewashing. First, White people “are taught not to think in racial terms; therefore, to talk openly about race is to be biased.” In trying to be equitable and anti-racist, progressive White people acknowledge that racism exists but avoid acknowledging it between themselves. Second, DiAngelo argues that the “racial status quo is comfortable for White people” (2018, 27). Non-racialized people do not easily understand how much more difficult racialized people find talking about race and racism. Moreover, White people who lack experiential knowledge, and who are, as DiAngelo points out, born and bred into social and cultural systems that are racist, actually undermine the career advancement of women of colour. She states that non-racialized people see racism as “discrete acts committed by individual people, rather than as a complex, interconnected system” (2018, 16). Consequently, White people are unable to see themselves as implicated in such a system, even if only through their conscious or un­conscious complicity. To all these factors can be added the image of Chinese-Canadian women as model minorities. Asian women, in particular, are viewed as polite conformists who are politically and socially passive. The embodiment of Asians as the model minority is problematic in many ways and no more so than in the obstruction of leadership. How can Asian women be leaders when they are expected to be

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compliant? How can others perceive that they have leadership qualities when they are conformists? How can they be trusted to make good decisions if they are perceived outsiders? Policies, organizational practices, and legislative practices have not been conducive to supporting women in leadership.

H o w t o M o v e F orwar d ? With changing demographics created by a greater number of immigrants than natural births in Canada, the UK, and the US, more women of colour are entering the workforce. Nevertheless, women are still relegated to junior or entry positions. Even when women of colour are hired, sometimes due to an organization’s equity plans, it is at the junior or entry level. Promotions and advancement continue to lag. Even when women of colour want to apply for opportunities, they are often discouraged and told they are not ready. They have limited access to critical leadership experiences and networks as well as to mentors and sponsors. Equity advances, which have thus far resulted in White women taking more leadership positions, have had the racial effect of shoring up whiteness and further undercutting people of colour. Under these structural constraints, the Chinese, the first of the Asian groups in significant numbers to threaten White Canada, have been denied a spot at most of the leadership tables. Those like Lillian Dyck, who have succeeded in breaking through these barriers, had to maneuver through the White population’s race fiction that denies the existence of state racism practices. Our discussion above points to the reality that despite the changes in the formal institutional structure (an increasing adoption of progressive equity and diversity policies in Canada), a systematic racial/gender bias continues to inhibit the entry of women of colour into leadership positions. Thus, it becomes imperative that we pay attention to the informal institutions (norms and cultural systems) to bring about a real change – to bring a halt to the reproduction of racialized and gendered institutions. However, as Helmke and Levitsky point out, informal institutions are highly “resistant to change, possessing a tenacious survival ability” (2004, 732). Yet change can happen when a society is presented with a historical moment or a critical juncture when democratic institutions have no choice but to transform themselves. Right now, we stand at a critical juncture – either, to continue operating within an exclusionary, unequal, and untenable system, or, to seize the opportunity to transform it radically, to make more inclusive, fair, and just. In the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter and #StopAsianHate demonstrations generated great momentum for cultural and political change. There is wide acknowledgment of systemic racism and structural racial and

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gendered inequities, and we are beginning to witness normative changes within the social context. This normative shift at the social level is the best hope to move beyond the inefficacies of the formal adoption of commitments by governments and other public organizations to gender and racial equity and equality policies.

R e fe r e nce s Abella, Rosalie Siberman. 1984. Report of the Commission of Equality in Employment. Ottawa, o n : Government of Canada. Ahmed, Sara. 2012. On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Durham, nc : Duke University Press. Alcoff, Linda Martin. 2015. The Future of Whiteness. Cambridge, m a: Polity Press. Allen, Ricky Lee. 2004. “Whiteness and Critical Pedagogy.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 36 (2): 121–36. Anderson, Kay. 1991. Vancouver’s Chinatown: Racial Discourse in Canada, ­1875–1980. Montreal, q c , and Kingston, on: McGill Queen’s University Press. Angus, Henry F. 1931. “The Legal Status in British Columbia of Presidents of Oriental Race and Their Descendants.” The Canadian Bar Review 9 (1): 1–12. Backhouse, Constance. 1999. Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900–1950. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. Bell, Derrick. 1992. Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. New York: Basic Books. Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffen. 2009. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality in the Movies. 2nd ed. Chichester, uk: John Wiley and Sons. Bruce-Golding, J. 2019. “Black Female Leaders in Education, Role, Reflections and Experiences.” In Encyclopedia of Teacher Education, edited by Michael Peters, 1–6. Singapore: Springer. Carstairs, Catherine. 2006. Jailed for Possession: Illegal Drug Use, Regulation, and Power, 1920–1961. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. Choi, Hyaeweol, and Margaret Jolly. 2014. Divine Domesticities. Canberra, Australia: a n u Press. Choy, Christine. 1978. Images of Asian-Americans in Films and Television. Philadelphia, p a : Balch Institute. Con, Harry, Ronald Con, Graham Johnson, and William E. Willmott. 1982. From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada. Toronto, o n : McClelland and Stewart. Creese, Gillian G., and Veronica Strong-Boag. 1992. “Jin Guo: Voices of Chinese Canadian Women.” The Women’s Book Committee, Chinese Canadian National Council. https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/12672. Daggers, Jenny. 2011. “Transforming Christian Womanhood: Female Sexuality and Church Missionary Society: Encounters in the Niger Mission, Onitsha.” Victorian Review 37, no. 2 (Fall): 89–106.

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Davis, Deanna R., and C. Maldonado-Daniels. 2015. “Shattering the Glass Ceiling: The Leadership Development of African American Women in Higher Education.” Advancing Women in Leadership Journal 35: 48–64. https://doi. org/10.21423/awlj-v35.a125. Dean, Heather. 2011. “The Persuasion of Books.” The Significance of Libraries in Colonial British Columbia, Libraries and the Cultural Record 46 (1): 50–72. https://doi.org/10.1353/lac.2011.0004. DiAngelo, Robin. 2018. White Fragility: Why it’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. Boston, m a : Beacon Press. Dyck, Lillian Eva. 2002. “Dare to be Brave: Stand Up for Yourself.” In Women in the Canadian Academic Tundra: Challenging the Chill, edited by Elena Hannah, Linda Joan Paul, and Swani Vethamany-Globus, 47–50. Montreal, qc, and Kingston, on : McGill-Queen’s University Press. Espenshade, Thomas J., and Alexandria Walton Radford. 2009. No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life. Princeton, n j : Princeton University Press. Foner, Nancy. 2004. Not Just Black and White: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States. New York, n y: Russell Sage Foundation. Guo, Jin. 1992. Voices of Chinese Canadian Women. Toronto, o n: Women’s Press. Government of Canada. “Discriminatory Legislation in British Columbia ­1872–1948.” https://bcredress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/discriminatory_ legislation_in_bc_1872_1948-reformatted.pdf. Helmke, Gretchen, and Steven Levitsky. 2004. “Internal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda.” Perspectives on Politics 2 (4): 725–40. Henry, Frances, Enakshi Dua, Carl E. James, Audrey Kobayashi, Peter Li, Howard Ramos, and Malinda Smith. 2017. The Equity Myth. Vancouver bc: ubc Press. Hewitt, Steve. 2004. “‘While Unpleasant It Is a Service to Humanity’: The rc mp’s War on Drugs in the Interwar Period,” Journal of Canadian Studies 38 (2): 80–104. hooks, b. 1992. Race and Representation. Boston, m a: South End Press. Ikebuchi, Shelley D. 2013. “Marriage, Morals, and Men: Re/defining Victoria’s Chinese Rescue Home,” bc Studies 177: 65–84. – 2015. From Slave Girls to Salvation: Gender, Race, and Victoria’s Chinese Rescue Home, 1886–1923. Vancouver, b c : ubc Press. Jackson, Jerlando F.L., and Elizabeth. M. O’Callaghan. 2016. “Identifying and Interrupting Bias in Hiring.” The Centre for Work Life Law. Kincheloe, Joel and Shirley R. Steinberg. 1997. Changing Multiculturalism, Open University Press. Klein, Candice. 2019. “They Didn’t Even Realize Canada Was a Different Country,” Canadian Left Nationalism at the 1971 Vancouver Indochinese Women’s Conference, Érudit / Journals / Labour / Le Travail 84: 231–58. Lai, David Chuenyan. 1975. “Home County and Clan Origins of Overseas Chinese in Canada in the early 1880s.” bc Studies 27 (Autumn): 3–29. – 2010. Chinese Community Leadership: Case Study of Victoria in Canada. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co.

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Lee, Erika. 2000. “The ‘Yellow Peril’ and Asian exclusion in the Americas.” Pacific Historical Review, 76 (4): 537–62. Leung, Carrianne. 2013. “Chinese Canada in Moose Jaw: A Story Told in Two Parts.” In Critical Inquiries: A Reader in Studies of Canada, edited by Lynn Caldwell, Darryl Leroux, and Carrianne Leung. Halifax, ns : Fernwood Publishing. Lisnic, Rodica, Anna Zajicek, and Kerr Brinck. 2019. “Work-Family Balance and Tenure Reasonableness: Gender Differences in Faculty Assessment.” Sociological Spectrum 39 (5): 340–58. Love, Eric T. L. 2004. Race Over Empire: Racism and US Imperialism, ­1865–1900. Chapel Hill, n c : University of North Carolina Press. Lowe, Lisa. 2015. The Intimacies of Four Continents. Durham, nc: Duke University Press. Malleck, Dan. 1997. “‘It’s Baneful Influences Are Too Well Known’: Debates over Drug Use in Canada, 1867–1908,” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 14: 267–75. Marchetti, Gina. 2012. The Chinese Diaspora on American Screens: Race, Sex, and Cinema. Philadelphia, p a : Temple University Press. Marshall, Alison R. 2014. Cultivating Connections: The Making of Chinese Prairie Canada. Vancouver, b c : u b c Press. Pascoe, Peggy. 1990. Relations of Rescue: The Search for Female Authority in the American West, 1874–1939. New York, ny: Oxford University Press. Pass, Forrest D. 2016. “The Wondrous Story and Traditions of the Country: The Native Sons of British Columbia and the Role of Myth in the Formation of an Urban Middle Class.” bc Studies 151 (Autumn): 3–38. Perry, Jay Martin. 2014. “The Chinese Question: California, British Columbia, and the Making of Transnational Immigration Policy, 1847–1885.” PhD thesis, Graduate College of Bowling Green State. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/ rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1394761542&disposition=inline. Roy, Patricia E. 1989. A White Man’s Province: British Columbia Politicians and Chinese and Japanese Immigrants, 1858–1914. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Shah, Nayan. 2001. Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Berkeley, c a : University of California Press. Sprunt, Eve. 2016. A Guide for Dual-Career Couples: Rewriting the Rules. Denver, co : Praeger. Stanley, Timothy J. 2011. Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, ­Anti-Racism, and the Making of Chinese Canadians. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Statistics Canada. 2006. Women in Canada: A Gender-Based Statistical Report, 5th ed. Ministry of Industry. Ottawa, o n : Statistics Canada. https://www150. statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/89-503-x/89-503-x2005001-eng.pdf?st=NzsKIhEK. Ward, W. Peter. 1978. White Canada Forever: Popular Attitudes and Public Policy toward Orientals in British Columbia. Montreal, qc, and Kingston, o n : McGill-Queen’s University Press. White, Julie. A. 2007. “The Hollow and the Ghetto: Space, Race, and the Politics of Poverty.” Politics and Gender 3 (2): 271–80. Williams, Joan C., and Marina Multhaup. 2018. “For Women and Minorities to Get Ahead, Managers Must Assign Work Fairly.” Harvard Business Review,

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5 March 2018 https://hbr.org/2018/03/for-women-and-minorities-to-get-aheadmanagers-must-assign-work-fairly. Woon, Yuen-Fong. 2007. “Between South China and British Columbia: Life Trajectories of Chinese.” bc Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly 156 (Winter): 83–107.

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7 Diversity Leadership in Our Own Words Adrienne S. Chan and Awneet Sivia

“Linking our academic positions to social justice both in and outside the ­classroom has meant that we exist in a liminal space within the ­academy: we both belong and are simultaneously outsiders to academia.” (hooks 2010, 37)

Increasingly diverse populations are entering post-secondary institutions across Canada and encountering instructors and administrators from dominant groups in positions of power. Examining conceptions of diversity leadership has become paramount. Presently, higher education is dominated by Western role models where most leaders are from dominant social groups and operate from positions of privilege (Chin and Trimble 2014). While the number of racially diverse leaders has increased, they remain underrepresented due to systemic and social barriers such as inadequate career opportunities, racial differences in socialization, “old boy networks,” and tokenism (SanchezHucles and Davis 2010; Oakley 2000). A lack of “awareness of inequities” (De Matthews 2015, 8) contributes to systemic and discriminatory policies which are particularly prevalent among racialized women of colour (WoC) (Chan, Dhamoon, and Moy 2014; DeMatthews 2015; Sanchez-Hucles and Davis 2010; Sugiman 2021). Consequently, diversity leadership needs to be understood and imagined differently in order to raise awareness of the issues and the experiences of ­racialized leaders. This chapter highlights the leadership experiences of two WoC academics and leaders within a regional university in Western Canada. One author was a senior-level administrator in the institution, while the other has held ­leadership positions at the departmental level. The university serves a diverse community

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with immigrant settlers predominantly from South Asia, Europe, and East Asia (Demographic Profiles 2019). Student populations reflect this diversity at the university; however, the reality is different at the leadership level. Within this paradox, we explore the following questions: How do our experiences as WoC in leadership illuminate the status quo in leadership? How do our experiences and challenges help us to re-conceptualize diversity leadership? Why is it important to include our voices? To address these questions, we present “leadership reflections” through the lens of critical race theory (crt) to expose the untold stories of our lived experiences (Connelly and Clandinin 1990; van Manen 1997).

L o o k in g A hea d Who we are is an important starting point in illuminating the challenges and possibilities for transforming leadership in many of today’s institutions. In exploring diversity leadership, our own stories, in our own words, must be centred.

Situating Ourselves: Author S For a period of four years, I was the chair of the teacher education department, and I oversaw the administration, design, and implementation of two education degree programs. As a South Asian WoC faculty member, I recognized the complexities of finding my place and exercising my voice in a department with all White faculty and mostly White middle-class students from a dominant faith group. Within this context, I became aware of the challenges and possibilities I encountered in my role as a leader, colleague, and instructor.

Situating Ourselves: Author C I was an associate vice-president and in senior administration for six years until my return to my faculty position. I held numerous leadership roles in the university prior to my appointment as associate vice-president. In 2012, I became the highest-ranked Chinese woman in a university administrative academic role in Canada. My academic work focuses on anti-racism, social justice, institutional change, equity, and diversity. As an administrator in a predominantly White administration, issues of race and diversity are often challenging.

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L it e r a t ure Critical Race Theory Critical race theory emphasizes that race is constituted and operationalized as a social and political process that results in material effects (Crenshaw et al. 1995; Delgado and Stefancic 2001). In addition to crt, we are interested in intersectionality: the systemic and historic marginalizations related to the intersections between race, ethnicity, and gender (Collins 2000; Wing 2003). crt applies to our research through numerous tenets: racism is central to the experience of people of colour; dominant ideologies justify the status quo/ structural oppression; lived experiences and experiential knowledge are foundational for research; interdisciplinary perspectives are applied to address research questions; and, scholarship and engagement are centred upon racial and social justice (Solorzano 1997; Huber and Solorzano 2015). These tenets reflect a feminist epistemology and value research that engages with personal and professional narratives (Gluck and Patai 1991).

Power and Privilege Our work is also informed by critiquing and understanding relations of power and power as a circulating force (Foucault 1980). It is necessary to critically examine the roles of university systems and educators and the ways in which academic institutions maintain dominance in everyday interactions (Picower 2012). Privilege is inherent in maintaining these systems and contributes to power roles and dynamics. Without addressing everyday power and privilege, we are complicit in reinforcing discourses that result in hegemony and racism (Ahmed 2012).

Diversity and Social Justice As leaders working within a conceptual framework of diversity, race, and equity, we assert that actively engaging in – rather than merely acknowledging – diversity is more effective. As DeMatthews (2015) suggests, social justice leadership focuses on addressing inequities that are experienced by ­marginalized groups. The implications of this orientation are two-fold: leaders act as a “conduit of thought and [pose] critical questions” (Furman 2012); and they use their positions of privilege to work from the “inside” to interrogate the status quo. Social justice leadership further engages marginalized

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and underrepresented voices within decision-making discourses and identifies inequities that are often invisible to dominant groups. Moreover, discussions in these spaces can lead to program reform and directly address systemic inequities (López, González, and Fierro 2010).

M e t h o d o lo g y Feminist Approaches to Narrative Research Feminist research approaches encourage those who have been marginalized to speak for themselves, to give a voice to multiple truths and knowledges. Feminist narrative methods consider the individual and their location, ­particularly if that location is from marginalized spaces, including gender, race, and ability (Kirby, Greaves, and Reid 2010). Such methods represent working from the margins (Sanchez-Hucles and Sanchez 2007), where we are called to consider our sense of self, identity, change, and power (Josselson and Lieblich 1995). This engages us in making connections from private experience to the public and social discourses (Pinar 2004) and in reinterpreting our lives and experiences in social and institutional contexts (Thompson 1981).

Our Process The process of writing this chapter empowers us by allowing our narratives to be heard and valued (West 2001). We are aware that disruptions and “rough edges” are illuminated in the process of conveying the narrative, yet we accept the risk of exposing our inner truths as part of our lived realities. As WoC, we considered which experiences were particularly salient in examining the power, privilege, and diversity that informed our leadership roles. Individually, we wrote our narrative reflections detailing stories which stood out as symbolic of the complex nature of diversity leadership. We then discussed these reflections and shared additional anecdotes. Our process involved being critical friends to each other – someone who “asks challenging questions, [and] supports reframing of events” (Schuck and Russell 2005, 107). Analysis involved two stages: individual and shared. We first analyzed our own narratives and then analyzed each other’s by assigning words and phrases that captured the “essence” (Saldaña 2015) of what our narratives conveyed. This led to consolidating them into themes and insights that were common to both and salient to our overall experiences.

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Data Author S’s Leadership Reflections As a WoC, the risk of vulnerability, or intimate scholarship (Hamilton 1995), is a constant in my lived experience. However, writing these reflections is cathartic for me: sharing my perspective in my own words transforms what I experience into what is – it assigns greater ontological value and legitimacy to the subjectivity of experiences, and I expose the subtext of thought processes and reflexivity that permeate my existence as a racialized leader. The risk, for me, is worth it.

“I n e q u it y - hunt i n g ” I draw on DeMatthews’ (2015) conceptualization of social justice leadership as exposing inequities in leadership and in educational settings. In order to do so, leaders must move away from “traditional leadership approaches and toward a social justice leadership orientation that creates critical spaces and discourses, empowers communities, and enables the adoption of social justice practices in all aspects of the school” (DeMatthews 2016, 8). This vision ­resonated for me based on past experiences of inequity, particularly in K–12 education, where favouritism, power imbalances, and silencing were prevalent. Even as I strove to model social justice and equity values in my leadership later in post-secondary, I felt constrained by the hegemonic, dominant, and oppressive structures typical of institutional places of learning. The question of how I was to embody social justice leadership in this “place of contradictions” was forefront in my mind at every meeting, programmatic event, and even in my role as an instructor. Several experiences reflected this challenge of exercising my vision of social justice leadership. The first was the struggle to engage multiple voices in the department. In my early months as Chair, I came into an environment where some faculty felt their contributions were not valued. Brownlee et al. (2012) regard social justice leadership as including the elements of recognition and valuing each individual for their role and voice in shaping the discourse. I encountered a “singular” discourse reinforced through a silencing culture in the department. I felt it was my responsibility to “redistribute” and “­recognize” (Wang 2016) colleagues, but this was challenging as the person new to the department. On reflection, I recognize there were no ill intentions, but the inequity of contributions was the “way it was done.”

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I refer to this narrative as inequity-hunting, a take on Brookfield’s (1995) notion that critical teachers are those who “hunt assumptions.” In those early moments of my tenure as chair, my role was to notice and identify these inequities that continued to silence voices in the group. I introduced “scholarship sharing” to provide spaces for colleagues to share scholarly activities. I highlighted the fact that while our students were being taught to value everyone’s voices and participation (Ragoonaden, Sivia, and Baxan 2015), this was not the same for faculty. I “named” this as another inequity in our work together – our seeming inability as faculty to mirror the learning community being expected of our students. The process of inequity-hunting became somewhat less onerous after this realization, particularly after I shared this observation at a department meeting. Inequity-hunting, as a backdrop to my motivations, served to inspire a different way of relating to colleagues: I focused on those whose voices were silenced and attempted to acknowledge the capital each member of the department brought to their work. As the department culture gradually moved towards more equitable participation and recognition, we turned our gaze to the structural barriers that persisted in relation to changing the program’s design (policies, scheduling, and institutional requirements). While still challenging at times and far from “resolved,” our awareness of programmatic inequities, such as intake parameters surrounding admissions, grew. Changes were made to the program’s design following a faculty retreat where everyone’s voices were included, a process essential to honouring social justice leadership.

Ag a in st t h e Gr a i n Cochran-Smith’s (2001, 2004) notion of “teaching against the grain” places importance on teachers having agency in combatting a “one size fits” all education. Teachers are called to critique, challenge common practices, and engage in practitioner inquiry to change the status quo (Cochran-Smith 2004). These aspects of teaching against the grain, integral to my educational vision, were challenging to enact in leadership roles. As I struggled to build community with colleagues, which at times amounted to “pleasing,” it became difficult to challenge and question decisions and organizational structures. Particularly awkward in my role as Chair was when I questioned the program’s conventional, course-driven structure. I was becoming a tempered radical (Meyerson and Scully 1995) – an individual who, because of their social identities and/or value system, is at odds with the dominant organizational culture. I realized my outsider/within positionality (Meyerson and Scully 1995) made it difficult to create reform from within, but my vantage from the periphery was worth leveraging in order to enact structural and organizational change (Ngunjiri 2010).

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These moments remind me that leading against the grain is even more challenging given the “triple threat” of being a foreign-born, female, coloured leader (Hernandez, Ngunjiri, and Chang 2015). While I encountered some resistance to questioning the “status quo,” what became increasingly evident was the role that White privilege played in discussions about the program. At times, colleagues expressed resistance to my questioning “tried and true” practices. Leading against the grain became a challenge to privilege – not only challenging status quo practices, but challenging a “sense of ownership” ideology. In a recent Globe and Mail article that I happened to read at around the same, Jennifer Reynolds (2017) wrote of the “frozen middle,” a group of people in leadership who represent the middle of the road, conservative, and status quo maintaining forces in any organization undergoing rapid change. She states, “The frozen middle tends to also weed out diversity … the desire to conform and reinforce existing norms results in the hiring and promotion of people who “fit” with the team in place” (Reynolds 2017). I realized then that leading against the grain was made more challenging because this mindset was like the “frozen middle” that was resistant to change.

Imm i g r a nt E x p e r i e nc e I often wondered if I could be truly “who I am” and be a leader in a public institution. Ngunjiri and Hernandes (2018) argue that authentic leadership – leadership that reflects one’s identity – is challenging for WoC who still struggle to “know who they are” because of the complexities of navigating across identities, contexts, and experiences. As chair, I struggled with needing to be confident as a leader on the outside – grounded, consistent, decisive, and generally “solid” in terms of understanding my role, while living the inside life of a racialized WoC who was navigating this new terrain of leadership in the ways I navigated my identity – full of tentativeness, reflection, and uncertainty. Turner (2002) refers to this as lived contradiction: multiple marginalities and vulnerabilities in the roles played by racialized leaders. When I tried to be “inside” by playing along with dominant discourses and status quo narratives, I felt like an outsider as I struggled with the language games of the dominant majority (White colleagues). When I was “outside” and working from the margins, I felt vulnerable and often misunderstood (Turner, González, and Wong 2011). Leading through the prism of these contradictions created tension and gave rise to a conflicting message: I was operating between the spaces of contributing productively on the one hand and challenging status quo ideologies on the other. It became overwhelming at times, and while my colleagues were enjoying their privileges of never having to confront these contradictions in the ways that I experienced them, I became quiet and somewhat paralyzed as a leader. It led to my decision to not re-apply to that position even though I felt a strong calling to it.

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Looking back on my tenure as Chair, my leadership journey was an immigrant experience: traversing and transgressing the in-between, interstitial spaces of cultures and contexts that are exposed through difference (Bhabha 1994; hooks 1994). I needed to navigate differences in worldviews and belief systems and bridge diverse work and academic cultures in order to become a legitimate member (Lave and Wenger 1991) of my department and institution – in essence, learning “who I was” as a leader and challenging status quo while simultaneously demonstrating leadership that was “recognizable” to White colleagues in the department. The immigrant experience was further amplified by “identity assumptions” that presumed a particular life history as a woman of South Asian descent. The immigrant experience also manifested in feeling like a “stranger in a new land” – I encountered a very “foreign” professional culture in this new workplace. My social identity was being transformed as I confronted new circumstances (White 2008), further exposing my vulnerabilities of feeling incompetent, or worse, unworthy. Welang (2018) states that we are only authentic when the “whole” is allowed to enter and be present, when the triple consciousness of “spaces, culture, and skin” are brought to bear on our lived experiences. In work, this requires me to be fully “in”; yet, as I experience in places of whiteness and dominance, I do not actually fit in.

Author C’s Leadership Reflections In writing this, I am somewhat at risk for talking about my own institution, which can be identified. Furthermore, I am aware that few White male counter­ parts of my “equal” rarely have any sense of such risk and negotiation (Stamarski and Hing 2015). Nor do many of my White male counterparts spend time thinking about the risk that WoC face, although they will do so when this is brought to their attention. Gender inequalities mean that perceptions of risk are also unequal (Stamarski and Hing 2015). For WoC and White persons of privilege, we live within a conundrum of co-existence in our institutions; WoC will not be erased. Further, W.E.B. Du Bois (1996) refers to double consciousness, whereby we are under the gaze of others as well having our own internal surveillance. The challenge is to shift the eyes of others in how they see us, interpret us, as WoC, and how we view ourselves.

“ C a ll in g i t O ut ” “Calling it out” is what hooks (2006) refers to as “naming” or talking back. “Calling it out” means challenging dominance, speaking out against racism and discrimination. I can engage with dominant discourses and systems; disrupt traditional power and exercise resistance by naming or calling out.

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“Calling it out” is about voice. hooks (1990) suggests the relationship to practice evolves: the incorporation of voices, the development of new ways of talking, and of decentred listeners and speakers. hooks (1994) refers to transformation processes for the classroom, and for teachers themselves. Difference is not necessarily divisive, but gives weight to certain topics or groups, thereby silencing voices. Radical educators are involved in attempting to incorporate the voices of those who have been silenced (hooks 1994). My voice as an administrator has been muted by others. My response might be aggressive in response to silencing. I have expressed myself in anger and then been characterized as an “emotional woman” (Feldman Barrett 2015), which is a way of dismissing the content of my words. As an administrator, I am subject to the politics of power, allies, and the bias of others. In a senior management position, I found allies and supporters. Politicized spaces exist for many; I suggest this space is intensified by race, gender, sexual orientation, and demarcations of our identity. The politics of voice (Luke 1994) is embedded in our everyday interactions, whether focused on race or diversity. We know from experience that silencing occurs at many levels. Voice is a way of expressing one’s agency and challenging dominant ideologies (Collins 2000). When we call out our observations, we also analyze and express our voices. I have called out what I see as unfair practices, where information is not shared and used as a power-keeping ­strategy. Collins (2000) suggests voice is a way to exert power, taking back some of the social-political construction imposed on us. In universities, I am used to hearing from individuals who have power, who take up space freely and take more space than others. These voices can be exercised in a humorous demeanour that appears collegial, but has the effect of silencing. For WoC to take back space often requires assertiveness in the dialogue or in a meeting. In response, I have expressed frustration and annoyance at times. I might have spoken briefly, because I did not believe my opinions would be valued or that anyone would listen. This style of voice can lead to a competitiveness that some find objectionable. Conversely, I have challenged the indulgence of privileged individuals who are used to taking up space. I suggest we can negotiate how we use our space and thereby exercise voice in a more productive way. “Calling it out” is necessary when it comes to racism. I use my voice to name racism. However, “naming” is more difficult with colleagues at the same institutional level, and almost impossible to do with one’s superiors. There are times when it is ineffective to call out the racism of privileged individuals because they are part of the dominant majority. Those individuals will not hear me.

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As an administrator, my opinions will initially be heard. One strategy with administrators is to say that I am not comfortable with their statements and to consider issues of equity and justice. There are times when it is not necessary to use the word “racism”; my meaning is understood. I am not calling that person a racist. I am calling their actions or words unacceptable. No one wants to be called a “racist” (Srivastava 2005), and colleagues that you would normally respect can surprise you with a racist or sexist statement. I have expressed my frustration by stating “that’s not good enough” in response to their actions or inactions when dealing with marginalized groups. From my own experience, “not doing something” is still an action (Ahmed 2016, 2).

Cha n g in g Tr a d i t i o na l N or m s Normative Eurocentric masculinist behaviours exist and need to be challenged as part of hegemony (Collins 2000; Connell 2005), particularly masculinist hegemony. Dominant discourses, including dominant colonialism, are characteristics that remain central to many institutions. This has been confronted by Collins (2000) and hooks (2014) through their work on Black feminism and challenging dominant discourses. My feminist voice as a WoC is roused by these women who challenge the traditional academic norms. We cannot be oblivious to colour or gender. Repeatedly, I have seen the “old boys network” (o b n ) fulfill their internalized systemic culture (McDonald 2011). Concurrently, I have worked with honourable, decent men who do not belong to the OBN and who have supported our work in race and diversity. Notwithstanding these “good” men and the headway that women and people of colour have made, the obn continues to exist, and this is a prevailing practice in hiring (McDonald 2011). It is important to note that the presence of women in an institution does not necessarily change old behaviours, or traditional beliefs. In my case, we have good men who are allies with women and WoC. Male role models can help us advance the work of allies. However, for women, there can be the problematic requirement to fit in, to fulfill the roles expected by traditional administrators, and to behave as the obn behaves. In order to forward change, we make choices about what we challenge and what we will not address. In many universities, administrators have their “favourites,” and I have witnessed this in many institutions. This favouritism is supported by comments such as “he reminds me of the son I never had,” or “a good guy, he deserves a break.” These are patriarchal and patronizing comments that have overshadowed “good” people who do not fit into the category of reminding an administrator of someone close. It is an informal type of nepotism that some

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ambitious individuals use to their advantage. Moreover, who decides who “deserves a break,” and how much of the obn supports promotion or special status? McDonald (2011) states that networks are gendered and racialized, and this benefits the obn. This type of behaviour has led to promotion without transparency, and even creation of roles for individuals who are the “good guy.” One way I challenge this behaviour is to ask for transparency and criteria for choices that are made. White women who have been politicized by their political or racial experience have become my allies. Other privileged women may find it difficult to engage fully with WoC and find the path to becoming an ally quite thorny (Bishop 2015). One example I recall where a group of us were sitting together socially; two of us WoC and two White women. A (White) woman administrator saw us (she knew us all); she came over and spoke socially to the two White women. We all acknowledged each other by nodding, but the only conversation took place between the White women. The conversation was not political, contentious, or private, but the choice of who to speak to was interesting. If this happened once, I would not necessarily read anything into it, but it happened repeatedly; then I read “race” into that social contact. The WoC talked openly about the incident while the White women listened and then analyzed the situation.

Ac k n ow l e dg i n g E a r ne d P r i v i l e g e Privilege is power. While power can be taken for granted (Foucault 1980), it is a burden I take seriously. If I use my power in a way that is considered inappropriate, I could be categorized as a racialized woman who abuses power. This can become entangled with a group who I represent: women of colour. I have earned privilege as a result of my education and working at the university over the long term. I grew up in a working-class family and, at an early age, understood the importance of education to provide advantages in society. Through the earned privilege and advantage of education, I am able to express myself frankly with administrators because of my status. I am aware that WoC have burdens since the work can be misinterpreted through a gendered bias of women’s emotionality (Feldman Barrett 2015). I make choices about what feelings to express and consider the emotional labour of women. This is a reminder to use my privilege wisely. Earned privilege is not the same as assumed and inherent privilege. Earned privilege is not permanent. Privilege, particularly White privilege, provides feelings of safety (Kern 2005) because there is a shared place with other privileged individuals, people who see us as equals, and, in my instance, people

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who respect what I say. WoC have to navigate safety constantly. As a leader, I acknowledge earned privilege and do what I can with that privilege. In my position, I have the ability to advance some initiatives to senior management that resonate with WoC. I have gained respect and a sense of belonging with women and men who have similar beliefs, whether they are White or persons of colour. However, belonging is fragile and can be erased by simply being moved to another department. Respect can be erased by individuals who create alternative interpretations of who you are. In a juried world such as the university, who decides what values and knowledge are accepted? This is resonant to double consciousness (Du Bois 1996) and suggests multiple consciousness that arises from inter­ sectionality of race, gender, and class. I am aware of how I am perceived and my self-perceptions. These are discussions we have as allies, but are not always freely available to us in a precarious academic environment.

D is c u s s io n a n d I ns i g hts Juxtapositions Juxtapositions represent the complexity of leading for WoC. We operate with multiple consciousness: We are insiders and outsiders; we fit in and challenge the status quo; we are compatible yet go against the grain; we are tempered radicals (Meyerson and Scully 1995) at odds with the system that we are part of; and, we exist in intersectional spaces while confronting a Eurocentric norm. Leading is an enigma that forces us to co-exist in the dominant culture, yet we exist in contentious spaces where groups are marginalized, voices are silenced, and identities are in flux. We become the insider to contexts that are designed to put us outside. These juxtapositions can be seen as our “divided” existence where our beliefs and perspectives as WoC leaders do not or cannot align with our actions – where we struggle with our own “identity and integrity” (Palmer 1998). At times, our vision is compromised. Seeking out inequities and naming marginalization, even so far as calling out racism, become a process of navigating these juxtapositions. We are forced to practice internal surveillance (Foucault 1985) to temper our visions as leaders. Moreover, we must continue to work alongside those who do not understand or have not had to work with the complexity of navigating these juxtapositions. By acknowledging these points of contention in our practices as leaders, we free ourselves (hooks 2004) from being locked into one position and instead become empowered to navigate with greater clarity the binaries of leading as WoC.

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Social and Political Space The social and the political coexist in the same space in our complex realities as WoC. Given this, we are forced to interpret and “read” (Freire 1990) the contexts in which we find ourselves. Leading then requires us to be aware of space and whose voices and identities are part of the social and political context. Our reflections highlight the power-laden nature of these spaces (Bishop 2015). As leaders, while we have power, we are conscious of how we use power: to disrupt, challenge, reimagine social and political spaces, and problematize hidden inequities (Freire 1994). Leading with the grain means we can deconstruct and restructure the same power that operates to alienate WoC from the support of allies. For every act there is an interpretation of who we are as leaders and the political implications for leadership. As Author C notes, some individuals take up space more freely than others. Considering space requires heightened consciousness of our engagement with power, with allies, and how we use space to exercise voice and agency. Author S echoes this in her description of navigating world views, uncertain spaces, and grappling with third space. We are required to have self-knowledge and self-awareness to work with our allies and work effectively across social and political spaces in leadership. When we engage with counterparts who have not engaged in reflection, the space becomes inert and less open to negotiation, deconstruction and challenge. Therefore, the presence of WoC leaders is critical in maintaining fluid, open spaces for changing the dominant narrative and status quo.

Authentic Leadership Authentic leadership emerges from the “narrative process in which others play a constitutive role in the self” (Sparrowe 2005, 419). George (2003) refers to authenticity as the ability to be yourself and who “you were created to be” rather than a constructed image of a leader. Together, these conceptions of authenticity in leadership framed our process. We considered challenges, how we confronted authenticity, and how we challenged the status quo or “frozen middle.” We both experienced the dominant centre as fixed and filled with status quo-maintaining discourses. Our narratives describe the resistance to counter-narratives and perspectives that questioned established norms and practices. The frozen middle was problematic – it reinforced what Author C described as the OBN , created a sense of our own risk, and vulnerability in working from the margins, and, as noted by Author S, it limited us from leading against the grain.

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Leadership against the backdrop of this frozen middle placed us, occasionally, in vulnerable spaces and exposed us as “outliers.” Thus, it became difficult for us to bring our “authentic selves” to our work as leaders. This was a calculated choice and was made to protect ourselves. While we continued to strive to be more authentic leaders, aware of the intersections of our race, gender, culture, and identity, we exposed ourselves to risk. It was difficult for us to be authentic leaders because our identities and perspectives might be at odds with the dominant centre – our intersecting identities suspended us in spaces of constant identity negotiation. This limited our abilities as WoC to demonstrate authenticity in promoting change as leaders.

Challenging the Centre Challenging the centre is about voice: leaders must model that speaking out is necessary in order to deconstruct dominance and hegemony. Furman (2012) refers to social justice leaders as “conduits” that expose and challenge inequities by posing questions and calling out. We perceive ourselves as social justice leaders called to reimagine the centre (i.e., normative, Eurocentric) as something other than outside/inside or dominant/marginalized. We are responsible as racialized leaders to introduce new language and ways of thinking that give rise to new “centres” or alternatives to a singular centre. One of the criticisms in diversity discourses is that people of colour do the majority of the work in exposing injustices and inequities. By voicing, problematizing, and asking “hard questions” (Freire 1994), we destabilize the centre and create opportunities to form alliances. In so doing, we can begin to create safer spaces, privilege all perspectives, and acknowledge the capital individuals bring. Members of the dominant groups are invited into the marginalized spaces as allies, therefore facilitating the beginning of new ways of thinking, being, and acting as leaders.

Collaborative Leadership Collaborative leadership means that WoC build relationships with allies and work with partners to engage in uncomfortable, provocative, and productive spaces for learning. We are not only engaging with women of colour; we are working with others to facilitate the growth of diversity leadership. Diversity leadership dictates that the capital each individual brings be recognized and celebrated. Developing capital as leaders is collaborative, predicated on ­ensuring membership, status, and voice of those who are typically marginalized in decision-making processes. Diversity leadership invokes a vision of

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interconnected relationships rather than a singular flow of energy towards one norm where multiple voices contribute to a vision of a disrupted centre. Through collaborative and equitable relationships, we seek to learn about ourselves, about others, and about power. Ultimately, collaboration must work to empower everyone and create opportunities for leadership to be distributed across diverse groups of people.

Co n c l u s i on In this chapter, we articulated a conception of diversity leadership based on our experiences as WoC, racialized leaders. Our narratives provide the context for us to examine the meaning of being a leader and how our university experience leads us to name in our words the concepts associated with diversity leadership: juxtapositions, social and political spaces, authenticity, and changing the centre. Our aim through these narratives is to achieve reflective spaces and expose hidden truths of our experiences. We believe we have clarified our conception of diversity leadership and offered readers language to understand the experiences of WoC leaders.

Im p lic a t ions Diversity leadership is an approach for all, not just for women of colour. We argue that our conception is useful in extending and enhancing the ways in which leadership is currently practiced within institutions. Authenticity and “decentreing” can generate new conversations, and put forward previously unconsidered perspectives. Leaders who engage in practicing diversity leadership can become aware of the tensions, challenges, and possibilities underlying the juxtapositions and social/political spaces we have exposed. We argue this can change practices and introduce discourses that positively shape ­institutions. As WoC leaders, we believe our conceptualization of diversity leadership is a critical framework for envisioning leadership in any university that is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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8 “Fitting in” and Identity Creation The Lived Experiences of Racialized Minority Administrators in BC Shailoo Bedi

According to Riehl (2000, 70), “if practice is connected to identity then it matters who administrators are.” This simple but striking statement inspired me to begin my research on educational leadership. Riehl’s words could not be more relevant to our current educational environment, where student school populations are more heterogeneous than ever before. In spite of this heterogeneity, Canadian schools continue to replicate beliefs and values of the dominant culture in mainstream society, mostly from the White, AngloSaxon Protestant perspective (Goddard and Hart 2007; Walker and Quong 1998). Despite projections that by 2031, 35 per cent of adolescents fifteen years and under will belong to a visible-minority group (Statistics Canada 2011), this replicative approach dominates because most administrators belong to that dominant culture. If, as Riehl suggests, identity is related to practice, then understanding the identity of leaders who come from diverse backgrounds is critical. Despite robust scholarly research on educational leadership, including perspectives and experiences from principals and vice-principals, leadership styles and approaches to diversity and inclusion in schools are often from the perspective of White males (Hoyt and Blascovich 2007; Klenke 1996; McCauley and Van Velsor 2004). Peripheral attention is given to the voices and identities of diverse school leaders from marginalized, non-dominant backgrounds (Gooden 2002). Critical of the lack of diverse voices in ­educational-leadership discourse, Wilkinson (2008, 102) stated that “one of the potential dangers of emerging research for diversity and educational leadership is a slippage into an apolitical and instrumental focus upon

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diversity as a form of management containment of individuals.” Wilkinson argued that the dominant discourse on diversity in educational leadership centres on diversity as a commodity to be managed by leaders of the dominant ­culture. She added that without more inclusive discourse in educational research, issues of diversity and multiculturalism will continue to exist at the margins of discussion, with a focus on White male experiences serving as a central point of reference and alienating minority communities from leadership discussions. This chapter draws on a life-history study conducted with seven principals and vice-principals in BC who are either immigrants or children of immigrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds. I selected this group to add voices to the discourse on leadership experience and provide an understanding of how the experiences of racialized minorities affects their leadership praxis, philosophy, and identity. Although the broad category of leadership includes teachers, I selected administrators given their formalized roles as leaders in the school system (Sergiovanni 1995, 2006; Theoharis 2007, 2008, 2009). Whilst six major themes and three sub-themes emerged from the study, this chapter will closely examine the theme of “identity.” Participants’ ­life-history stories referenced identity issues and influences on identity formation as being particularly challenging and complex, with expressions of regret about loss of cultural identity. However, as participants developed as l­eaders, they later recognized an advantage in what they called their “hybrid identities,” meaning the ability to walk in both dominant cultures and minority cultures with flexibility and adaptability. The chapter will explore how critical race (Ladson-Billing 1998; Gillborn 2007; Starratt 2003), identity development (Berzonsky 1992; Gee 2001; Marcia 1966), and assimilation theories (Gans 1992; Harris 1999; Portes and Rumbaut 2001) provide valuable frameworks to understand and make sense of ­identity creation. First, I provide an overview of the research on leadership and diversity in education and explore how minority leaders’ voices have been absent, but also how they have been captured in qualitative, experientially oriented ­literature that disrupts the norms of much leadership literature. Following this overview, I outline how the study was conducted using a life-history research method and explain the theoretical frames important to the analysis. Finally, I discuss how “identity creation” adds to our understanding of racialized minority leadership experiences, with an analysis of the value and insights provided by the life histories of the participants.

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Re v ie w o f t h e Li terature Leadership and Diversity: Absences and Gaps Much of the current literature on educational leadership lacks representation of leaders from minority backgrounds. Topics involving diversity and principals tend to arise from research regarding Caucasian principals working in an Indigenous context or schools with a majority student population from the non-dominant culture (Blakesley 2010, 2012; Keddie and Niesche 2012; Madhlangobe and Gordon 2012; McKenzie and Scheurich 2007; Shields 2010; Taylor 1995). According to Blackmore (2006b), if the White male experience continues to serve as a focal point for leadership discussions, with few attempts to shift the paradigm to be inclusive of experiences from racialized minorities, women, and Indigenous peoples, then administrators who represent these communities will continue to feel discouraged and disenfranchised, despite gaining entry into leadership positions. Therefore, documenting these perspectives is important as it may serve to inspire diverse educators to pursue positions of leadership within education. Furthermore, the diverse identities of administrators may yield an equally diverse set of leadership approaches that could potentially transform educational environments where conventional models of leadership have stagnated.

Principals Who are Racialized Minorities: Contemporary Perspectives An examination of the literature regarding racialized minority leaders in educational administration positions was difficult because of a scarcity of studies. There is a gap in research on the life histories and experiences of racialized minority school principals and vice-principals who are immigrants and/or children of immigrants, specifically how their experiences have shaped their identities as leaders or their practice of leadership. However, some contemporary studies show how Black principals have led and met the challenges of the modern educational environment (Brown 2005; Gooden 2005; Gardiner and Enomoto 2006; Lomotey 1987, 1989a, 1989b, 1990, 1993; McCray, Wright, and Beachum 2007; Peters 2012; Reed 2012; Tillman 2004). There is also an emerging focus on Black women leaders and what they bring to their leadership roles thanks to the influence of critical and feminist theories in educational academic literature (Blackmore 1996; Bloom

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and Erlandson 2003; Dillard 1995; Reed 2012; Witherspoon and Taylor 2010). The primary focus of such literature is on the different leadership qualities of Black principals and how their role may help to bridge the achievement gap between students of colour and their Caucasian student peers. In addition, the literature in this area focuses on the recruitment and retention of Black principals because of the barriers and challenges faced by racialized principals. Additionally, the work of researcher and scholar Tanya Fitzgerald provided further insight into the field of diversity leadership. Fitzgerald has been researching Indigenous women in educational leadership for over a decade (Fitzgerald 2010), and in her 2010 study, she respectfully represented the voices of fifteen Indigenous women from Canada, Australia and New Zealand front and centre, disrupting the usual format of academic articles. With a thoughtful disclosure of her own positionality as a privileged researcher of a minority group, Fitzgerald’s study offered valuable insights from the Indigenous participants who felt that the existing literature failed to either reflect their concerns regarding dominance and privilege or fully represent the work of Indigenous leaders (96). Furthermore, the participants felt strongly that their personal struggles and issues related to being minority women had influenced how they chose to lead, yet, the literature paid little attention to leaders’ professional biographies. Consequently, Fitzgerald “attempts to provide a form of prosopography (collective ­biography) in order to uncover similarities between individuals and their professional and personal backgrounds” (97) to disrupt the metanarrative on educational leadership. Dissertations provide a more in-depth examination of racialized minority principal experiences compared to the published academic literature (Chin and Trimble 2015, 11), so I canvassed four dissertations note­ worthy for their examination of minority leaders in formal positions of leadership. First, Montevirgen’s (2011) study, “Consciousness, Resistance, Praxis: Counter-Narratives of Transformative Leaders of Color,” extends the ­educational leadership literature by adding the experiences of minority leaders to the dominant discourse. Montevirgen situated the experience of transformative leaders of colour using counter-narrative and counter-­ storytelling methodologies, isolating themes of awakening, acknowledgment, and connection in her research. This dissertation provided an opening for a discussion about life history and early experiences that influence and  construct identities of racialized minority leaders, discussed in my research.

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Tammy Melitta Miles Brown’s (2009) dissertation “The Perceptions of African American Women Principals Who Have Been Influential in Public Education” used a narrative case study approach to explore the lived experiences of six African American women principals working in the Pittsburgh area. Melitta drew conclusions about her participants’ lived experiences and revealed the common threads that impacted their development as leaders. For example, all of them had faced racial discrimination as children, and often they had a role model who influenced their development. Brown concluded that her participants’ experiences led to the development of leadership competencies such as resilience, courage, and empathy, which allowed them to succeed at their urban schools. Thomas Johnson’s dissertation (2006) provided a phenomenological study of African American educational leaders and examined the lived experiences and perspectives of such successful administrators. Johnson’s in-depth interviews revealed that successful school administrators were from families in which an immediate or extended family member was already a school administrator and who inspired the participant to also seek a leadership position within education (149). Similar to findings in other studies (Brown 2009; Fitzgerald 2010; Mack 2010; Benham, Maenette, and Cooper 1998), all participants were raised to believe in the importance of education for changing themselves and society (150) and that, ultimately, they wanted to be in a position of power that would allow them to change the academic outcomes for diverse students. In addition, the participants spoke about the need to possess leadership qualities better than their mainstream counterparts to be considered equal, a similar finding in other research (including Brown 2005; Reed 2012; Tillman 2004; Bloom and Erlandson 2003). In a Canadian context, Bing Cui (2010) investigated the administrative work life of five visible-minority women principals in Western Canadian public schools. Using case study methodology and in-depth interview techniques, Cui examined and described the career path taken to becoming principals by the research participants, the challenges they faced in their leadership roles, and the strategies they used to foster inclusive schools. The findings of Cui’s study indicated that the path to principalship for visible-minority women principals is influenced by personal abilities and strengths, challenges encountered, support from colleagues, and preparatory and training programs. All the studies reviewed in this section employed in-depth interviews or narrative/ storytelling methodologies that explored the lived experience of racialized minority leaders. Studies of lived experience, including my own life-history inquiry, expand the field of studies in diversity leadership.

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T h e L iv e d Ex p e r ie n c e s o f R aci a l i ze d M in o r it y   Adm in is t rators i n BC Research Approach: Life History This study used a life-history methodology for data gathering and a qualitative content-analysis approach for data analysis. A life-history investigation connects personal experiences with professional identities. Like methods used by other researchers investigating the experiences of racialized minorities, life history inquiry is about developing insights into the broader human condition by understanding the experiences of others and developing a counter-story. A life-history approach allowed me to gather data holistically and respect the experiences of research participants by considering their entire life experiences to understand a phenomenon. MacLure (1993, 314) explained that a life-history study contributes “virtue and validity to the research enterprise by striving to remain faithful to subjects’ own values and experiences, and letting them speak in their own voices.” Calmore (1995) added that inviting participants to tell their life histories is a respectful approach because the focus is on how voices from the margin can differ from the dominant voice. It was important for me to be mindful in my approach and heed Fitzgerald’s (2010) caution to avoid a superficial inclusion of visible-minority voices in my analysis and theorizing, so as to avoid reproducing the dominant privileged paradigm and manipulating authentic voices.

Participants and Participant Recruitment Using purposeful sampling, I determined that principals and vice-principals in BC met the following criteria for inclusion in this study: 1 Self-identified visible minority. 2 Immigrant or child of immigrant parents. 3 Principal or vice-principal currently working in the K–12 public education system in British Columbia who saw themselves as inclusive leaders. After ethics approval was received from my home institution, the bc Principals and Vice Principals Association (b c p v p a ) assisted with recruitment by ­circulating a notice to members. In total, seven individuals (five principals and two vice principals) participated. To protect the anonymity of participants, pseudonyms were used.

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Table 8.1 Pseudonyms of participants

Pseudonym

Ethnicity/cultural background (self-identified)

Paul

South Asian– Canadian

Aarti

South Asian–Canadian South Asian– Canadian

Nureen

Sanjay Gurmeet Manuel

Min-jun

South Asian–Canadian South Asian– Canadian Hispanic Canadian Asian Canadian

Immigrant or child of ­immigrant parents

Professional role

Type of school

Number of interviews

Child of ­immigrant parents Immigrant

Viceprincipal

Elementary

2

Principal

Elementary

2

Child of ­immigrant parents Immigrant

Viceprincipal

Elementary

2

Principal

Secondary

2

Immigrant

Principal

Elementary

2

Child of ­immigrant parents Immigrant

Principal

Secondary

2

Principal

Elementary

2

Data Collection After obtaining written consent, I conducted two in-depth interviews with each participant to investigate their lived experiences and to gather stories. The first interview was recorded, and interview times ranged from forty-seven to 121 minutes. Questions focused on the participants’ early years, either growing up in another country and transitioning to Canada, or being raised in Canada as immigrants or as children of immigrant parents. The latter part of the interview focused on their leadership roles and identities. Second ­interviews (52 to 152 minutes) were recorded on a digital audio recorder. Pseudonyms were used on interview transcripts to protect the identity of the participants.

Data Analysis I used qualitative content analysis to evaluate the data (Franzosi 2008; Neuendorf 2002). An inductive content-analysis approach helped to identify themes in the raw data (Franzosi 2008). Data was read and reread, and ­analytic memos (Ryan and Bernard 2003; Saldana 2013) were written until

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patterns emerged. Constant comparative analysis allowed for an examination of similarities and differences across the units of data (Franzosi 2008; Neuendorf 2002), and I used the participants’ own words, in vivo coding, rather than applying my own terms (Charmaz 2006). I narrowed down twenty-four broad categories to six major themes and three sub-themes. These major themes are left broad to encompass sub-themes and pull the codes into interpretive concepts. I took this approach to honour the voices of the participants and to not limit their experiences by summing up their thoughts or lives in single word or two. I used several key theories to make sense of participants’ life stories: critical race theory, identity development theory, and assimilation theory.

T h e o r e t ic a l F ra m eworks U s e d in t h e A na l ysi s Critical Race Theory Although critical race theory (crt) developed historically through American legal scholarship to critique how White privilege and power harm Black Americans, it offers an appropriate lens to examine how racialized minority school leaders have to contend with preconceived images and historical social stereotypes while providing leadership in their schools. Critical race theorists use “counter-story” to give voice to the experiences of racialized minorities. Counter-story has the potential to subvert mainstream realities about minorities and their experiences. Delgado and Stefancic (2001, 41) explained, “[t]he hope is that well-told stories describing the reality of Black and brown lives can help readers bridge that gap between their worlds and those of ­others.” However, according to Lawrence (1995), it is not enough to just have stories told by visible minorities; the stories and experiences must be part of research in order to add another paradigm to the existing literature. Racialized minority principals’ and vice-principals’ views about leadership and education have the potential to provide new perspectives that can enhance the development of leadership for diverse school populations.

Identity Development Understanding how identity affects leadership praxis is another theoretical frame in this study. Identity development includes ethnic identity and professional identity development, both of which were important to understanding the data from this study. Although Erikson’s early identity development theory

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(1963, 1968, 1982) is considered out of date for its depiction of sex and gender roles (Mishra and Shirazi 2010; Suarez-Orozco and Suarez-Orozco 2001; Urdan and Munoz 2012), some elements from Erikson’s early work are generally accepted. His approach to identity construction focused on self-development as a lifelong endeavour to create an optimal self in one’s social environment, (Kaplan and Flum 2010), with adolescence as the most critical period. This view is relevant to my study, especially in the examination of the early years in the principals’ and vice-principals’ life histories. In social sciences, identity is generally seen as an internal construct but also how we are viewed by others (Konkin and Suddards 2012, 586). Gee (2001, 100) offered four ways to think about identity and ways of being: nature identity, or identity derived from natural forces such as gender; institutional identity, or holding a particular role and position within an organization; discourse identity, or having certain traits as seen by others; and finally, affinity identity, or experiences we share with others. Gee claimed that it is not enough for us to declare a particular identity for it to be so; others must see we have that identity. Ethnic-racial identity creation is also important to my study because of its direct impact on identity formation (Phinney and Rosenthal 1992; Stephan and Stephan 2000). Umana-Taylor (2014) explained that ethnic-racial identity creation is a multi-faceted construct capturing different aspects of how individuals make sense of their own ethnic and racial identity. Several researchers claim that the process of identity development can be more challenging for members of racialized minority groups than for members of a dominant group (Markstrom-Adams 1992; Spencer and Markstrom-Adams 1990), with adolescents struggling to identify with a group viewed as subordinate to a majority group. Moreover, ethnic minorities must contend with negative stereotypes in their struggle to form identities within a society different from their ethnic heritage (Rotheram, 1987; Spencer and Dornbusch 1990). Research indicates that the development of one’s ethnic identity is important for minority adolescents’ overall identity development and that a lack of ethnic identity development can lead to identity conflicts and self-esteem issues (Marcia 1980). Professional identity formation, occurring at individual, social, and organizational levels, involves the acquisition of new role behaviours and views of the self. Additionally, the development of professional identity involves assuming the identity of one’s profession (Austin 2004; White, Borges, and Geiger 1995). As Hoffman-Kipp (2008, 153) explained, “while identity involves the individual, it is an invention of situated activity, in various communities, that both enable and limit certain identity creation and sustenance.” The contributing factors in its development include personal identity, role identity, and social identity. Therefore, professional identity formation is

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co-constructed through identities created and re-created at many different stages of one’s life. This theoretical discussion around identity formation guided my analysis of how life histories contribute to identity development and thus praxis of racialized minority leaders.

Assimilation Theory As participants in this study are either immigrants or children of immigrants, assimilation theory offers context to my data analysis. The study of assimilation theory is broad and encompasses perspectives from a traditional view of assimilation, now called classic assimilation theory (Gordon 1964; Warner and Srole 1945), which looks at how immigrants have attempted to be accepted into the broader mainstream culture of the host nation. Contemporary views of assimilation theory focus on the impacts of race, ethnicity and culture of immigrants and how these factors impacted their acceptance into a host nation distinctly different from their ethnic, racial, and cultural heritage (Alba and Nee 2003; Gans 1992; Harris 1999; Portes and Rumbaut 2001; Portes and Zhou 1993). Classic assimilation theory posits that a single, unified culture and society exist within a host nation, and immigrants are unified into this culture in a “straight line” (Gordon 1964; Warner and Srole 1945). Gordon (1964) added that immigrant groups conform to an already established and dominant core identity of the host nation through a multi-step process that involves giving up one’s culture and ethnic heritage while adopting social norms and ways of being from the host nation. This theory came under criticism by scholars (Alba and Nee 2003; Jung 2009; Portes and Rumbaut 1996), who pointed out that classic assimilation theory applies to the experience of immigrants from White European nations to the US and Canada because European immigrants found quicker paths to acceptance. However, as immigration policies opened up in the 1960s, immigrants entering the US and Canada were increasingly ethnically, culturally, and racially diverse, and assimilation was not a straight line. Rather, scholars explored the complexities of assimilation and the segmentation of assimilation for diverse immigrant populations (Portes and Zhou 1993; Rumbaut 1994; Bankston and Zhou 1997; Zhou 1997; Gibson 2001; Portes and Rumbaut 2001).

F in d in g s While six broad themes and sub-themes were initially identified in the study, I focus on identity in this chapter.

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Identity Foundational to the participants’ stories were references to identity and influences on identity formation, especially in terms of cultural identity development. Cultural identity was seen by the participants to embody one’s race, skin colour, or ethnicity (Hall and Du Gay 1996). Many participants spoke about the challenges of growing up and forming an identity as a racialized minority within a dominant culture different from their ethnic heritage. Yet they also expressed some detachment from their cultural heritage, which impacted their identity development. Thus, through this discussion on identity, regret around loss of identity emerged as a sub-theme. Immigrant children’s feelings of loss and regret are well researched in the social science literature (Suarez-Orozco and Suarez-Orozco 2001; Urdan and Munoz 2012). Suarez-Orozco and Suarez-Orozco commented that immigrant children and children of immigrants “must construct identities that will enable them to thrive in profoundly different settings such as home, schools, the world of peers and the world of work” (2002, 92). Although participants in my study constructed new identities as immigrants trying to adapt to mainstream culture, they did so at the cost of losing parts of their ethnic identities. Multiple participants voiced the strategy of developing a hybrid identity to adapt to being a racialized minority in a White-dominant society (Bhabha 1994 and 2004; Joseph 1999; Kapchan and Strong 1999). A hybrid identity combined their traditional ethnic backgrounds with identities that conformed to mainstream norms. Bhabha (1994, 2004) described the movement between the two cultural identities as fluid, allowing the participants to move between the two worlds, their home world and the mainstream world, and Hall noted identity “is never complete, always in process” (2003, 234). Being or walking between two worlds is referenced by racialized minorities and discussed by racialized minority leaders (Benham, Maenette, and Cooper 1998; Fitzgerald 2010), but often from the perspective of its negative impacts and loss of one’s ethnic identity. The participants in this study highlighted the complexities of growing up in two worlds: the need to navigate between the mainstream culture and their ethnic cultures led to confusion, identity conflict, and even a sense of disorientation. Paul expressed this feeling when he said, “Now that I am getting older and I have my own young children, I really [am] feeling that I kind of lost my identity or I’m in between two worlds. Like I am always straddling two worlds … but I don’t know where I belong” (Paul, first interview, lines 126–30). Despite personal conflicts over cultural identity, participants shared that, later in life, especially as leaders, they ultimately

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recognized an advantage to having adapted to mainstream culture and show that a hybrid identity was a strength. For example, Aarti’s family adapted by assimilating and taking on the cultural norms and practices of Canada in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This early adaptation to the dominant culture led her to identify as Canadian. But she also mentioned, “those early years really were confusing. We just felt totally Canadian, totally immersed with the cultural events and holidays. I did not grow up knowing my culture. I thought my culture was being white Canadian” (Aarti, second interview, lines 110–13). Aarti’s strong connection with the dominant culture impacted her time at a boarding school in South Asia, where she described identifying with the only two non-South Asian students at the school: “I saw those two blond kids in the assembly and I just remember the backs of their heads and thinking to myself ‘those people are me.’” But integrating and strongly identifying with the dominant culture also had an impact on Aarti: The company that I feel most ill at ease in is a crowd of [brown] ­people. Yet people expect me in a crowd of [brown] people. (Aarti, first ­interview, lines 166–8) Aarti describes embracing her heritage later, through her marriage, and how that effected an advantage in her leadership role because her hybrid identity allowed her to relate to a diverse community. Paul also talked about confusion around his identity linked to the pressures to assimilate because of the discrimination his family faced during their early years in bc: My family was discriminated against … and I think it had a huge impact … My parents wanted us to be Canadians … We needed to be Canadian to avoid being discriminated against. But now I am lost as to who I am. (Paul, first interview, lines 100–12) This identity confusion was exacerbated when Paul visited his extended family in South Asia for the first time. He described the visit as going home and hoped that some of his identity issues would be resolved: So, I got to [South Asia] and said “I’m home” only to be told by my aunt and uncle “no, this isn’t home. This isn’t where you belong.” So, as you get older, you start to really analyze well, who, who are you and where do you fit in. (Paul, first interview, lines 150–3)

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Nureen described her identity as something she needed to protect and so did not become immersed in mainstream society. Although she found some comfort in those early days in being a diverse student among racialized minorities at her school, she still felt like an outsider because of her religion: all the multicultural kids stuck together … We supported each other in that we were all different and we all celebrated each other’s ­cultures. We shared food; we talked about things we did at home. But at the same time, I knew even though I was in there, I knew my situation was a little different … [be]cause of my grandparents and we were Muslims. So, we did stick together, but I felt isolated still. (Nureen, ­second interview, lines 154–8) Sanjay talked about learning to walk in the dominant culture both at school and in the community while maintaining his cultural identity at home. He did not seem frustrated or confused about managing a hybrid identity; rather, it was simply an understanding that this was his reality and what was expected of him: There’s a need to manage the cultural expectations at home and then the cultural expectations outside of home. Maintaining a ­balance and maintaining your ability to function in both cultures … it becomes routine … and has helped to create a fluid identity for me. (Sanjay, ­second interview, lines 36–9) For Sanjay, a fluid identity meant the ability to seamlessly transition from the mainstream culture to ethnically diverse cultures. Like Aarti, he saw the ability to transition as an advantage in his professional capacity as a leader because he related to student and family needs from both the dominant mainstream culture and culturally diverse backgrounds. Research participants developed hybrid identities that allowed them to move between their home world and the mainstream world. But they also emphasized the need they felt to hide their cultural identities, especially during their school years, which later led to feelings of regret about giving up too much of their ethnic culture to adopt a more mainstream identity. Although this feeling of regret was prominent in the interviews, many participants commented that they recognize a professional advantage in their hybrid identities because they can understand the needs of mainstream students and their families as well as the needs of visible-minority students and their families. Aarti’s comment below addresses this ability to understand the needs and perspectives of the culturally diverse communities represented in her school:

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My life went from being very mainstream to now a combination of ­mainstream and South Asian. I now have a deeper appreciation and understanding of more than one culture. It makes it easier for me to transition and relate to the needs of many within my school ­community … I think I have a sense of how people live and the ­diversity that exists. (Aarti, second interview, lines 304–7; 311) The advantage of walking in two worlds must be balanced with its effect on identity and well-being. My findings on identity fit within existing research on culturally, ethnically and racially diverse educational leaders. The literature on racialized minority school leaders discusses issues of identity (Brown 2005; Gooden 2005; Gardiner and Enomoto 2006; Fitzgerald 2010, Lomotey 1989a, 1989b, 1993; McCray, Wright, and Beachum 2007; Peters 2012; Reed 2012; Tillman 2004), with many articles describing the requirement to walk in two worlds. Fitzgerald’s study of Indigenous principals concluded that the need to walk in both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous worlds creates “a sense of double identity” (2010, 100) that provokes internal conflict. Scholars who examined Black principal identity formation also found that research participants felt caught between two worlds and that trying to maintain their Black identity while conforming to White dominant mainstream society had an effect on their well-being. Researchers drew from Du Bois’ (1903) concept of “double consciousness,” referencing tensions felt by Black Americans straddling their Black identity and more mainstream American identity. However, other research has shown that Black principals have learned to alter or vacillate between communication styles and approaches that are acceptable in Black communities and mainstream society. They adapt and switch approaches because of their racial and cultural identities, which have helped them develop the ability to communicate and relate both to various minority groups and the dominant, mainstream culture. Likewise, in my study, while participants were challenged to manage multiple identities, they maintained some power in negotiating and renegotiating their identities as leaders.

Implications for Diversity Leadership In a life-history study of racialized minority leaders, the theme of identity creation is clearly reflected in participants’ leadership styles and approaches to diversity. Participants often linked their present views, beliefs, and approaches to leadership to past events and formative experiences, making connections between who they are as leaders and how their experiences influenced them. Sanjay put it best when he said,

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it is meaningful to go back and look at our own experiences and those experiences help shape who we are as leaders … and the ­factors that sometimes, positive or negative, have influenced us, and it is ­important for us to make sure that you address them in who you are and the way you behave now. (Sanjay, first interview, lines 337–9) In particular, despite their efforts to adapt cultural norms, participants described fitting in with and gaining acceptance by the dominant society as challenging. Bhabha (1994) and Hall (2003) talk about the concept of becoming and identity development as a work in progress. The participants’ experiences as immigrants or children of immigrants reflect the existing literature on critical race theory, which proposes that racial structures are systemic, oppressive, and largely invisible; this helps explain, in part, the exclusion from dominant society felt by visible minorities. Their experiences with overt or tacit messages about difference informed how they chose to lead for diversity and inclusion in their schools. Their stories/ counter-stories show a clear link between their experiences as racialized mino­ rities and how they lead for change. My participants’ experiences with identity formation support some of the existing literature on the topic and challenge others. Erikson proposed that adolescent experience is instrumental to identity development (1963, 1968, and 1982), and this research agrees. Participants repeatedly described their youthful experiences and how much they still carry their early learning. Many still live with the identity confusion resulting from their experiences of growing up as a visible minority when there were fewer visible minorities and less diversity. Identity theorists (Marcia 1966; Berzonsky, 1992) suggested that an individual must have a fully integrated and coherent identity structure in order to be well adjusted, but this research refutes that suggestion. Rather, hybrid identities emerged over time and were seen as an advantage to participants’ leadership, helping them to relate to the issues faced by visible-minority students and families. A heightened awareness of difference and the impact that their experiences as immigrants or children of immigrants had on their ascension to leadership roles within education provides opportunities for other racialized educators to “counter-story” their own life histories. Walking in two worlds – inhabiting the hybrid spaces of possibility allowed the participants to re-vision their roles as educational leaders and to bring their understanding of the complexity of identity development to their work with educators and students alike.

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This research adds to the educational literature pertaining to the experiences of visible-minority leaders and what diverse leaders can bring to their leadership roles, helping us to create leadership environments that are less discriminatory to minority leaders by acknowledging the value of their approach to leadership. Educational leadership is ripe for more diverse voices, stories, and perspectives. As Gonzales, Moll, and Amanti (2005, 12) stated, “people are competent, they have knowledge, and their life experiences have given them that knowledge.” Coming back to the Riehl quote which launched this inquiry, “if practice is connected to identity then it matters who administrators are” (2000, 70), I believe that the experiences shared by the principals and vice-principals in this study – about who they are, their identity issues and influences on their leadership – have added value and knowledge to understanding diverse ways of leading.

R e f e r e nc e s Alba, Richard, and Victor Nee. 2003. Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration. Cambridge, ma: Harvard University Press. Astin, Helen, and Carole Leland. 1991. Women of Influence, Women of Vision: A Cross-Generational Study of Leaders and Social Change. San Francisco, ca: Jossey-Bass. Austin, Avis. 2004. “Organizational Relationships in a Networking Age: The Dynamics of Identity Formation and Bonding.” Leadership and Organizational Development Journal 25 (1/2): 235–9. Bankston, Carl L., and Min Zhou. 1997. “The Social Adjustment of Vietnamese American Adolescents: Evidence for a Segmented-Assimilation Approach.” Social Science Quarterly 78 (2): 508–23. Benham, Maenette, K.P., and Joanne E. Cooper. 1998. Let my Spirit Soar! Narrative of Diverse Women in School Leadership. Thousand Oaks, ca. Corwin Press, Inc. Berzonsky, Michael D. 1992. “Identity Style and Coping Strategies.” Journal of Personality 60 (4): 771–88. Bhabha, Homi K. 1994. The Location of Culture. 1st ed. London, uk: Routledge. – 2004. The Location of Culture. 2nd ed. London, uk: Routledge. Blackmore, Jill. 1996. “Breaking the Silence: Contributions of Feminist Theory to Educational Administration and Leadership.” In International Handbook of Educational Administration and Leadership, vol. 2, edited by Kenneth Leithwood, Judith Chapman, David Corson, Philip Hallinger, and Ann Hart, 157–96. Dordrecht, n l : Kluwer Press. – 2006a. “Deconstructing Diversity Discourse in the Field of Educational Management and Leadership.” Educational Management Administration and Leadership 34 (2): 181–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143206062492.

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9 (Re)Creating Equitable Spaces Racialized and Indigenous Leaders in Canadian Universities Victoria Handford and Leena Yahia

A growing interest in leadership in educational settings in recent years (Begley 2012) means extensive research on leadership within the K–12 school sector has been conducted. However, there is less research on leadership in higher education (h e ) (Inman 2007). Leadership in h e is often “interpreted as applying leaders’ influence to followers, efficient use of available resources, systems and procedures to meet the objectives of the university and execution of its tasks” (Mukan, Havrylyuk and Stolyarchuk 2015, 41). Although scarce, the study of leadership in HE is developing and takes various forms: leader or personality centred; hierarchical concepts (reflecting universal characteristics and emphasizing power over followers); and process-centred, collective, contextual, nonhierarchical, shared leadership models (Mukan, Havrylyuk and Stolyarchuk 2015). Most literature about he has focused on positional leaders or on the challenges of managing and leading universities and colleges. A failure to consider the agency of the different stakeholders, the different perspectives on leadership, the changing context (Ospina and Foldy 2009) and demographics, and how and why leaders become leaders, render our understanding of leadership in HE incomplete. Another troubling aspect of leadership theories is that they continue to be delivered from an ethnocentric Western perspective with the claim that “the functions and features of leadership can be transported and legitimated across homogenous educational systems” (Fitzgerald 2003, 9). The search for a normative theory of leadership (Duke 1998) remains raced, and considerations of race and ethnicity are undeveloped (Fitzgerald 2003). Further, while some literature seeks to document how leadership is experienced and exercised within

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a multicultural framework, the values and practices of racialized and Indigenous leaders need to be more broadly theorized for new ways of leading to emerge. This chapter (originally reported in Yahia 2016) explores the experiences of ten racialized and Indigenous leaders in Canadian universities using the framework of Critical Race Theory (crt) (Crenshaw et al. 1995) . We draw attention to the knowledge gap in theory and application regarding diverse perspectives of he educational leadership not to add other ways of leading to current narratives (Fitzgerald 2003), but to place the narratives of these leaders at the centre of our theorizing instead of the marginal positions they have been given in the literature. A multi-voiced approach to he educational leadership is necessary due to changing Canadian demographics and the gap in current leadership theory. Finally, with much of the research on leadership relating to work ­conducted outside of Canada, considering the Canadian context seems timely. crt, a movement that began in legal studies in the mid-1970s and spread to other disciplines, puts race front and centre, a needed approach for leadership studies. crt aims to study and transform the relationship among race, racism, and power (Delgado and Stefancic 2012). Most authoritative commentaries identify a similar set of crt assumptions: an understanding that “race” is socially constructed and that “racial difference” is invented, perpetuated, and reinforced by society (Gillborn 2015).

Methods We employed a multiple–case study method to identify the experiences racialized and Indigenous leaders in Canadian universities shared in interviews with the researcher. We used several approaches to select the sample: scanning university websites for potential participants, sending invitations, and using snowball sampling. Study criteria included individuals must 1) self-identify as Indigenous or from a racialized background 2) hold or recently held a position of senior or middle-level management at a Canadian university, and 3) be willing to participate in at least one semi-structured interview and a Delphi process following the interview to confirm interpretation and make recommendations about the interview. We identified ten racialized and Indigenous leaders willing to participate. Of those interviewed, 60 per cent were female, 40 per cent were male, 70 per cent ranked as middle management as identified by e e o g (Canada’s Employment Equity Occupational Groups), and 30 per cent were senior management. Eighty per cent of the participants self-identified as racialized, and 20 per cent self-identified as Indigenous.

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The interview questions included introductory questions and questions related to leadership in he, mentoring relationships, racial experiences, and organizational trust. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. Following preliminary analysis of the transcripts, we used a deductive approach, with a priori determined codes and categories identified by prior research in this area (Kondracki, Wellman and Amundson 2002). Following coding, we reviewed the interviews using open and axial coding to identify additional themes or details in the data. We used a Delphi technique after coding the data to determine consensus on themes and sub-themes; ensure equal, accurate voice was given to all participants; and increase the trust­ worthiness of the results. For more detail on methods, see Yahia (2016).

F in din gs a n d D i s cus si on Findings suggest that racialized and Indigenous leaders in Canadian universities practice a form of leadership different from mainstream leadership paradigms and practices that “focus on detachment, objectivity, and a compartmentalized leadership practice” (Santamaría, Santamaría, and Dam 2014). By blending traditional leadership practices with personal and professional funds of knowledge (Santamaría, Santamaría, and Dam 2014), racialized and Indigenous leaders practice hybridized adaptive leadership. This leadership style involves reflection, re-evaluation, and questioning of people, situations, and systems. This style helps racialized and Indigenous leaders to lead, provides distinction, and increases their ability to see multiple perspectives as they navigate power, politics, and action. Traditional cultural heritages and minority life experience are assets, resulting in valuable service to their departments, institutions, and wider society. The following six themes emerged from the data: 1) navigating power, politics, and action, 2) resilience and managing distractions, 3) maintaining values and principles, 4) practicing sustainable leadership, 5) negotiating a unique identity: insiders and outsiders, and 6) negotiating organizational trust. An overarching theme also emerged, (re)creating equitable spaces in Canadian universities, which participating leaders continuously referred to as a goal and a challenge within their leadership.

Theme One: Navigating Power, Politics and Action This theme pertains to participants’ strengths, their experiences with power, politics, and leading strategically. All participants discussed being changeoriented and maintaining a strategic vision for their departments. They used

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Navigating power, politics, and action Negotiating organizational trust

Resilience and managing distractions Experiences of racialized and Indigenous leaders

Negotiating a unique identity: insiders and outsiders

Maintaining values and principles Practicing sustainable leadership

Figure 9.1  Six emergent themes summarizing the experiences of racialized and Indigenous leaders in Canadian universities

strategies such as “symbolic, verbal, and performance acts” (Kark and Shamir 2002) which emphasize common ground and generate a shared identity by linking stakeholders to shared values, tasks, and goals. Santamaría and Santamaría (2015) call this spirit leading, or leading for the greater good while engaging in elements of transformative and servant leadership. Participants were keen on the participation of others and welcomed a diversity of ideas and points of view to reach consensus, a strategy to resolve competing demands with limited resources and mitigate tensions that arise in middle management positions. Some participants, however, pointed to the difficulties of using consensus building, as it is time consuming and popular opinion may negate the vision they have as leaders. Participants discussed the need to make decisions and later deal with the consequences, have allies present controversial changes, or present issues from different perspectives to increase collaboration and be seen as inclusive. Participating leaders were aware of the dissonance of being managers/leaders and colleagues and discussed the need for emotional intelligence and political acumen. Political acumen is especially important for leaders working towards equity and social justice goals (Ryan 2010).

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Another strategy the participants used involved building and nurturing coalitions of support within their departments and with more senior leaders. This strategy is based on creating reciprocal care and responsibility towards each member’s individual role and responsibility in the relationship. At the same time, these leaders questioned policies, procedures, and power structures while working in a leadership context, sometimes at tension with their being primus inter pares, academics, and scholars. Regular questioning helped manage the dissonance in being leader-academics (Davison 2012) and aided in interrogating the workings of race and other forms of marginalization in the workplace and in society (Santamaría and Santamaría 2012). Nine out of the ten participants acknowledged treading carefully as they engage in their commitments, drawing on their social and intellectual capital as well as their position within the formal hierarchy. Most participants believed their organizations were value-laden (Astin and Astin 2000). They discussed the need for political acumen to deal with leadership issues and micro­ aggressions they face as minority leaders. Utilizing multiple lenses to take charge and implement their vision and drawing on a network of support helped the participants employ a hybrid approach, a mix of leadership and management depending on the context, to provide essential contributions in their academic environments. Many participants spoke about the need to make oneself visible to institutional decision-makers, starting in graduate school and continuing through faculty positions and beyond, a strategy racialized and Indigenous leaders felt was necessary for their efficacy and success. They discussed a need for power, qualifications, and a formal position to be heard and have influence as a leader. Visibility also helped them gain access to coveted resources. Leaders at all levels of an organization need to be available, approachable, and visible; however, it seems even more important for racialized and Indigenous faculty and leaders. Without self-promotion, a very competent faculty member would be overlooked, “especially because of their race.” Involvement in service, highlighting strengths, being competent, and “dressing appropriately” were among the strategies employed when gaining visibility at university events, committees, or social gatherings. Previous research has shown that racialized and Indigenous leaders could be rendered invisible in their organizations because of their race (see Cox and Nkomo 1990). All participants mentioned the lack of training or professional development on how to lead. Rather, it was a continuous process of learning, reflecting, and practicing on the job. Mentoring was essential in learning how to navigate leadership. Interestingly, besides family members who

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provided mentorship, almost all mentors who supported the participants were White. One of the participants ascribed this to the lack of racialized and Indigenous teachers, leaders, and mentors he had encountered. He stated that besides the career mentoring he received, a big part of the mentoring was about learning how to navigate what he called the White man’s world. Similarly, the majority of the participants stated that they had White mentors and continue to have White allies who help them navigate some spaces or provide different kinds of support. Several of these allies were current leaders with equal or more senior roles in leadership, both at their institutions and beyond. All participants thought that having racialized and Indigenous leaders in HE would benefit university scholarship, teaching and learning, equity, and support analyzing structures and identifying opportunities to do work. One of the participants identified that having a critical leader (who draws attention to bias and marginalization) could bring about great changes and transform the educational system; however, even having a leader who is not necessarily critical but of a racialized or Indigenous background could still be helpful because of their ability to question, doubt, and recognize that the system is not neutral. Issues around faculty evaluations, for instance, were mentioned as an example where a racialized or Indigenous leader would be able to interrupt the dominant discourse around the objectivity of these instruments. As emerging research is showing, evaluations are highly racialized and gendered and, therefore, often impact certain faculty members inequitably, especially when used for tenure and promotion. Other participants mentioned that having multiple lenses to analyze and create change, do things differently, and make things happen is not only important for domestic students of different backgrounds but also for international students and other minoritized students as well. Finally, participants identified feeling empowered by seeing themselves as leaders in their institutions and beyond. Being their “total self” (Ospina and Foldy 2009) and not being confined within their institutions was appreciated. Participants reiterated their sense of agency and their belief in their ability to transform spaces and manage negative situations. These leaders stated that one should understand and analyze their situation yet be appreciative of the positive and look forward to the future to meet leadership goals and achieve success. In summary, theme one yielded the following topics: political ­acumen; multiple lenses to understand issues and drawing on past experiences; h ­ ybridity of leadership and management; competence and taking charge; building consensus; access and allies; and appreciating the positive and being optimistic.

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Theme Two: Negotiating a Unique Identity The participants talked extensively about identity, which seemed central to their leadership practice. Participants’ identities were hybrid, complex, and unique. Hybridity and dynamism came from constant negotiation of their identities as a result of their positions as leaders-colleagues, their roles as leaders-managers, and their social location of being insiders to the academy and outsiders due to their race. Being academics and scholars was central to every participant’s identification. Equally important was how these leaders identified with being racialized. This is not to say their role in leadership is not relevant, but to say that their understanding of the rotating nature of their leadership roles, their belief in collegial governance, and the permanence of their academic status all contribute to their conceptualization of leadership. Constantly engaging in identity work and the different meanings identity has for different people, participants discussed their identities as being constructed and reconstructed in relation to the different contexts of their existence, the discourses and social interactions around them, who they and others compared them to, and their motivations. The constant forming, repairing, maintaining, strengthening, or revising of their identities served them in productive ways and assisted in managing the different tensions they faced. Participants acknowledged their academic citizenship, identified their cultural and ethnic ties, and knew their self-worth while undertaking their everyday institutional work of (re)creating, maintaining, and disrupting their institutions. Their practice of leadership was distinct from leadership described in mainstream leadership literature (Santamaría, Santamaría, and Dam 2014). Discussing their current roles, nine of the ten racialized and Indigenous leaders interviewed identified being called on to take a leadership role without necessarily being interested in leadership. The participants stated this was part of their roles and responsibilities as citizens of their departments and institutions along with other roles of teaching and research. Participants in more senior roles discussed seeking further leadership opportunities, their willingness to be of service for the well-being of their campuses, and their desire to transform their institutions. This finding aligns with López-Domínguez et al.’s (2013) suggestion that the need for change can be an antecedent of leadership and organizational citizenship behaviour. Participants’ decisions about wanting to continue in administration and leadership were mostly taken after tenure. In discussing their concerns and sources of constant identity negotiation, participants mentioned the changing nature of leadership roles in universities and the increasing managerialism as one advances in leadership. Despite the

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many opportunities that come with leadership in he , they described sacrifices: increased stress and accountability and decreased research productivity. Research was seen as important; ongoing and meaningful research contributions were seen as a source of leaders’ competence and legitimacy. Participants also discussed earning an insider-outsider status as they advanced in leadership when academic colleagues excluded them or questioned their credibility and loyalty as academics due to their association with leadership. Participants discussed a perception among academics of a binary, where one has to choose between being a researcher or an administrator. Several participants acknowledged managing this dissonance (Davison 2012) by thinking of themselves as academics and scholars first. Leadership was part of service as an obligation and opportunity to give back. Similarly, members of participants’ ethnic communities questioned their loyalty and judged whether they had “sold out” on their shared cause(s) or were pushing the agenda far enough. Racialized and Indigenous leaders were expected to advance the equity agenda and act as role models for minority students or junior faculty. While this was not always an explicitly stated expectation, these leaders often found themselves mentoring others or facing expectations that they would. Ospina and Foldy (2009) discuss this as “othermothering” (a survival technique which dates back to slavery), where there is an expectation that academics of colour mentor and take care of students or young faculty of colour. In response to a question about “baggage” that came along with their identity or cultural background, all leaders interviewed in this research spoke about there being no baggage but “abundance,” “opportunity,” and “responsibility.” In addition to confidence in their skills and competencies, participants embraced and spoke about their racialized identities with pride and esteem, drawing on their cultures as resources (Santamaría and Santamaría 2012, 2015) and one referred to their culture as a source of protection and empowerment. In responding to a question about the most influential person, many leaders answered that they were their own heroes and champions, despite the presence of friends, family, mentors, or allies in their lives at different stages. In speaking about taking pride in naming her ancestry as Indigenous despite being able to pass as White, one of the participants emphasized the need to reflect and own one’s success. She stated that she has been the biggest contributor to her success and that she owes much of it to her experiences, background, and the way she navigates these spaces. In summary, theme two yielded the following topics: academic citizenship: rights and responsibilities; drawing on cultural identity as a resource and strength; hybridity as insiders and outsiders; and self-awareness and knowing one’s worth.

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Theme Three: Resilience and Managing Distractions Participants stressed that a leadership position in a university is complex and continuously changing, regardless of leaders’ backgrounds, especially with the changing nature of the academic profession and the increasing commodification of education. However, it is notable that they discussed leadership being more stressful for racialized and Indigenous leaders who also encounter numerous racial microaggressions on top of their already stressful roles. Hence, resilience and perseverance become essential for survival and success. Driven by personal motivation, a sense of purpose or duty, and a commitment to care, these leaders developed the ability to recover from or adapt to any negativity or change. They spoke about events and situations which could have led to victimization and frustration (e.g., institutional racism, microaggressions, tokenism, cultural taxation, and lateral violence), but instead, they turned them into hope and optimism. Resilience and the ability to operate in a changing environment while maintaining effectiveness were seen as fundamental to the success of he institutions and leadership. The leaders in this research interwove both personal and professional resources to be able to successfully reach towards the unknown, take risks, and grapple with the discomfort or ambiguity of their roles. Participants’ strongest coping strategies were based on drawing on support from people with similar values: family, colleagues at work, more senior leadership, or mentors. Relationships were seen as necessary for the leaders’ well-being. Being active in sports and other activities, taking time off and disconnecting, and spiritual support were among other strategies these leaders mentioned. One participant explained that while he recognized that some “unreasonable” people doubted his leadership, he selected his battles and ignored people who said things in subtle ways and would not be easily caught for their racism. He spoke about his acceptance and recognition of these small challenges as being “part of the package,” perhaps due to the normalization of racial microaggressions. He also spoke about needing to eliminate small distractions to ensure that his research reflected the high quality of his work, that his qualifications were above average, that objective evidence backed his leadership decisions, and that he had institutional support. Another participant discussed an incident where she chose not to address an inaccurate assumption about her competence and the speculation that she would have an easy ride in the university because of her race. She chose to direct her energy towards ongoing education to address the issue. Some participants, however, warned that many things, including the need to educate others around race, consume and thwart racialized and Indigenous leaders and distract them from bigger

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picture issues. In summary, theme three yielded the following topics: selecting battles: racism, microaggressions, tokenism, cultural taxation, and being aware and challenging stereotypes; navigating institutional barriers; and systems of support and self-care.

Theme Four: Maintaining Values and Principles The leaders interviewed often found themselves having to take some action or stand to address social justice issues. Thinking of themselves as principled decision-makers who cared about others, participants discussed being pro­ active in their efforts to influence their institutions by explicitly communicating principled messages, role-modelling ethical behaviour, or choosing not to engage in battles that would waste energy and detract from the larger leadership vision. Participants recognized the need for prudence and awareness in their roles of influencing people, especially minority faculty and students, to whom they often serve as role models or sources of guidance. Such a practice has been referred to as culturally responsive leadership (Khalifa, Dunbar, and Douglas 2013). Participants also discussed their maintenance of personal integrity by employing a moral–ethical perspective guided by their institutions’ principles. Regularly reflecting to ensure they are fulfilling their duties; these leaders discussed the need to maintain one’s integrity and authenticity despite the pressures they face as leaders of colour. Participants elaborated on their commitment to their institutions and more generally towards education as a tool to transform society, detailing the commitments they feel towards their own ethnic group and minorities in general. These commitments were expressed as the obligation to role-model, represent in the best way possible to challenge stereotypes, disrupt binaries between community and university, and enhance the status of minorities while having personal regard for others and maintaining one’s credibility. Some participants discussed painful memories or racism they faced from within their own community or other minority group members who expected preferential treatment or held unrealistic expectations. Careful not to overstep or over-conform, the participants further identified pressure from multiple sources, including those who celebrate their leadership roles while racialized or Indigenous. According to one of the participants, of the values that racialized or Indigenous leaders could have, it was being critical that might cause them the most headaches. She reflected on her role as Chair and her being critical during that period and who she might have “annoyed.” She stated that sometimes

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it was not as much her racialized identity that put her in unwanted situations, but rather, it was drawing attention to bias and marginalization that made the White group in her department turn against her and view her as the bad and non-conforming subordinate. In summary, this theme yielded the following topics: Integrity and naming bias; organizational and representational commitment; disrupting binaries between community and university; and personal regard for others.

Theme Five: Practicing Sustainable Leadership Participants discussed engaging in practices that ensure they continue to influence people and spaces beyond their term as leader, a practice often referred to as sustainable leadership. Based on a review of the literature, Hargreaves and Fink (2004) summarize sustainable leadership practice as leaders committing to “deep learning” and “ecological diversity,” pursuing “activist engagements,” persisting in their vision, and ensuring their improvements last beyond their tenure (11). Many of these elements can be seen in the leadership practices of the participants to envision and create sustainable change, build bridges, and create safe spaces. Participants also discussed sustainable leadership as a shared responsibility and admitted to engaging faculty members and students intellectually, socially and emotionally to influence their perceptions and enthusiasm for change and social justice issues. They spoke about mentoring racialized, Indigenous, or White faculty and students to develop their skills and raise their awareness of different ways of being in the academy. While not all participants were keen on developing a critical perspective in their mentees, they all considered issues related to power and status in the academy. Moreover, a number of these leaders discussed being intentional about attracting and retaining competent members and engaging in succession planning for future sustainable leadership. Participants also identified setting and working toward a realistic vision as opposed to making radical changes which might cause hostility or backlash. Often, this vision meant leaving a legacy by building bridges and networks with allies and thinking about the future. As for supporting minority students, racialized and Indigenous leaders recognized that minority students of domestic or international backgrounds were more likely to approach them for mentorship or to ask for assistance, which the participants welcomed. However, as stated by Santamaría, Santamaría, and Dam (2014), racialized and Indigenous leaders “should not bear the burden of training others simply because of their backgrounds” (176). Rather, professional development should equip all members of the academy

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to practice sustainable leadership, which will aid in creating a learning organization where trust is fostered and a deeper sense of relational connection and interdependence is created (Branson, Franken, and Penney 2015). In relation to building bridges, several racialized and Indigenous leaders were aware of the need to make connections with the people they lead and therefore employed strategies to make those connections, some as simple as having casual conversations, leaving office doors open, keeping bowls of candy for everyone, and being approachable. Participants were aware that their presence in leadership in of itself contributes to normalizing the presence of racialized and Indigenous members in positions of power and took this role seriously. Some participants mentioned that their leadership’s impact is felt long after they leave their roles. In discussing the preparation of future leaders, one participant highlighted her keenness on mentoring people of similar backgrounds or those who have faced the same dilemmas as they can sustain the change she is after when they make it to leadership positions. She stated that while creating change in policies, practices, and programs is important, it is equally important to make initiatives sustainable rather use them as career moves. Participants shared several strategies to sustain change: have a few trusted confidants who pick up on what is happening in the networks they lead and help the leader stay alert as they “hustle and bustle”; changing physical spaces and furniture, modifying commitments, and adopting innovative language and communication methods to create safer and more welcoming spaces. In summary, theme five yielded the following topics: developing people through formal and informal practices; envisioning and creating sustainable change; building bridges; and creating safe spaces.

Theme Six: Negotiating Organizational Trust Lewicki, McAllister, and Bies (1998) define trust as “confident positive expectations regarding another’s conduct” and distrust as “confident negative expectations regarding another’s conduct” (439). Interestingly, participants in this study showed simultaneous trust and distrust for their peers, senior managers, and organizations. Findings of this study agree with Lewicki et al.’s model (440), which suggests that trust and distrust are “not opposite ends of the same continuum but … rather, [are] distinct bipolar constructs” which can exist simultaneously. Constantly evaluating whether to trust or distrust, participants stated that their organizational trust depended on context. They had reasons to be confident in others in certain contexts, but also had reasons to be wary in other

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circumstances. Their relationships were characterized by multifaceted reciprocal interdependence where relationship partners had separate as well as shared objectives. These relationships reflected many positive experiences, in which the aggregate experiences were trust reinforcing, but also many negative experiences, in which the aggregate experiences were distrust reinforcing. To sustain and benefit from these relationships, participants spoke about increasing their interdependence with linkages that reinforce trust and bound linkages engendering distrust. They also spoke about minimizing their vulnerability by adopting self-protective standpoints and depending on self more than others. Another reason leading to the participants’ distrust in people surrounding them was the continuous racial microaggressions they experienced. Together, these minute, daily microaggressions (explicit attacks referred to as micro­ assaults; subtle attacks referred to as microinsults; and acts of excluding, negating, or nullifying thoughts, feelings, or experiential realities of the participants known as microinvalidation) (Sue et al. 2007) contributed to macroenvironmental racial microaggressions manifested on systemic levels (Sue et al. 2007). Therefore, participant relationships and trust were transformed through new information that became available and was processed and interpreted. These leaders were vigilant to the behaviours of colleagues, senior leaders, and subordinates. They questioned people, policies, and procedures, watching for honesty, openness, reliability, competence, and personal regard for others (Bryk and Schneider 2002). The participants’ trust in the organization was more concerned with consistency, familiarity, and fairness. One of the participants ascribed his trust to his belief in the fairness and neutrality of the system. Another participant who also showed trust in his organization had been at his institution since he was a student and had several other ties to the institution. Predictability and sharing vision, racial background or minority status seemed to increase trust among peers. When asked directly about their trust in leadership, nine of the ten participants trusted their institution’s direct leadership based on senior leaders’ actions to be allies or support of the racialized and Indigenous leader’s vision. The participant who did not exhibit trust in her direct leadership had experienced a lack of openness, fairness, and reliability during her leadership. She shared that she was also punished for her perspectives as they did not conform to the culture of whiteness at her university. In summary, this sixth theme yielded the following topics: trust but verify; relationships segmented and bounded; opportunities pursued with continuous monitoring of risks; and hope, optimism, and confidence.

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( R e ) c r e a t in g Eq u itab l e S paces as   a  P a r t   o f   R a c ia l iz e d an d In d i g enous L e ad e r s ’   E x p e ri ences The theme (re)creating equitable spaces emerged with consistency in our conversations. Findings suggest that political contexts, how leaders employ their intellectual and strategic abilities, and constant monitoring of their own and others’ conduct prove that racialized and Indigenous leaders have equity goals or social justice on their agendas (Santamaría, Santamaría, and Dam 2014). According to the participants, working towards making the academy more just and equitable was a central reason for seeking or continuing a leadership role; they had an intention and a desire to (re)create equitable spaces and to reclaim HE as a space that transcends social distinctions. Therefore, (re)creating equitable spaces was chosen as a central theme related to the experiences of racialized and Indigenous leaders in Canadian universities. The term (re)create signifies that while Canadian universities claim to be pluralistic, equitable, and raceneutral, they do not always function in this way, as documented by Bannerji (2000), James (2012), Henry et al. (2017), and Henry and Tator (2009). However, this term also recognizes that some work has already or is currently being done to make these spaces more equitable. Working towards (re)creating equitable spaces while being in a position of leadership helps bring “important issues to important tables,” “put things on the agenda,” “enable[s] making an impact by being involved in committees where decisions are made,” and provides “an opportunity to shape the environment.” Several participants shared their belief that racialized and Indigenous members should become involved in their institutions first as graduate students to inform their own trajectory and learn how things are done in a university setting and make the struggles of minorities heard. One participant who currently holds a senior leadership position said the idea of change and (re)creating equitable spaces was not always on his agenda, but it became his driving force after getting to a more senior role. He spoke about the need to support people of different backgrounds so they, too, can make it into senior leadership positions that are mostly occupied by the dominant White group, resulting in missed opportunities because things are often seen from a very similar perspective. Another participant discussed her role in leadership as a form of service where she can help people reach their full potential regardless of their race, thus, achieving equity. She admitted to benefitting from being of a minority group and draws on the variety of experiences she has had as assets that have given her opportunities and a wider view of our humanity and have made her a better leader.

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L i m it a t io n s a n d S tren g ths We hope this research is meaningful to all but recognize it may not speak to every identity. We have not done an analysis that might reveal the features that enable or constrain racist/racialized organizational expectations. Had we asked our interviewees to critique the organization and its leaders, problems of sample size and confidentiality would result. Instead, we used an appreciative approach: We listened, documented, summarized thoughts expressed, and recognized that there was vulnerability on the part of those agreeing to be interviewed. We respected their wise boundaries. We also did not explore issues of gender or sexuality. While this is important, the issue is not a shared global perspective. One of the significant strengths of this study is the willingness of those involved to share their experiences. Criticism may be legitimate, we did not challenge or push exceptionally hard for greater revelations. We did, however, feel each person interviewed shared what they were comfortable sharing. We deeply appreciated the honesty with which they answered the questions. Do no harm was ever-present as we interviewed.

C o n c l u s ions This study chronicled the experiences of racialized and Indigenous leaders in middle and senior-level leadership roles in Canadian universities, seeking to understand the influence of race on their experiences. Guided by the framework of crt, this study provided an opportunity for racialized and Indigenous leaders to tell counter-stories and describe significant influences in their career paths to leadership. This was a recognition of the participants as holders and creators of knowledge. Examining the stories of the participating leaders as multiple cases and drawing on common themes allowed for rich thematic descriptions of the participants’ journeys and their contexts. By using crt as the theoretical framework, this study adds to the leadership literature by addressing race in a specific context, two things often neglected in current theories of leadership (Fitzgerald 2003; Ospina and Foldy 2009; Santamaría and Santamaría 2015). Racialized and Indigenous leaders in this study affirmed that their lived experiences as minorities in the academy had a positive impact on their career and career choices. They expressed themes related to leadership, race, and trust. Counter-stories, as a part of crt, are “imperative to add to academic discourse in educational leadership” (Santamaría, Santamaría, and Dam 2014) since the dominant story often tells of a subtractive and/or deficit-model (Valencia 2005). Racialized and Indigenous leaders’ stories and experiences

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have been largely ignored in mainstream leadership literature despite solid systematic research on the role of race on leadership (Ospina and Foldy 2009). In a review of race and ethnicity in the leadership literature, Ospina and Foldy (2009) conclude that “most leadership theory implicitly or explicitly claims to be identity-neutral and thus does not consider insights from studies that take an insider perspective, or incorporate generalizations from research about people of color,” and in the few attempts it tried, it “may [have] offer[ed] distorted or questionable knowledge about the relationship between race and leadership that can be detrimental to the field and to the referenced identity groups” (889). Santamaría and Santamaría (2015) state that “Western-centred leadership practices based on dominant discourses and histories of colonization have missed the mark when it comes to leadership in educational settings” (Santamaría and Santamaría 2015, 33). The research describes the complex, dynamic, and fluid leadership practices of racialized and Indigenous leaders, and how leaders drew positively on identity as a resource to navigate leadership practices. Findings in this study suggest that inclusive diversity, which genuinely values the dignity, uniqueness, and expression of individuals, is needed at Canadian universities to counteract the current patterns of microaggressions rampant in these institutions (Henry et al. 2017). As mentioned by Berdahl (2016), this will not be achieved by merely counting more diverse bodies; it is achieved by accepting different approaches, expertise, priorities, and worldviews, which will bring innovative questions, methods, and discoveries. This research also provides further evidence that it is time to stop making the “accommodation of diversity” a public-relations exercise (Jain, Singh, and Agocs 2008) or a token of equality. Rather, it is time to look at truly increasing inclusive diversity as a way to increase productivity, enhance insight to confront challenges, and further institutional performance. Further research in the areas of he leadership, living the reality of multiple world views, that include a variety of appropriate answers to institutional challenges, and an even greater variety of questions about the institutions themselves means time to understand is going to be essential. Institutions need to incorporate time into meetings, conversations, focus groups, and other organizational structures, so that all are heard, all are understood, and so change that reflects the diversity that exists in human beings becomes present in the policy and organizational voice. It will take conscious, sustained effort and depth of understanding of the past and present for those with influence to name how this ubiquitous Western narrative became and is sustained as the only voice in he. Once named, change becomes possible, and even likely.

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R e fe r e nce s Astin, Alexander W., and Helen S. Astin. 2000. “Leadership Reconsidered: Engaging Higher Education in Social Change.” Battle Creek, m i: W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Bannerji, Himani. 2000. The Dark Side of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, Nationalism and Gender. Toronto, on : Canadian Scholars’ Press. Begley, Paul. 2012. “Western-Centric Perspectives on Values and Leadership. Cultural Isomorphism of Educational Administration.” In School Leadership and Administration: Adopting a Cultural Perspective. Edited by Allan Walker and Clive Dimmock, 45–60. Routledge. Berdahl, Jennifer. 2016. “Naomi Ellemers: Reluctant Allies - Why Minority Success Maintains Bias and How Organizations Can Interrupt This.” Jennifer Berdahl’s Blog. 4 March 2016. http://jberdahl.blogspot.ca/2016/03/naomi-ellemers-­ reluctant-allies-why.html?view=timeslide. Branson, Christopher M, Margaret Franken, and Dawn Penney. 2015. “Middle Leadership in Higher Education: A Relational Analysis.” Educational Management Administration and Leadership. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143214558575. Bryk, Anthony, and Barbara Schneider. 2002. Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement. New York, n y : s a g e Publications. Cox, Taylor, and Stella M. Nkomo. 1990. “Invisible Men and Women: A Status Report on Race as a Variable in Organization Behavior Research.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 11 (6): 419–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/ job.4030110604. Crenshaw, Kimberlé, Neil Gotanda, Garry Peller, and Kendall Thomas. 1995. Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement. New York, n y: New Press. Davison, Phil L. 2012. “A 24/7 Public Possession: Understanding the Dissonance and Grace of Being a Post-Secondary Leader.” Canadian Journal of Higher Education 42 (2): 13–33. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v42i2.183580. Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. 2012. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. 3rd ed. New York, n y : n y u Press. Duke, Daniel L. 1998. “The Nonnative Context of Organizational Leadership.” Educational Administration Quarterly 34 (2): 165–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0013161X98034002002. Fitzgerald, Tanya. 2003. “Changing the Deafening Silence of Indigenous Women’s Voices in Educational Leadership.” Journal of Educational Administration 41 (1): 9–23. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?content Type=Article&contentId=839252. Gillborn, David. 2015. “Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, and the Primacy of Racism: Race, Class, Gender, and Disability in Education.” Qualitative Inquiry 21 (3): 277–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414557827. Hargreaves, Andy, and Dean Fink. 2004. “The Seven Principles of Sustainable Leadership.” Educational Leadership 61 (7): 8–13. http://site.iugaza.edu.ps/ magha/files/2014/05/seven_principles1.pdf.

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Henry, Frances, Dua Enakshi, Carl E. James, Audrey Kobayashi, Peter Li, Howard Ramos, and Malinda S. Smith. 2017. The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Henry, Frances, and Carol Tator, eds. 2009. Racism in the Canadian University: Demanding Social Justice, Inclusion, and Equity. Toronto, o n: University of Toronto Press. Inman, Margaret. 2007. “The Journey to Leadership: A Study of How LeaderAcademics in Higher Education Learn to Lead.” PhD diss., University of Birmingham. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/158. Jain, Harish C., Parbudyal Singh, and Carol Agocs. 2008. “Recruitment, Selection and Promotion of Visible-Minority and Aboriginal Police Officers in Selected Canadian Police Services.” Canadian Public Administration 43 (1): 46–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-7121.2000.tb01560.x. James, Carl E. 2012. “Strategies of Engagement: How Racialized Faculty Negotiate the University System.” Canadian Ethnic Studies 44 (2): 133–52. https://doi. org/10.1353/ces.2012.0007. Kark, Ronit, and Boas Shamir. 2002. “The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Followers’ Relational Versus Collective Self-Concept.” Academy of Management Proceedings, 1 May 2002, i-D6. https://doi.org/10.5465/ apbpp.2002.7517557. Khalifa, Muhammad, Christopher Dunbar, and Ty-Ron Douglas. 2013.“Derrick Bell, crt , and Educational Leadership 1995-Present.” Race Ethnicity and Education 16 (4): 489–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2013.817770. Kondracki, Nancy L., Nancy S. Wellman, and Daniel R. Amundson. 2002. “Content Analysis: Review of Methods and Their Applications in Nutrition Education.” Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 34 (4): 224–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1499-4046(06)60097-3. Lewicki, Roy J., Daniel J. McAllister, and Robert I. Bies. 1998. “Trust and Distrust: New Relationships and Realities.” Academy of Management Review 23 (3): 438–58. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1998.926620. López-Domínguez, Mercedes, Mihaela Enache, Jose M Sallan, and Pep Simo. 2013. “Transformational Leadership as an Antecedent of Change-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior.” Journal of Business Research 66 (10): 2147–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.041. Mukan, Nataliya, Marianna Havrylyuk, and Lesia Stolyarchuk. 2015. “Theoretical Framework of Leadership in Higher Education of England and Wales.” Comparative Professional Pedagogy 5 (1): 39–45. https://doi. org/10.1515/rpp-2015-0019. Ospina, Sonia, and Erica Foldy. 2009. “A Critical Review of Race and Ethnicity in the Leadership Literature: Surfacing Context, Power and the Collective Dimensions of Leadership.” Leadership Quarterly 20 (6): 876–96. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.09.005. Ryan, James. 2010. “Promoting Social Justice in Schools: Principals’ Political Strategies.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 13 (4): 357–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2010.503281. Santamaría, Lorri, and Andrés Santamaría, eds. 2015. Culturally Responsive Leadership in Higher Education: Promoting Access, Equity, and Improvement.

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New York, n y : Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Culturally-ResponsiveLeadership-in-Higher-Education-Promoting-Access/Santamaria-Santamaria/p/ book/9781138854802. Santamaría, Lorri J., and Andrés P. Santamaría. 2012. Applied Critical Leadership in Education: Choosing Change. New York, ny: Routledge. https://www.­ routledge.com/Applied-Critical-Leadership-in-Education-Choosing-Change/ Santamaria-Santamaria/p/book/9780415881098. Santamaría, Lorri J., Andrés P. Santamaría, and Lincoln I. Dam. 2014. “Applied Critical Leadership through Latino/a Lenses: An Alternative Approach to Educational Leadership.” Revista Internacional de Educación Para La Justicia Social, 161–81. Sue, Derald Wing, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M.B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin. 2007. “Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life Implications for Clinical Practice.” American Psychologist 62 (4): 271–86. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271. Valencia, Richard R. 2005.“The Mexican American Struggle for Equal Educational Opportunity in Mendez v. Westminster: Helping to Pave the Way for Brown v. Board of Education.” Teachers College Record 107 (3): 389–423. https:// www.tcrecord.org/books/Content.asp?ContentID=11792. Yahia, Leena M.S. 2016. “Voices of Racialized and Indigenous Leaders in Canadian Universities.” Master’s thesis, Thompson Rivers University. https:// core.ac.uk/download/pdf/80296055.pdf.

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10 Betwixt, Between, and Amongst Intersectionalities Steve Sider, Jacqueline Specht, Donna ­M c Ghie-Richmond, Kimberly Maich, and Jhonel Morvan

The increasing diversity of the student population in Canadian schools brings significant new challenges and urgencies for school leaders who are at the forefront of emerging societal change. As well, there is a greater societal awareness of special education needs along with their related diagnoses or issues (e.g., mental illness, learning disorders, challenging behaviour) among children and youth (Specht et al. 2016). Interactions with students with special education needs are often based on school principals’ past experiences with – and perceptions of – effective practices (Cameron 2016). However, there can be a disconnect between educational policy, research-based practices, and the implementation of these policies and practices to successfully support students with special education needs in their school environments (Jahnukainen 2015). In this chapter, we explore the question, “What does the future of educational leadership look like, particularly in the context of diversity and inclusion?” Despite the increasing diversity of challenges that principals’ experience, limited scholarly literature exists that is focused on the experiences of school principals in supporting inclusive education for students with special education needs (Sider, Maich, and Morvan 2017). As a result, in this chapter, we consider the intersections of school leadership and inclusion of students with special education needs. It is important to note at the outset that we recognize that there is a wide range of terms that are used in the research literature such as, disability, ability, exceptionality, exceptional needs, inclusion, inclusive education, and special education. For simplicity, we use the

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phrase, “students with special education needs” to refer to students who qualify for special education supports. We begin by tracing international, national, and local policy frameworks that address inclusive education. A second aspect of our literature review considers intersectionality and socially just leadership as ways to examine school leadership and the inclusion of students with special education needs in inclusive schools. From the literature review, we turn to our nation-wide 2016–19 Canadian study, which examined the experiences of school principals, particularly what we term critical incidents in supporting inclusive schools for students with special education needs. We draw on data from this recent study, focusing particularly on those data which illustrate issues of inclusion, equity, and diversity, in order to highlight the intersectionality of school leadership. Our discussion section considers opportunities for learning as a result of the experiences that principals have had, as well as how an intersectional lens can inform our work to support all students in today’s diverse inclusive schools. In the discussion and conclusion sections, we raise questions and considerations about the competencies that school leaders need in diverse schools as we imagine a different future where all students are fully included – and fully belong – in inclusive, neighbourhood schools.

L it e r a t ure Policies that Have Influenced Inclusive Education in Canada In a 2008 report, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (c m e c ) indicated that inclusive education is “quality education that aims at the full participation of all learners” (2). Inclusive education is a reflection of a belief that all students are capable of learning and that every student can make a valued contribution to a classroom and school. Inclusive education supports “the creation of learning environments that maximize the potential for every young person in our diverse societies to receive a high-quality education alongside their peers in local schools that serve the whole community” (Porter and Towell 2017, 3). A review of the literature suggests that inclusion is effective for the social and academic outcomes of all students (Kalambouka, Farrell, Dyson, and Kaplan 2007). Inclusion is a fundamental aspect of socially just leadership and a key demonstration of commitment to equity and diversity in schools. Education that ensures all children can attend school has increasingly become a focus of international agreements. The Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1924) was one of the earliest efforts to address the rights of children.

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It was not until the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (c r c ), ratified in 1989, that an expression of the global commitment to ensuring that all children receive an adequate education was made. In Article 28 of the crc, governments were instructed to recognize the rights of all children to education, including compulsory and free primary education. The c r c also provided stipulations for education for those with disabilities (Article 23), an important aspect of inclusive education. The crc provided a foundation for further international agreements, such as the Salamanca Statement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These new goals included those related to education for all, including Sustainable Development Goal 4 (sdg 4) which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (Sustainable Development Goal 4 n.d.). These global educational initiatives have had a clear impact on educational practices around the world as governments have attempted to achieve such educational priorities and standards by aligning policies and funding with international agreements (Spring 2014). At the same time, there is increasing recognition of the challenge involved with education for all. Ainscow and Sandill (2010) stated that, “The issue of how to build more inclusive forms of education is arguably the biggest challenge facing school systems throughout the world” (401). One of the challenges that governments face with regard to education for all is how to provide educational programs and supports that allow students with special education needs to be accommodated in schools. As a result of international, national, and local efforts to support inclusive education over the past thirty years, school systems have supported teachers to adapt their teaching techniques to meet the wide variety of student needs in their classrooms (Specht et al. 2016). However, limited research has examined the extent to which principals support inclusive school environments for students with special education needs. There is a clear and urgent need to better understand how school principals can support the inclusion of students with special education needs in their schools.

Inclusive School Leadership and Intersectionality School leadership theories have to be cautious of the binary codes used to organize and categorize people with an understanding [for instance] that multilingual students with disabilities are multifaceted and ­complicated beings that do not readily fit into the predetermined ­categories currently used to evaluate, categorize, and educate them. (Cioè-Peña 2017, 907)

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Inclusive school leadership may offer the best way to address the complexity of multi-layered and diverse beings, contexts, communities, and conditions that constitute a school. Ryan (2006) referred to some distinct practices to argue that socially just leadership is all about “advocating for inclusion, educating participants, developing critical consciousness, nurturing dialogue, emphasizing student learning and classroom practice, adopting inclusive decision- and policymaking strategies, and incorporating whole school approaches” (9). This definition encompasses the needs of everyone in a school system, but it is particularly helpful for students who are disabled or marginalized. Hankivsky (2014) defines intersectionality as, an understanding of human beings as shaped by the interaction of ­different social locations (e.g., “race”/ethnicity, Indigeneity, ­gender, class, sexuality, geography, age, disability/ability, migration status, ­religion). These interactions occur within a context of ­connected ­systems and structures of power (e.g., laws, policies, state ­governments and other political and economic unions, religious ­institutions, media). Through such processes, interdependent forms of privilege and ­oppression shaped by colonialism, imperialism, ­racism, homophobia, ableism and patriarchy are created. (2) This definition serves as a reminder that a school environment is the inter­ section of multidimensional elements of human relations, power, privilege, social contexts, and multiple abilities. These complex issues make it difficult for school leaders to approach educational matters in superficial ways, as every aspect of schooling is multifaceted. Blanchett and Shealey (2013) lamented that “at a time when our society is more diverse than it has ever been, we still struggle to meet the needs of ethnically and culturally diverse learners with exceptionalities” (1). Similarly, Walsh et al. (2020), articulate that socially just leadership is a “communal activity informed by multiple intersectionalities of gender, race, class, ethnicity, religion and sexuality and enacted into practice that is situated within a conjuncture of particular historical, social, political and economic moments” (404). Students with special education needs provide a suitable lens by which to demonstrate the intersectional nature of schooling. Students with special education needs come from different communities with diverse social backgrounds, they present diverse gender profiles, and they speak a variety of languages – like many other students. Any advocacy for inclusion and against inequities in schools must take into account the multidimensional nature of

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the complex beings involved. Crenshaw’s (1991) theory of intersectionality explains that “inequities are never the result of single, distinct factors. Rather, they are the outcome of intersections of different social locations, power relations and experiences” (Hankivsky 2014, 2). Inclusive school leaders require a clear understanding of the lived experiences of all of their students, especially those who have traditionally been underserved because of their intersectional identities by the system in place in most schools (Cioè-Peña 2017). To address structural inequity, all educators, including principals, need to understand the intersecting nature of systems of oppression in school settings and elsewhere, as well as realize their role in taking more nuanced approaches in order to address systemic inequity.

M e t h o d o lo g y This chapter is informed by research from a study that we led from 2016–19 in six provinces across Canada (i.e., British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador) to gather information on critical incidents and how they informed the practices of principals in inclusive schools. Critical incidents are significant emotional events related to professional work experience (Yamamoto, Gardiner, and Tenuto 2014; Sider, Maich, and Morvan 2017). They can be either negative or positive and have significant effects on current and future work (Scott 2004). In fact, critical incidents can be seemingly mundane experiences; however, the person who experiences the incident perceives them as having a profound influence on their belief system (Yamamoto, Gardiner, and Tenuto 2014). In the study we conducted, 285 school principals and vice-principals completed a questionnaire to determine the background training and experiences that they had with special education as well as information about the participants’ general leadership experience (e.g., years of experience, pre-principalship training, in-service professional development). The questionnaire also included openended questions to identify key critical incidents that had informed the participants’ perspectives on leadership for inclusion. Although the study involved principals and vice-principals, for the sake of reporting, we refer to the participants as “principals.” In the second phase of the study, follow-up semi-structured interviews with forty-six of the participants occurred. The research team was specifically interested in identifying the types of critical incidents that principals had experienced in relation to students with special education needs. Participants were asked to describe the incident, including identifying key antecedents, and how they perceived the incident informing their beliefs and perspectives about

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inclusion. We ensured that the sample was representative of the larger group and included male and female participants, English and French-speaking, from elementary and secondary schools, with participants from each of the provinces represented, with the goal of maximum variation. The identification of critical incidents thus served as an opportunity to develop a collection of the diverse types of incidents that principals experienced as well as analyze these incidents to locate commonalities and differences in the experiences.

F in d in gs While reviewing emergent critical incidents, it became clear that these events contributed significantly to the approaches to inclusion that principals take. It quickly became evident that principals were talking about issues of inclusion, equity, and diversity, and not simply isolated events specific to students identified with special education needs. These responses included an understanding that it is about the community that is created to support inclusion and that, as leaders, it is their responsibility to guide such thinking with the support of the families, students, and staff in their schools. As indicated earlier, inclusive schools are those which actively seek to include all students in the regular classroom, thus reflecting the belief that all students are capable of learning and that every student can make a valued contribution to a classroom and school. The themes that we report on here reflect the importance of inclusion for equity and diversity and the importance of the intersections with families, students, and staff.

Eq u it y a n d D i vers i ty The principals in our study all discussed the importance of equity and diversity and how these principles were important for creating a community in their schools. People can be marginalized in many ways (e.g., ability, gender, language, mental health, race, sexuality, and social class) and experience inequity. What was very evident in the stories of these principals was that they needed to pay attention to the needs of the community and create spaces where everyone felt safe and valued. For example, one principal articulated that, Every school I’ve been at over the past seven years in administration, as a principal or as a vice-principal, has needed different leverage points for inclusivity. What matters is that everybody feels part of the ­community, so I think that’s something that I’ve come to realize over time.

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This principal clearly saw that inclusion of students with special education needs is part of a larger commitment to inclusion of all students and pointed to the fact that although there are different kinds of inclusion, the approach is the same: everyone needs to feel, indeed be, part of a community. School communities are diverse places where students need to feel included and equal to others. Another principal expressed this commitment to inclusive school communities where all students feel equal, There has to be a common understanding that every student has the right to be here, to feel safe and access that curriculum in a way that makes them part of the community whether they have lived in a trailer or a three-million-dollar home, whether they have an IEP ­[individualized education plan] are not, whether they speak English or don’t speak English. Again, this principal speaks to some of the intersections of students in inclusive school communities: language, socio-economics, and learning needs. What guides their inclusion in the school community, according to this principal, is their fundamental right to be in the space and to feel an equal part of the community. A third participant spoke to the importance of being intentional in ensuring that the diversity inherent in the school community is fostered in such a way to make all its members feel a sense of belonging, I try and ensure that I attend the gsa [Gay Straight Alliance] m ­ eetings that we have weekly. I try and go out to the Muslim Students’ Association meeting and the Christian Student Awareness meeting, so students know that they are here and promoted, and supported. At our staff meetings, I also ensure we have an equity piece on the agenda. So, one thing that we do regularly is we read the days of ­significance that are coming up for the month. This principal’s commitment to an inclusive, equitable, and diverse school community is nurtured through interactions with different student groups and through a purposeful commitment to an aspect of equity through staff meetings. A final example speaks to the recognition that principals, despite a commitment to inclusion, equity and diversity, sometimes see the community broken. This principal raised the important question that,

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If we have members of the community who are not feeling included, in a place that is supposed to be inclusive, what are we doing wrong? Where did that break down? A commitment to equity and diversity does not mean that principals are always successful in achieving inclusive school environments. However, this principal demonstrated an important trait for principals who are committed to inclusion: when failure occurs, how can we identify the problem and work toward repairing this so that all students feel included in the school community?

F a m il ie s School principals spoke of the importance of the families in the school coming together to support diversity in the schools. The necessity of the whole community recognizing the need and working together to create spaces where all belong was paramount in their eyes. One principal stated, With parents, I had a conversation at the school council last night about hot lunches. They wanted to offer more hot lunches. You’re a­ sking ­families to lay out close to $300. That’s not equity. That’s not acceptable for all. We had a wonderful parent come f­ orward and say I can make pasta for everybody, for a dollar a kid, so if someone doesn’t have the ­dollar, because we don’t really need to make money on hot lunch, they do not need to pay. Although not specific to students with special education needs, this principal is articulating the importance of equitable policies that make everyone feel a part of the community. Principals are in leadership roles to help the school community, including parents and other caregivers, find ways to ensure that all experience a sense of belonging in the school. This takes skill to navigate the competing needs and expectations of families. A commitment to an inclusive school environment is foundational to living out this commitment through the types of conversations and meetings that take place and the decisions that get made, which affect every student and staff member in the school. Principals are in positions that require managing multiple competing demands and expectations from families. Recognizing the diversity within the community and working toward an equitable and inclusive school environment is a significant challenge for which principals receive limited training. Despite this limited training, principals in our study expressed the critical importance of understanding the local community and developing skills to help diverse groups develop a commitment to common priorities.

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S t u d e n ts The voices of students were strongly apparent in the examples shared by participants. The principals presented stories that showed a truly inclusive environment from the perspective of the students, understanding that it is the peers and classmates that need to accept diversity in students. Inclusion only happens when we understand that difference is not something to be tolerated; rather, that we all have something to contribute. It was also evident that the students with various needs were listened to and felt valued. One principal shared a powerful illustration, I went and talked to the class, and said that I am here to basically explain and apologize for a student who isn’t able to apologize for ­himself. And, one of the students said, “Well, why you apologizing? We get it. There’s no reason to apologize.” Both the principal and the student who spoke up illustrate the importance of communication. The principal was prepared to address the situation and did so in an authentic and meaningful way. The students’ response points to the recognition that students often seem to have when encountering ­different abilities: they accepted it and moved on. The illustration is an important reminder to principals to not be afraid to engage in difficult conversations; if inclusion has been a key value of the school community, the principal’s commitment to this will be embodied through their conversations and actions. Another principal shared an example of how a student with a special education need advocated for himself when confronted with having to be part of his own classroom for only parts of the day, So, this particular student said to me, “Could you do something that would allow me to stay in my own classroom for the whole day?” As a result, that student has flourished and really felt that they were part of something larger than just a smaller group. Student voice is a powerful mechanism for learning. Principals who listen to students – all students – in authentic ways will be able to more effectively shape an inclusive school culture that values equity and diversity.

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S t a ff In our research, it was clear that support from staff was very important to fostering inclusive schools. This support was built on respectful relationships. Principals know that teaching is a demanding job and that their role is to ensure that if they wanted to ensure inclusive environments, they had to support this in ways that made sense for the staff. One principal reflected on a career that had involved multiple schools, As I have moved between several schools, that piece about ­relationships has become more and more valuable to me. And I would say coming into my current school caught me a bit off guard because the school before had some pretty significant ­inclusion needs and the staff there was so easy to build relationships with and we were so strong together so quickly. This principal provides a valuable reminder that inclusive schools cannot be fostered just through the leadership of the principal: the staff needs to work with the principal in this endeavour. To engage the staff in this commitment requires that, first, there are trusting relationships built between the principal and staff. Healthy, supportive relationships are important, but they are not the sole ingredient to inclusive schools. Staff also need support in their professional development, and they need resourcing to ensure that the needs of all students can be most effectively met. One principal stated it this way, And you have those conversations to ensure those teachers feel ­support. And you offer them support. Sometimes you need to offer additional professional development. You might need to ­provide someone to come in and try to assist us with special needs situations. Principals engage in important work when they commit to equity and diversity within schools. This commitment is lived out in and through the experiences involving students, families, and staff. Interactions among and between school stakeholder groups provide the threads that are woven through the discussion section, revealing the intersectional nature of educational leadership and inclusion.

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D is c u s s i on The themes that we have reported on in this chapter are reflective of the complex nature of the intersection of school leadership and inclusion. Essentially, we aim to respond to the question: “What does the future of educational leadership look like, particularly in the context of diversity and inclusion?” School principals work within policy frameworks that highlight the importance of equity and diversity as guiding principles underlying their work. Aspects of equity and diversity, specifically related to the inclusion of students with special education needs, are further illustrated through the intersection of perspectives raised by students, families, and staff. In this ­section, we explore a number of key issues and questions related to the intersection of school leadership and inclusion. We begin by considering learning opportunities that arise as a result of critical incidents. We then consider how an intersectional approach can inform leadership for equity and diversity in current and future school contexts.

R e c o g n iz in g t h e Learni n g in   C r it ic a l   I nci d ents The increased prevalence of students with special education needs has created a challenge for educational systems as increasing demands for services and supports encounter limited resourcing. The result has been a clash between an avowed commitment to the inclusion of students with special education needs, as demonstrated through equity and diversity commitments, policies, and initiatives, and the lived experiences of principals and teachers who are under increasing pressure to support all students, albeit without the (perceived) resources required to do so. This has led to educator claims of a critical situation. We agree, although we also see an opportunity for the future despite – or due to – the challenges at hand. The critical situations experienced by educators do not have to be negative. Indeed, they can lead to professional growth, as illustrated through the examples provided by our principal ­participants. Situations that they may have originally perceived as negative – parents demanding that their child must be removed from a class, a group of students to whom the principal was going to apologize, demand to expand a hot lunch program without considering potential ramifications for all students – turned into positive and powerful learning opportunities. As well, professional development opportunities can arise from professional practice. So, too, the essential economic situations of demand for (and supply of)

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inclusive educational practices can lead to a re-examination of priorities and re-allocation of resources to more effectively meet the demands of those most disadvantaged. As indicated earlier, critical incidents provide a suitable framework by which leadership dilemmas and issues can be explored (Dollarhide, Smith, and Lemberger 2007). This application was certainly the case in our study, as illustrated through the comments from principals: incidents that were perceived as potentially negative were actually transformative experiences which caused them to reflect on, and in many cases, change their professional practice. One way in which critical incidents can be used to support professional learning is through the development and use of case studies. Critical incidents can serve as the key narrative aspect of case studies. A supplementary research study we completed led to the development of web-based “choose your own adventure” case studies which are highly engaging and effective ways to support leadership development for inclusive schools (Sider et al. 2021). Principals set the tone for and define the culture of a school. If a principal demonstrates commitment to inclusion, the staff of the school will often follow. Principals’ attitudes are contagious. Thus, principals and system leaders need to foster leadership competencies that set a positive direction for a school, not just in the policies that are developed, but the ways in which those policies are lived out through the actions and attitudes of the principal. This is an area where further research is needed. For example, what leadership approaches are most effective in influencing the attitudes and behaviours for effective school-based inclusion? As well, what role do personal illustrations, such as providing positive examples of the inclusion of students with special education needs and the “personalizing” of students’ experiences, play in influencing stakeholder (i.e., families, students, staff) attitudes and behaviours about inclusion?

I n t e r s e c t io n a lit y a s a Fra m ework for Change Schools are complex organizations. For decades, the model for special education has focused more on individual children rather than considering the broader organization and its complexity and interactive nature. Another way to conceptualize this is that schools have focused on disability as personal impairment as opposed to disability in the context of broad, social barriers. We posited in this chapter that an intersectionality approach, which recognizes the complexity of relationships and the systemic issues involved, is a more

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dynamic and meaningful way to consider inclusion. This approach values collaboration, relationship-building, and a commitment to equity as a foundational aspect of schooling while also recognizing the systemic issues involved. As well, an intersectionality framework recognizes the diversity of students and their families and further acknowledges that issues of ethnicity, culture, and special education needs (among other intersecting identities) can all reside within one person (Artiles 2013). Inclusive school leaders who frame their decisions through an intersectional approach are able to thoughtfully consider the various aspects of identity, privilege, and positionality. Thus, when confronted with a situation, for example involving disruptive or problematic behaviour, they carefully consider the various aspects of the child that may be contributing to the behaviour. This consideration can significantly alter how they respond to the child in the moment and in the longer term. Those responsible for the professional learning of school principals (and those who aim to be principals) need to provide holistic professional development opportunities. For example, rather than just considering a child’s Individual Education Plan, the development of programs and supports for students with special education needs should take a more ecological approach. By this, we mean that the “profile” of the specific student should also take into account for different aspects of intersectionality for that student (i.e., gender, socio-economic, language, and more), the class profile, the experience and ability of the classroom teacher, the support system available, and the various other familial aspects involved. Research in intersectionality can inform the day-to-day lived experiences within the ecology of the child by considering questions such as: How are areas of intersectionality within and between varied areas of inclusion enmeshed? Do we recognize the wider connections between inclusion, diversity, and equity in school-based practice? Do we consider families when we think about school-based inclusion? What role do family perspectives play in school-based inclusion? Likewise, what are the intersections and the role played by school staff, such as office administrative assistants, custodial workers, bus drivers, and lunch monitors? How do they contribute to our understanding of inclusion? Further, we need to consider other aspects of intersectionality. For example, students of colour who are labelled with a disability are more likely to be educated in segregated classrooms, have limited access to the general education curriculum, and achieve lower post-secondary outcomes (Brown and Parekh 2013). It is important to recognize that no matter how well-intentioned the program, a setting that separates some children from others still falls within a segregationist paradigm (Cioè-Peña 2017). We need to recognize that this intersectional gap exists in the inability of present-day inclusion programs to

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adequately provide truly inclusive spaces for children who have more than one factor affecting their academic development (Cioè-Peña 2017). Carolyn Shields (2010) identified the following transformative practices of school leaders: balancing critique and promise, effecting deep and equitable change, creating new knowledge frameworks, acknowledging power and privilege, and demonstrating moral courage and activism. An intersectional approach draws on Shields’ work to think about elements like power and privilege, considering further how deep and equitable change can truly take place in schools. One of the clear themes of the research we have done focused on how principals support students with special education needs, is the importance of creating inclusive communities (Ryan 2006). It is worth repeating that principals deliberately, as well as unintentionally, contribute to what the culture of the school is and will be. Inclusive schools foster the social and academic outcomes of all students, and principals are central to ensuring this occurs (Kalambouka et al. 2007). As a result, key questions for principals and those who support them are: How do we create inclusive schools and inclusive classrooms within those schools? How do the experiences and feelings of acceptance and belonging at school impact life beyond school for students with special education needs? How can intersectional approaches to equitable and diverse schools inform our work to ensure that all students feel included?

C o n c l u s i on The insights developed from the experiences of the participants in the research study highlighted here provide a framework for inclusive school leadership that supports learning for all students. There has been a gap in the research literature between that which focuses on school leadership and that which speaks to inclusive education practices for teachers. This chapter addresses this gap, proposing new research opportunities to further examine an intersectionality approach to the ways in which school principals, teachers, students, parents/caregivers, and community members can engage in supporting inclusive classrooms and schools for those students with special education needs. Based on our research, our premise is that principals who lead from an intersectional perspective foster authentic and meaningful environments for students with special education needs. Returning to the original question: “What does the future of educational leadership look like, particularly in the context of diversity and inclusion?” we are confronted with multiple branching scenarios. We have underscored the importance of developing an understanding of intersectionality and considering an ecological approach to supporting students in inclusive schools.

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Principals who understand the concept of intersectionality will work to ensure equitable practices and supports for all students. They do this by recognizing and validating the multiple aspects of students’ identities. Further, they support teachers and other educational staff to understand how an intersectionality framework can help create more equitable learning environments. We point to examples of principals in our study as illustrative of the types of attitudes that principals need to have in order to foster inclusive school communities. They need to be open to learning and finding person-honouring ways to build inclusive and equitable school environments. The challenges encountered by school principals are not going to get easier; but developing leadership skills, knowledges, and attitudes that support inclusive, equitable, and diverse schools are key to effective leadership far into the future of inclusive schools.

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United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1989. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner. http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/ pages/crc.aspx. Walsh, Lucas, Amanda Keddie, Jane Wilkinson, and Luke Howie. 2020. “An Ecological Case-study of the Benefits and Challenges of Socially-just Leadership Engaging in ‘Challenging Conversations’ about Social Disharmony.” Journal of Educational Administration and History 52 (4): 403–16. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00220620.2020.1738361. Yamamoto, Julie K., Mary E. Gardiner, and Penny L. Tenuto. 2014. “Emotion in Leadership: Secondary School Administrators’ Perceptions of Critical Incidents.” Educational Management Administration and Leadership 42 (2): 165–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213499260.

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11 Creating Space to Promote Social Change The Lived Experiences of Black Women Educators as Diverse Leaders in Classrooms Christina Wright Fields, Sherry Early, and Gloria Howell

The experiences of Black women in the academy are unique and extremely nuanced. From encountering double marginalization and invisibility to navigating the politics that accompany tenure and promotion processes, we continually seek ways to negotiate the challenges we come across as individuals and as a collective. We make room for ourselves and each other in various spaces that we occupy, including the classroom. Specifically, we position ourselves as culturally responsive leaders and educators who desire to transform the ways that our students learn about diversity, social change, multiculturalism, and social justice (Newcomer and Cowin 2018). Historically, education tends to reflect values and principles rooted in whiteness, while excluding historically marginalized voices. As diverse leaders and educators, we challenge our students to consider alternative voices – including but not limited to meanings, perspectives, experiences, and values that differ from their own. Additionally, we encourage students to develop a deeper cultural awareness of themselves and others by intentionally sharing our identities in the classroom. This book chapter draws on theories including diversity leadership, Black Feminist Thought, and the Social Change Model of Leadership Development to understand how Black women become effective leaders within their classrooms. Through a phenomenological approach, three authors share how their diverse identities inform their approaches to leading for transformational change. In particular, they describe how their instructional practices were instrumental in promoting and supporting social change.

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L e a d e r s h ip a n d Di vers i ty In an effort to contextualize our positionalities within a leadership frame, it is important to understand how we have conceptualized leadership in our classroom environments. We subscribe to the notion that how we exemplify leadership in the classroom, coupled with our diverse identities, can tremendously shape our students’ experiences and perspectives. Thus, utilizing the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (s c m ) in the classroom provides educators with opportunities for authentic dialogue, learning, and reflection. s c m is rooted in identity development, relationship building, and  positive interactions benefitting both leaders and society at large. Wolfe and Dilworth described diversity in action as a driving force, diversity evolves into the practice of valuing all humanity, a means of increasing access and inclusion, a framework for creating a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members, and an individual and collective responsibility for ­combating prejudice and discrimination through a gained understanding of these issues during education, training, and engagement with others. (2015, 671) We understand that issues of race, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and other historically marginalized conditions in the United States are central to our advocacy, leadership, practice, and research (George 2007). The identities and lived experiences of educational leaders and those they encounter influence the nature of leadership. Eagly and Chin’s review of leadership literature highlighted the lack of diversity has weakened the ability of research and theory to address some of the most provocative aspects of contemporary leadership, including: (a) the limited access to leadership roles for people from outside the dominant group; (b) how leaders’ behaviors are shaped by their dual identities as leaders and members of gender, racial, ethnic, or other i­dentity groups; and (c) the potential for people from outside the d ­ ominant group to provide excellent leadership because of their d ­ ifferences. (2010, 216) Limited research exists on how Black women leaders and educators integrate their positionalities and lived experiences in transformative ways within classroom environments. This chapter offers a way to address this gap.

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Method The authors utilized a phenomenological research design to examine the phenomena, or lived experiences, of Black women educators as diverse leaders in classrooms. Giorgi noted that phenomenology “does not dictate to phenomena, but rather, it wants to understand how phenomena present themselves to consciousness” (Giorgi 2012, 3). To begin to understand the intersection of identity and leadership in classrooms, the authors share how they leverage their personal and social identities within these spaces. Two research questions guide this study: In what ways do Black women educators leverage their personal identities to become diverse leaders within their classrooms? In what ways do Black women educators leverage their social identities to become diverse leaders within their classrooms?

S it u a t in g O u rs e l ves: D o u bl e - b o u n d , Bl a ck, an d Fe mi ni s t The role of the researcher as an instrument of data collection requires the researcher to acknowledge personal experiences, values, assumptions, beliefs, and biases that can impact how the data is interpreted (Yin 2003). The identities we possess are often foregrounded in our classrooms and how we approach our students. Even though we share two key identities, Black and woman, we each had a different epistemological foundation. The ways in which we position ourselves as Black women, in addition to how others position us in different societal institutions, can influence our approach to navigating those institutions. This is especially paramount for Black women faculty in academia. Epistemology relates to the nature of knowledge, and ontology refers to the nature of reality (Jones, Torres, and Arminio 2006). Individuals construct multiple realities differently and subsequently assign meaning based on their identities, context, and interactions with others. Our phenomenological inquiry was grounded in a constructivist paradigm to understand how Black women educators leverage their personal and social identities to become diverse leaders within their classrooms. Recognizing that truth is relative, constructivists hold fast to the belief that perspective, or vantage point, is critical for meaning making, and that truth varies by individual (Baxter and Jack 2008; Creswell 2013). Thus, we emphasize the importance of positionality in conjunction with our own experiences as integral to creating and sustaining transformative learning environments in the classroom.

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As leaders, our intersectional identities as both Black and women oftentimes place us at the margins (Crenshaw 1991). Perception of these identities can be detrimental to our roles as educators and leaders, as we experience invalidation, undermining, and challenges from colleagues and students solely based upon how we identify. Spelman noted It is highly misleading to say, without further explanation, that Black women experience one form of oppression, as Blacks (the same thing Black men experience) and that they experience another form of ­oppression, as women (the same thing White women experience). While it is true that … institutions that are described as sexist affect Black and White women, they are affected in different ways, depending upon the extent to which they are affected by other forms of oppression. (1998, 122) We draw on Patricia Hill Collins’ work on Black Feminist Thought (bft) to ground our claims that our experiences operate as valuable representations of knowledge (2000). Historically, the academy and society as a whole have worked to undermine our leadership, silence Black voices (hooks 1998), and challenge or refute our knowledge or scholarship (Brown, Carducci, and Kuby 2014; Collins 2000). Black women educators are positioned uniquely as they continuously negotiate issues of race and gender in their respective spaces, which are often dominated by whiteness. While there is a growing body of scholarship by Black women scholars about the experiences and challenges of Black women in education (Patton et al. 2016), it is important that we also explore the intersections of identity and leadership in classrooms. Black women educators can leverage their identities to become diverse leaders that transform their spaces to promote social change.

D iv e r s it y L e a d ershi p When we value diversity leadership, we value ourselves and those diverse individuals around us. When faculty value their identities, they also begin to develop a sense of purpose that reinforces their motivation to excel in environments. Robinson and Biran emphasized, “identity is what anchors a person to a cultural reality, and it is what helps to maintain a focus that motivates academic success” (2006, 51). Our different identities are foregrounded based on our contexts. In the classroom context, there are a variety of different cultures present that manifest through both instructors’ and students’ behaviours, values, and beliefs, ultimately influencing the learning environment.

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Important characteristics of diversity leaders include the abilities to respect differences, demonstrate empathy, effectively communicate, and exemplify transparency with students. Faculty from historically marginalized backgrounds have diverse lived experiences influencing their academic and professional endeavours. Some of these leaders are first-generation college students, while others may be legacies or have parents with varying levels of college education and degree attainment. They may have grown up in low socioeconomic households or lived in the middle or upper class. Some may identify as persons of colour or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Questioning (lg bt q +) or have different nationalities. Their backgrounds contribute to classroom dynamics, student interactions, and the overall learning experience. Educators who aspire to be diversity leaders understand the importance of recognizing their marginalized histories, narratives, and epistemological journeys. As diverse leaders and co-authors of this text, we cultivate a new “leadership paradigm with an emphasis on transformation, with the values of cultural pluralism and multiculturalism transforming colleges and universities into inclusive organizations that embody diversity as a core value and emphasize respect for the plurality of population groups that make up campus communities” (Aguirre and Martinez 2006, 40). We aspire to illuminate the ways that educators with multiple identities and diverse experiences transform their students’ classroom experiences, which ultimately influence how they view the world.

Id e n t it y S a l ie n c e in Cl a s sroo m Di s course Identity salience is, without question, a critical part of conversations surrounding transformative teaching to promote social change in our classrooms. Parker Palmer (1997) asserted that good teaching is less about technique and more about the identity and integrity of the teacher. This speaks to the importance of us amplifying our voices as educators. We are tasked with developing students to become self-aware and aware of others. Helping students understand how their sense of self may have been negatively influenced by society’s views on diversity and their power to reshape those internalized images will bode well for strengthening confidence in their abilities to persevere and become college graduates. Similarly, understanding how our own identities and social group memberships influence our perceptions of others in relation to ourselves can affect our teaching. Students are both similar and different due to their demographics, identities, and most importantly their cultures. By understanding others, we grow and evolve to not only tolerate, but rather appreciate, cultural similarities and differences.

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R e p r e s e n t a t io n f o r T rans f or m ati on Supporting the premise of Black women’s experiences as valuable representations of knowledge, we will highlight how our lived experiences and perspectives enhanced our students’ cultural competency development. Historically, scholarship has given little attention to the intellectual contributions of Black women faculty and the voices we provide in our classrooms (Collins 1986; Griffin 2019; Harley 2008). Our manuscript is informed by an intersectional understanding of the lived experiences of historically marginalized Black women faculty members. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work, intersectionality, described the ways that race and gender identities intersect and uniquely shape one’s experiences in higher education (1989). As educators, we recognize how certain identities we possess may appear more salient than others or how other identities are foregrounded depending on context, climate, and current events. As storied beings, we are multidimensional, a characteristic that we choose not to disguise in our classroom discourse. As Black women, we boldly and unapologetically show up in the classroom environment. We intentionally use our identity to guide our forward movement within our classrooms. Chin, Desormeaux, and Sawyer recognize the importance of leading authentically, meaning the extent to which a leader can be his or her true self when leading (2016). Being an authentic leader comes with challenges, because our identities impact our approaches, our contexts, and our interactions with others. Chin et al. (2016) further noted that some leaders believed that “authenticity was fundamental to being a good leader but also highlighted that it took a lot of self-work and self-awareness to be deliberately authentic” (56). As diverse leaders, we challenge our students to examine how they develop their understanding of assumptions, biases, and stereotypes concerning various cultural and social identities. In the classroom, we aim to give voice to historically marginalized identities in hopes of developing our students to become advocates for individuals with less or restricted privileges. Our instructional practices are informed by a commitment to authenticity and encouraging our students to do the same.

O ve r a r c h in g S t e r e o t y pes on P ercepti on a nd   N e g a t iv e A ssu m pti ons Although we are confident in our identities, oftentimes misunderstanding and misinterpretation of who we are from an outsider’s perspective results in us being stereotyped and judged unfairly. Stereotypes exist both inside

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and outside of the classroom. To be clear, stereotypes come from infor­ med and uninformed opinions or thoughts by educated and uneducated individuals. They can be malicious or unintentionally hurtful. Regardless, they can impact others. As diverse leaders, we undoubtedly face hegemonic resistance and oppression routinely due to our identities or perceived stereotypes. The ­education system “serves to reproduce economic inequalities and to distort personal development” (Bowles and Gintis 2007, 66). Groups or individuals that are marginalized in society generally continue to be marginalized in schools because schooling reinforces or legitimates the dominant ­culture’s knowledge, language, behaviours, or values. Because we have a heightened awareness and privilege as diversity leaders, we have the responsibility of transforming spaces that support cultural awareness and social change. As Black women leaders, we continue Collins’ work of developing “a distinctive Black women’s standpoint … by utilizing alternative ways of producing and validating knowledge” in our classrooms (2000, 252). We desire to dismantle historically oppressive and hegemonic education systems, and we believe it starts with our leadership within our classrooms. Collins posited four principles of b ft – experience, dialogue, caring, and personal accountability – by which we build our rationale for utilizing our lived experiences as parts of a transformative pedagogical approach to building cultural competency among the students we encounter, regardless of their backgrounds (2000, 266).

I n Ou r O w n W or d s In the following sections, we provide Collins’ conceptualization of these principles within the framework of bft, along with examples of how we demonstrate them in our own approaches (2000). We explore how our shared identity as Black leader educators creates unique insight into supporting social change by purposefully integrating our positionalities and lived experiences within our classrooms. As instructors and leaders, we enhance student learning through transparency about our identities and lived experiences. We acknowledge the painful histories and oppressions that exist within society and that are ultimately reflected within our classrooms. We share our lived experiences as Black women leaders within classrooms at Predominately White Institutions (pwis) to provide unique perspectives of diverse and transformative leadership within the classroom.

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Author One: Lived Experience as a Criterion of Meaning Being both a Black woman leader and educator at a pwi are privileges that I do not take for granted. As a faculty member with multiple minoritized identities (i.e., Black, female, first-generation, formerly low socioeconomic status) my voice is necessary to offer insight that expands my students’ perceptions and assumptions of historically minoritized identities. I intentionally create and support spaces to encourage students to explore and critically examine topics that encompass oppression, privilege, and power. Drawing upon Collins’ work, my experiences growing up have taught me how to persevere when the odds may not be stacked in my favour, how to develop grit and self-efficacy to want to be better not only for myself but for my family, students, and community (2000). I share my experiences within K–12 and post-secondary education with my students to provide examples of how intersecting oppressions impact students’ access, achievements, and learning. For example, in my educational technology course, I share how I was impacted by the digital divide growing up because I did not have access to the latest technology (i.e., cell phones, computers, tablets, etc.) outside of the traditional school day. I openly disclose how I utilized technology at friends’ houses or stayed after school to complete the assignments that required technology. I want my students to understand that their social and educational experiences are affected by their identities; some may have access to or be inhibited from resources.

Author Two: Using Dialogue to Assess Knowledge Claims Dialogue creates an opportunity for us to witness the humanistic characteristics of people that then empower them within the community context (Collins 2000). We have heard the term “difficult dialogue and courageous conversations,” and they do serve a purpose. Some educators and leaders may refuse to engage in difficult dialogues around race or other social identity groups for reasons of personal reluctance, discomfort, or the perception that such issues are irrelevant to course topics or would violate the goal of valueneutrality (Love, Gaynor, and Blessett 2016). I intentionally facilitate dialogues or meaningful exchanges among my students as opposed to a one-directional discussion. Within the Social Change Model of Leadership Development, one construct is called Controversy with Civility (Higher Education Research Institute 1996). This construct is centred on being able to engage in dialogue

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with someone who has a differing opinion or perspective. In order to successfully do so, it is imperative for each person to maintain an open mind, calmly and concisely share their point of view, and truly listen to the opposing view. This is a challenge for students and adults alike. However, I create assignments and opportunities in the learning environment for those difficult conversations and positive dialogue. An example of a critical reflection activity I have utilized in the past includes providing racially charged case studies that students must both reflect on and respond to with classmates. A specific past case study encompassed a thirteenyear-old Black female student who was on her cell phone in class. The teacher repeatedly asked her to put down the cell phone, and the student ignored the teacher. The teacher then went out into the hallway and asked for assistance from the school’s police officer. After the student refused to put down the cell phone at the police officer’s request, he physically removed her from the classroom. Student responses often centre on the race and gender of the student (Black female) and the race and gender of the police officer (White male), and the question of excessive force. Though these are salient elements to mention in the reflection, the main point is the teacher’s classroom management and inability to engage in effective dialogue.

Author Three: The Ethics of Caring Both self-care and care for others are essential to developing trust and respect in learning environments. As educators, we are simultaneously tasked with developing curriculum, assessing for learning, and encouraging reflection and student growth. Education that is liberating occurs through “transformative dialogue which speaks through and within an ethic of care, compassion, and love” (Roseboro and Ross 2009). Educators cannot promote static pedagogy; rather, they must encourage students to challenge those societal factors by critically engaging, identifying, and transforming socio-political realities. My ethic of care involves recognizing the injustices faced by historically minoritized identities and addressing such distortions of reality and inequities (Beauboeuf-Lafontant 2002, 2008) In my course, on the first day of class, I begin by sharing my own journey into higher education. By situating my lived experience early on, I have found that some students identify with parts of my story, including growing up in a small town, raised by a village of strong Black women, and attending a low-resourced school which resulted in me being motivated by my own ­passion to succeed and attend college. In sharing my lived experiences, I consistently exercise transparency with my students, particularly surrounding

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academic setbacks. I would often be honest with students about challenges and lack of progress with dissertation writing but end the conversation with them on a positive note by encouraging them to celebrate every win and learn from every loss. Collins posited three components of the ethic of care that are all interrelated: individual uniqueness, appropriateness of emotion in dialogue, and developing a capacity for empathy (2000, 263). I have exemplified these components in the ways in which I interact with my students. I begin every class with the question, “What’s good?” This greeting is oftentimes, ironically enough, how I approach close friends and colleagues. It is a simple check-in for them to share their own triumphs and trials of the week. I am intentional in creating an environment where students feel comfortable expressing themselves, which aligns with Collins’ assertion “personal expressiveness, emotions, and empathy are central to the knowledge validation process” (Collins 2000, 263). Thus, my willingness to share my own experiences, coupled with students’ openness to sharing theirs, cultivates a classroom community where we are able to extend the ethic of care into practice. I recall one instance during the “what’s good” portion of class when a student was having a rough week. She raised her hand, and after I acknowledged her, she began to shed some tears and described some personal and academic challenges she was experiencing. In the midst of her tears, she stood up and said, “I’m not sure if this is right or not, but I just really need a hug.” I went to her seat and embraced her. Almost immediately, her classmates got up one by one and embraced her. By the end of it all, we were all in tears, but we felt like a family. One simple question, “what’s good,” led to students feeling free to express themselves, and we organically formed this family over the course of the semester. That particular day revealed to me the importance of flexibility when operating from an ethic of care. Some moments call for us to toss the lesson plan to the side and attend to the needs of students. I received email correspondence from several students that day thanking me for facilitating a class in which they could be themselves and be comfortable sharing the good, the bad, and even the ugly with no judgment from their peers or from me as their instructor. Practicing an ethic of care has easily become essential for me to have a successful teaching experience and for my students to excel. Our narratives provide context and meaning for how we as diverse leaders can transform educational spaces to promote social change. Collectively, our approach enables transformational teaching because we share our identities and experiences in hopes of encouraging students to consciously make meaning of their lives and hopefully change their perspectives and assumptions about others (Simsek 2012). Because of the nature of our positions, we utilize

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our power and privilege to give voice to historically marginalized identities; we intentionally provide space to develop and foster frames of reference. Frames of reference are important because students are able “to take in a wide variety of information” and process it based on their “past experience and values” (Alsher 2020). Oftentimes marginalized voices are not considered, valued, or included in the academy; taking those voices into account and intentionally integrating them into the classroom curriculum provides awareness to accept diversity and social perspective taking. As teachers, we must be intentional with how we engage those who are different from us and how we understand and perceive their experiences, powers, and privileges.

B u i ld in g B r i dg e s T hrou g h L iv ed Ex p e r i ences Education can bridge the gap between faculty and students from different backgrounds. Students can discuss and appreciate differences and similarities between and across groups, utilizing intergroup dialogue to allow these experiences to be enriching for individuals and society. Education plays a crucial role in defining and redefining cultural awareness. Kumashiro noted “changing oppression requires disruptive knowledge, not simply more knowledge … the goal is not final knowledge [and satisfaction], but disruption, dissatisfaction, and the desire for more change” (Kumashiro 2000). When our students were afforded the opportunities to understand their diverse educators’ lived experiences and meaning making of minoritized identities they became more culturally competent and empathic. When Black women educators share their identities in the classroom, they begin to raise consciousness about experiences and issues in their lives and in the lives of others. When students understand not only their identities but others, they become better scholars by enhancing self-awareness and cultural responsiveness. As diverse leaders, we are charged with developing the next generation of professionals, we want them to be self-aware and aware of others. By understanding others, our students will grow and evolve to not only tolerate but rather appreciate diversity and cultural pluralism. Diversity leadership in education holds the potential to change schools and society, but most importantly, it can shape our understanding of cultural awareness and what it means to be an agent of social change. This chapter is the product of a series of conversations between the three authors about ways in which they utilize their identities as diverse and socially just leaders to transform their spaces to promote social change. A constant theme throughout all of the narratives was the need to promote and support

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transformative dialogues in our classrooms. We hope, through our narratives, our Black women educators begin to ask: How can they utilize their identities as diverse leaders to transform spaces to promote social change? We want Black women educators to become active change agents that encourage their students to consider alternative voices – those meanings, perspectives, experiences, and values different from their own. We can lead through our identities and purposefully integrate our perspectives and lived experiences within our classroom to foster transformative learning. We acknowledge that some educators may refuse to integrate their identity into their classroom spaces and/or engage topics of identity for multiple reasons, such as: personal reluctance or discomfort, uncertainty; allusion that such issues are irrelevant to the class; or the view that such engagements would violate the goal of value-neutrality (Love, Gaynor, and Blessett 2016). Our stories reaffirm the impact Black women educators have as diverse leaders to not only speak truth to power but simultaneously promote social change through transformative teaching.

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Diversity in College Classrooms. Washington, d c: American Council on Education and American Association of University Professors. Newcomer, Sarah N., and Kathleen M. Cowin. 2018. “Journey of a Culturally Responsive, Socially Just Leader.” Journal of School Leadership 28 (4): ­488–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461802800403. Palmer, Parker J. 1997. “Teaching and Learning in Community.” About Campus: Enriching the Student Learning Experience 2 (5): 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 108648229700200503. Patton, Lori D., Kimberlé Crenshaw, Chayla Haynes, and Terri N. Watson (2016). “Why We Can’t Wait: (Re)Examining the Opportunities and Challenges for Black Women and Girls in Education.” The Journal of Negro Education 85 (3): 194–8. Robinson, Jeanene, and Mia Biran. 2006. “Discovering Self: Relationships Between African Identity and Academic Achievement.” Journal of Black Studies 37 (1): 46–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934704273149. Roseboro, Donyelle L., and Sabrina N. Ross. 2009. “Care-Sickness: Black Women Educators, Care Theory, and a Hermeneutic of Suspicion.” The Journal of Educational Foundations 23 (3): 19–40. Simsek, Ali. 2012. “Transformational Learning.” In Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, edited by Norbert M. Seel, 201. Boston: Springer. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_373. Spelman, Elizabeth V. 1988. Inessential Woman: Problems of Exclusion in Feminist Thought. Boston, m a : Beacon Press. Theoharis, George. 2007. “Social Justice Educational Leaders and Resistance: Toward a Theory of Social Justice Leadership.” Educational Administration Quarterly 43 (2): 221–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X06293717. Wolfe, Brandon L., and Paulette Patterson Dilworth. 2015. “Transitioning Normalcy: Organizational Culture, African American Administrators, and Diversity Leadership in Higher Education.” Review of Educational Research 85 (4): 667–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654314565667. Yin, Robert K. 2003. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, c a : s a g e Publications.

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T h e m e T hree Reimagined Realities Catherine M c Gregor and Shailoo Bedi

In our final theme, six contributing authors explore how diversity leaders interrupt the status quo and spaces to embrace inclusion. Leadership is performative – one needs more than an intellectual commitment to diversity. These scholars show that leaders must embody diversity leadership in all that they do and create conditions where differences can thrive, be celebrated, and honoured. But such work is not necessarily straightforward or easy: it requires provocation, persistence, courage, and strategies that resist domination, marginalization, and exclusion on the basis of difference. Several important theoretical frames situate this work: reconciliation and decolonization (Tuck and Yang 2013); the role of settlers in reconciliation (Regan 2010; Styers 2017); resurgence; (Simpson 2017) and Indigenous work (Smith and Smith 2018). All these seek to displace colonial worldviews with Indigenous perspectives and knowledge. Critical race theory (Delgado and Stefancic 2012) describes the persistent and ongoing nature of racism and its intersections with diversity leadership. Transgression (hooks 1994) and the theory of accomplice, ally, or co-conspirator (Ekpe and Toutant 2022) model enactment and actionable change. Collaborative and collective social responsibility (Reynolds 2013), groundless solidarity (Day 2005), and ethical spaces of engagement (Ermine 2017) offer ways of thinking about how we engage with one another in authentic relations and enable collective accountability as diverse leaders. First, Osmond-Johnson, Cappello, and Turner (chapter 12) explore how primarily White, mainstream school leaders use the Truth and Reconciliation report and its Calls to Action as a catalyst to bring about systemic change and the challenges of doing this in authentic ways that do not reinscribe colonialism.

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Next, Cory and co-authors (chapter 13) situate the work of equity leadership in collective learning, reflection, and relational actions designed to honour and include the voices of those marginalized in educational systems. They shift the paradigm from the leader-centric model to collaborative work in community, ensuring the focus rebalances power and creates agentic spaces of respect. In the third chapter, McGregor (chapter 14) considers the evolution of the practices of diversity leaders and identifies gaps that can be filled by reimagining the role of school leaders as accomplices who work in solidarity with diverse communities. McGregor identifies the need for relationality and responsiveness, but she also insists on the need for provocation: the ongoing commitment to disruptive habits that enable socially just outcomes. In the next two chapters (15 and 16), authors find that social justice activities and spirituality ameliorate the impacts of racism. Butler and Campbell’s study shows Black leaders engaging in social justice leadership to resist and challenge systemic oppression and racism, whereas Lopez explores the role of community and spirituality in the lives of Black leaders, explaining how they draw on their spirituality to resist the structures and systems that oppress them. Finally, Pete (chapter 17) powerfully stories her leadership work, asking how we will take up decolonial praxis in our own lives through localized resurgence work. She invites us to imagine the decolonization of leadership in Canadian higher education as part of our path toward reconciliation. This closing section of the book reminds us that social justice leadership is performatively enacted and emergently realized – while simultaneously seeking and enabling practices of solidarity. These chapters also remind readers of our opening statements: complexity and hybridity characterize how we theorize and practice diversity leadership work.

R e f e r e nc e s Day, R. 2005. Gramsci is Dead: Anarchist Currents in the Newest Social Movements. London, u k : Pluto Press. Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. 2012. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, n y : n y u Press. Ekpe, Leslie, and Sarah Toutant. 2022. “Moving Beyond Performative Allyship: A Conceptual Framework for Anti-racist Co-Conspirators.” In Developing ­Anti-Racist Practices in the Helping Professions: Inclusive Theory, Pedagogy,

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and Application, edited by K.F. Johnson, N.M. Sparkman-Key, A. Meca, and S.Z. Tarver, 161–204. Geneva, Switzerland: Palgrave/Macmillan. Ermine, W. 2017. “The Ethical Space of Engagement.” Indigenous Law Journal 6 (1): https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ilj/article/view/27669/20400. Regan, P. 2010. Unsettling the Settler Within. Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Reynolds, V. 2013. “Leaning In as Imperfect Allies in Community Work.” Narrative and Conflict: Explorations of Theory and Practice 1 (1): 53–75. https://doi.org/10.13021/G8ncetp.v1.1.2013.430. Styres, S. 2017. Pathways and Remembering and Recognizing Indigenous Thought in Education: Philosophies of Lethi’nihstenha Ohwentsia’kekha (Land). Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press.

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12 Principals and Reconciliation Education in Saskatchewan Schools Challenges, Opportunities, and Supports Pamela Osmond-Johnson, Michael Cappello, and Peter Turner

Canada is often touted as one of the most educationally successful countries in the world (Darling-Hammond et al. 2017). Yet, as Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (t r c 2015a; 2015b) revealed, education in Canada has a dark and sordid history with respect to the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples through the Indian residential school system (irss). Although scant records were kept, the t r c estimates that more than 6,000 Indigenous children died from disease and abuse, many of whom are still buried in unmarked graves scattered throughout the country. To say that this is a black mark on Canadian education is an understatement. As Senator Murray Sinclair has often declared, however, “education has gotten us into this mess, and education will get us out” (as cited in Anderson 2016). In this vein, the t r c (2015b) expressly identifies calls to action for education, including mandatory implementation of “age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions” (7–8). Moreover, recognizing the important role educational leaders play in shaping school culture (Deal and Peterson 2016), it is arguable that the realization of these Calls to Action is more likely if they are supported by strong school leadership. The fact that the vast majority of school leaders (and teachers) are non-Indigenous (which is problematic for many reasons – see McNinch 1994), necessitates that all school leaders commit to forging meaningful and respectful relationships with the Indigenous ­communities they serve. Yet, navigating the “ethical space of engagement”

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(Ermine 2007) between Indigenous and Western worldviews around teaching and learning is challenging and complex work. And, as Tuck and Yang (2012) note, “There is a long and bumbled history of non-Indigenous peoples making moves to alleviate the impacts of colonization” (3). As we describe elsewhere, however (Osmond-Johnson and Turner 2020), there are non-Indigenous school principals who are attempting to engage with calls to action in ethical and authentic ways. This chapter extends that work with the aim of further explicating the kinds of personal and professional challenges experienced by five non-Indigenous principals as they attempted to support Calls to Action in the province of Saskatchewan. We recognize that the work of these principals cannot address the systemic redistribution of power and privilege required for reconciliation on a larger scale. Likewise, we acknowledge that, regardless of the challenges, it is the colonizer and not the colonized that must reconcile. We believe, however, that better supporting non-Indigenous school leaders in navigating the complexities of colonial constructions of authority and leadership in schools is a small step towards ingraining Calls to Action in Canadian education in meaningful ways.

Context There is considerable debate around much of the terminology utilized in this paper and in our work more broadly. Indigenous scholars like Palmater and Tuck, for instance, lament the manner in which discourses of reconciliation and decolonization have been taken up, criticizing both the “feel-good” nature of superficial reconciliation (Palmater 2018) and the “easy absorption, adoption, and transposing of decolonization” (Tuck and Yang 2013). Coulthard (2014) and Chrisjohn and Wascase (2009) suggest that reconciliation may indeed become another form of colonization that “permits the offenders yet another layer of obscurantism” (Chrisjohn and Wascase 2009, 227). There is also much contention around the role of the settler in reconciliation (Maddison, Clark, and de Costa 2016). We acknowledge these debates and enter into this conversation as part of the Indigenist agenda (Battiste 2013), a discourse that makes space for non-Indigenous peoples to situate themselves as being responsible for taking up Indigenous issues in diverse ways. In this way, all school principals can adopt an Indigenist agenda through deepening their relationships (with Indigenous people, with the land, etc.) and attending to the accountability of these relationships. We align ourselves with other critical scholars like Regan (2010), who posits

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To those who say that we cannot change the past, I say we can learn from it. We can better understand how a problematic mentality of benevolent paternalism became a rationale and justification for ­acquiring Indigenous lands and resources and drove the creation of ­prescriptive education policies that ran counter to the treaty ­relationship. Equally important, we can explore how this mentality ­continues to influence Indigenous-settler relations today. Failing to do so will ensure that … Canada will create equally destructive ­policies and practices into the future. (4)

S it u a t in g Ou rs e l ves Like the participants in our study, we are also navigating the complexities of settler/Indigenous relations and contested notions of reconciliation. Pamela (originally from Newfoundland and Labrador) and Michael (born and raised in Saskatchewan) identify as settlers on Treaty 4 territory, in what is now known as Saskatchewan, and Peter is an Indigenous nêhiyaw (Cree) member of James Smith Cree Nation from Treaty 6, also living in Treaty 4. Pam grew up in a small, rural community, not unlike many small communities in Saskatchewan. It is believed that her ancestors came from England, though little is known within the family about their origins. It wasn’t until she moved to Saskatchewan in 2015, on the heels of the release of the trc’s final report, that the travesties of the residential school system first appeared on her consciousness. Like Regan (2010), her learning journey has been one of unsettlement, of rethinking her own identity as a White settler and the benefits and privileges that she has been afforded at the expensive of Indigenous peoples. This project represents her first real attempt to apply her new critical consciousness to her scholarship. Mike is a relation of Adams G. Archibald, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and a government signatory to Treaties 1 and 2. Although he  has been involved in research and teaching about Treaties in the Classroom since 2007, this familial relationship to treaty is a relatively recent learning and reveals something of the way that there are deep personal ­connections to the narratives of Indigenous / Settler relations than many care to notice. While his scholarship started with an emphasis on understanding the production of whiteness and anti-racist pedagogies, the last five years have moved increasingly in the direction of integrating anti-racist work with a commitment to working alongside Indigenous colleagues in decolonizing education.

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Peter largely grew up “off” the Indian Act-Indian Reserve land designated for his Nation and was part of the first generation of his family to experience post-Indian residential school (irs) era schooling in an urban-provincial school system. Having direct family connections through ancestors and kinship who have attended irs’s across the plains Numbered Treaty regions, he is actively engaged and committed to the reconciliation project on personal and professional levels. As a student of the post-structural tradition, he envisions Indigenous participation in and leadership of reconciliation as bearing potential for larger impactful possibilities involving decolonization, whereas reconciliation also offers a moment for interrupting the coloniality of Indigenous and non-Indigenous shared co-habitation of Indigenous Lands. From the Indigenous perspective, it is easy to see how Indigenists can envision and shape themselves in order to contribute to the Indigenous agenda, and this researcher strives to layer this context into the study in order to draw non-Indigenous educators into the effort to make things right for Indigenous learners. Together, our diverse knowledges, networks, backgrounds, and heritages serve as both tangible and symbolic intersections between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews that are critically important to reconciliation and which are at the heart of this research.

T h e o r e t ic a l F r a m ework Critical Race Theory (crt) roots analysis in an understanding of the endemic nature of racism, describing a dominant society that is structurally rooted in historic and ongoing racial inequalities (Tate 1997). As Lawrence and Dua (2005) explain, however, crt fails to adequately articulate “that histories of colonization are erased through writings on the history of slavery; that decolonization politics are equated with antiracist politics; and theories of nationalism contribute to the ongoing delegitimization of Indigenous nationhood” (128). Understanding and dismantling colonialism might require different analytic tools and understandings. Just as crt posits the endemic nature of racism, Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) begins with an understanding of colonialism, a constitutive feature of the socio-political systems that make up Canada, as also endemic. As Furniss (1999) suggests, a dominant Canadian culture, framed by racism and colonialism, “is experienced as a set of common-sense, taken-for-granted truths about the nature of reality and the social world” (14). In this manner, colonization occupies the minds and thought processes of Indigenous peoples and settlers, bestowing privileges on the occupier while weighing on the

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Indigenous population (Brayboy 2005). Adopting a TribalCrit framework, then, is an attempt to be mindful of and foreground the colonial realities of this place and acknowledging the powerful ways that settler-colonialism has shaped both psychological and social landscapes. As researchers, we will not look for evidence that colonialism is ongoing or constitutive; we will start with this as our assumption. This enables us to acknowledge that we “share a common historical and cultural heritage in which racism has played and still plays a dominant role” (Lawrence 1987, 322). That said, Alfred and Corntassel (2005) caution that “[T]here is a danger in allowing colonization to be the only story of Indigenous lives. It must be recognized that colonialism is a narrative in which the Settler’s power is the fundamental reference and assumption, inherently limiting Indigenous freedom and imposing a view of the world that is but an outcome or perspective on that power” (601). Adopting a TribalCrit perspective to foreground the endemic nature of colonialism prevents the colonial story from becoming the only or primary story. In this messiness, we embrace Ahenakew’s (2016) call to carefully consider the paradoxes and limitations of translating insights between Indigenous and non-Indigenous spaces. While avoiding a checklist inventory of progress on the Calls to Action, this research aims to describe possible spaces for nonIndigenous administrators to locate themselves in a decolonized future as well. In this manner, our conceptualization of social justice leadership extends beyond Western framings, which have sometimes been criticized for continuing to centre whiteness (Radd and Grosland 2018). Ryan’s (2016) framework of strategic activism suggests that social justice–oriented school leaders must be intentional in how they go about engaging in advocacy work. From a TribalCrit perspective, however, it is important to reposition Ryan’s understandings through a decolonized lens. Looking to the Indigenous principle of relationality (Kovach 2005), strategic advocacy and social justice leadership are understood as being predicated on alliance and authentic partnerships with marginalized peoples. In this manner, social justice leadership is not the advocacy work of those in positions of leadership, but the relationships they cultivate to support the advocacy of others. It is only then that principals can respectfully engage the communities that they seek to serve.

M e t h o d o lo g y This research utilized a decolonizing research approach (Wilson 2008) that integrated Indigenous principles and Western approaches to research (Kovach 2009). In particular, just as relationality informed the framework of the study, it also informed the motivation for the study, the design of data collection, and

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the analysis of data. Given the backgrounds of the authors, a form of two-eyed seeing (Iwama et al. 2009) emerged, with Western and Indigenous ways of knowing coming together. Drawing on both worldviews enriches the knowledge creation that results from this study and provides a basis for relational accountability (Wilson 2008), both to each other and our onto-epistemological imperatives, as well as to the research and its participants.  Drawing on these relational epistemologies, participants for this study were sought using the snowball method. This resulted in a total of five participants. Four participants had been teaching for over twenty years, and one had been teaching for ten years. Three had been in formal leadership roles at the principal, vice-principal, or division consultant level for quite some time, while two participants were fairly new to their principalship and were in year two of their first administrative roles. Three were located in urban school divisions at elementary schools, and two were located in more rural school divisions at the secondary level. Pseudonyms are used for the purposes of confidentiality and anonymity. Semi-structured interviews of approximately one hour were conducted with all five participants. Interviews were recorded with participant permission and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded using an inductive coding method in two rounds. The first round of coding sought to identify large themes, including relationality, knowledge of systems, advocacy strategies, challenges, and supports. The second round of coding sought to break these larger codes into smaller, more detailed themes. For this paper, the re-coding of challenges and support was particularly guided by the theoretical framework of TribalCrit as this allowed for a deeper analysis of underlying, systemic barriers that were not always immediately apparent. This paper, in particular, examines four overarching themes with respect to the challenges of engaging in authentic and meaningful allyship around truth and reconciliation: working against the broader colonial structures of schooling; working to unlearn colonial thinking; working within resistant contexts; and working in relationships.

F in d in gs Working Against the Broader Colonial Structures of Schooling The biggest challenge for school leaders in this study was the pervasiveness of the colonial structures of schooling that continue to marginalize reconciliation efforts. Margaret, for instance, sees schools as “completely bound by colonial structure” and imagines that it would take a massive structural change, “where

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there is less pressure on curricular obligations and more on the whole reconciliation side so that as administrators (and) teachers who really want to go forward with those projects … and not have to stress about so much about meeting those other expectations … people have to choose between doing their job as prescribed by school division or doing their job as prescribed in their hearts.” Relatedly, Darlene acknowledges how school divisions speak about the importance of reconciliation, but “what are the actions that are being done to have administrators learn about it?” How are administrators (and teachers for that matter) invited into the thinking and unlearning that is required? What responsibility do school divisions take for actively working to transcend the colonial realities in which they are situated? And, what happens when the kind of approaches that might be required are not perceived as appropriate? Todd, for instance, described his approach to behaviour/attendance issues – “I’m not going to be that guy who is screaming and yelling at a community who’s had nothing but trauma, I won’t be that person, so I’m not seen, by our division as someone who is successful in leadership, I’m not, I’m seen as a failure by many people.” Prioritizing the relationships and the agency of students and families cuts against the grain of a traditional school hierarchy and calls normative understandings of order, discipline, and student expectations into question. This has an unsettling effect that, as our participants noted, may not always be welcomed, but is arguably necessary. Some participants did speak about the mandated Treaty Education curriculum in Saskatchewan as being a support, alongside provincial goals around increasing Indigenous graduation rates, but perceived these priorities to be overshadowed by literacy and math goals. For instance, according to Margaret, “You can almost just feel the tone in the room change when we start talking reconciliation and trc in our meetings and I don’t know why. When we’re talking about literacy or numeracy there’s one feel in the room and when trc comes along there is another one. I don’t know if it’s related to that whole guilt thing that people are carrying or if it’s such an over­whelming thing for people to buy into.” Some specifically discussed the lack of access to Elders and sparse, if any, funding specifically allocated to support reconciliation efforts when compared to literacy and numeracy initiatives. Even in school divisions that did employ Elders and Indigenous consultants, the distribution of those resources was sometimes seen as a barrier. Margaret, for instance, worked in a school with a small Indigenous population and, as such, did not have the same sort of access to Elders or other Indigenous resource persons. While there is no question that schools with higher Indigenous populations should be prioritized, the spirit of the calls to action arguably suggests that non-Indigenous students

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need to better understand Indigenous ways of knowing and being in order to build stronger and more respectful relationships across worldviews. For Darlene, this was specifically linked to challenging and demystifying the notion of “otherness” for non-Indigenous students. She commented, “We would love it if we had access to First Nations speakers, just to have that more normalized … the more positive opportunities kids have to see, oh yes, there is a First Nations band playing, there is a First Nations speaker and then maybe if they have those positive role models and opportunities in their city or their schools and community, I think it normalizes and takes away that otherness that maybe still seems to prevalent in some people’s minds.” Others were more attuned to the overall systemic discrimination that has existed in schools and the challenges that those ways of thinking presented. Todd, for instance, was very critical of the manner in which schooling is broadly understood and the ways in which that has marginalized Indigenous students and their families: I think we see ourselves as the school and the school division and the ministry, that we are the rule makers, and we are the people who are going to tell other people what we expect and draw the line. It has to be something else. We have to be listening and responding to what isn’t working and truly recognize that it isn’t working. Why are the graduation rates so bad, why are the attendance rates down, why do parents not want to come into our building, what are the true issues here? I’m done with old mentality where we are just going to feed the kids and wash their clothes and tell them to go home and shower and to create these lines where we feel like we are helping the community, but we are doing a disservice, sort of a hand out approach, we’re enabling things where we’re taking away dignity. We are just doing things in the wrong way. In the context of endemic colonialism, where schools are embedded within and constitutive of those ongoing colonial realities, doing school differently is a necessity; it must not become a kinder, gentler colonialism.

W o r k in g t o U n le a r n C ol oni a l T hi nki n g More than merely an external context, colonialism has also influenced the non-Indigenous school leaders in this study. Indeed, as products of the same colonial school system that they are currently working to disrupt, they too had to invest personal time, energy, and emotional labour into unlearning and relearning the truth of their own identity as settler Canadians. So deep is

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this kind of work that, when directly asked about the complexity of negotiating their identity as non-Indigenous peoples engaging in reconciliation work, participants either spoke briefly or deflected to some other topic. Ben described how he heard stories from Indigenous students about how they “were treated by other teachers in other schools” and began to see how the experience of Indigenous students in schools are shaped by their perceptions of discomfort and of being unwelcome. He talked about how easy it is to stay in your comfort zone, particularly if you have never been confronted with the truth, noting, “There is such a thing where you don’t know what you don’t know, and I didn’t know. I was just saying today, that if it wasn’t for this job, if it wasn’t for dealing with some of the things [intergenerational trauma] that I have to do you would never even think about some of the issues that’s going on, you would just stay in your world.” Alicia reiterated the notion of “not knowing.” Speaking of her own schooling experiences, she lamented the gaps in her knowledge base, expressing disappointment and confusion: There is a generation of people who are teachers right now who did not have a full history of Saskatchewan and of Canada. We are missing huge gaps in our own knowledge and so to try and fill those but also provide that to our students, to give them that critical thinking and opportunities to examine bias and to understand there is more than one way to look at something or to understand something, it’s such a huge gap that we had so trying to fill that and it’s so important to try and give our kids what we didn’t get, but it’s really hard that we have it first or at least we have the resources so we know who to ask if we don’t have the answers and you know, kind of battling 300 years of history that we didn’t know. These newfound understandings of the traumatic and violent effects of colonialism motivated both Alicia and Ben to, as part of the “responsibilities of the job” (Ben), re-think the colonial structures of traditional forms of schooling and advocate for better ways of doing school. Non-Indigenous school administrators must be careful, however, to negotiate the limits of settler reconciliation. Given their status as a profession of “care,” it can be easy for educators to respond to their new unsettled selves in ways that reinforce narratives of marginalized groups as “disenfranchised” and “in need of saving.” Recognizing this response as colonization in another form is therefore an important aspect of the unlearning. Margaret described the beginning of her career and how she had to re-think her motivations:

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It’s been quite an evolution for me, honestly, because when I first started I kind of came in with that “I am the white savior” mentality, that “I can save this, I can fix this cause I’m the white savior.” But it became pretty apparent to me that the Indigenous people that I have been meeting have pushed back hard against that, like that’s not up to me to save anybody or fix anything and so I really had to take a step back from that and figure out how I was going to negotiate moving the calls to action forward but not abusing my privilege and my voice. This kind of identity work is transformative, unsettling not just the professional self but the personal self, challenging the very fabric of both who we are as individuals and who we are as a collective society. It requires a vulnerability that might be perceived by some as a weakness, particularly with the frame of traditional understandings of leadership as stoic and steadfast.

W o r k in g W it h in R e s is tant C ontexts In addition to their own unlearning, non-Indigenous school leaders must also support the unlearning of their non-Indigenous school staff and larger school communities, many of whom unconsciously (and sometimes consciously) perpetuate colonial thinking and the marginalization of Indigenous students through their practice and attitudes. Participants noted that, while there was a strong movement towards supporting reconciliation education in their schools, some teachers were less than motivated to really dig in and go beyond surface-level, tokenistic implementation. Margaret specifically spoke of the role of the principal in pushing against these normative and settled practices. She sees her personal role as being “a person to guide the staff to legitimate work in reconciliation” but notes that, “quite honestly when I first came to this school … people honestly felt they were doing a good job, but it was mostly around that tokenistic kind of learning.” She went on to describe the token approaches she witnessed: Treaty education was based around a timeline and that was basically it, it was learning the timeline of Treaty, which to me is one small piece and people felt they were truly using, like let’s say coloured a teepee or read a legend, that was in the minds of many of the people here, enough for incorporating Indigenous learning and anything related to calls to actions … at first there was quite a bit of push back, quite honestly, there was disinterest from staff, community, lots of that opinion of it’s in the past, it’s done and over with, it’s not my problem to deal with.

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Alicia told a similar story about the first school-wide, Indigenous-focused professional development (p d) day at her school – “There was a lot of resistance and I heard grumbling and groaning, and we had to make sure that every single person was in the session that they signed up.” Todd noted that, for some teachers in his school, the push for accountability to Indigenous students and their families has been too much and they have chosen to move to a school where there is less pressure to change their practice. On the one hand, this can be quite demoralizing for school leaders who are working to foster culturally responsive practices. Todd, however, chose to focus on the people who have stayed and who are dedicated to growing and moving their practice forward – “I applaud those people. It’s a big deal those steps they are taking.” Margaret spoke to the challenge of “turning people off” reconciliation efforts as well, and preferred to take a developmental approach: I know that it’s definitely a developmental process for people to get their heads wrapped around why things are the way they are with our relationships between us and Indigenous people and so, I look back at myself where I was maybe seven or eight years ago, I would not have been ready for the conversations that I could have with myself now, if that makes sense, so I think I’m pretty good with gauging where people are and just if people are far along, to me that’s wonderful, I celebrate that, let’s keep moving forward together and then we have an understanding with each other but if some people are just in that beginning stage of understanding what happened for real in the past, what the truth is from the past to how we can start moving forward, then I approach it very gently at that point because if we are pushing people, you know, turning people off and that’s not going to get people moving forward. There is, of course, a danger in creating comfort in reconciliation work. As Palmater (2018) noted in a recent lecture, If it Feels Good it’s Not Reconciliation. Acknowledging that your privilege has been a direct result of the subjugation of Indigenous peoples, both now and in the past, is and should be a difficult pill to swallow. Finding the right combination of push and pull is no easy feat.

W o r k in g in Re l ati onshi p Reconciliation undoubtedly centres around relationship and reciprocity with Indigenous communities. Those who had been in administrative roles for some time had established credibility as allies and developed robust networks,

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which precipitated spaces for Indigenous voices to be at the forefront of school reconciliation efforts. Margaret, for instance, remarked, “My focus has been rebuilding relationships so that we can move forward with Treaty actualization, but until we have that trust built amongst everybody the best that we can I don’t think we can move forward. Because if no one is trusting anybody, it’s not going to happen.” Relationship building then is not a simple process of engaging people through the traditional means of school participation; the process is much more dynamic and interpersonal. Alicia rationalized, “I think that, you know, something as simple as sitting with someone for lunch and talking about your family or taking the time to send a text message or check on how somebody is doing, that doesn’t have anything to do with work, they’re your friends you’re not just colleagues.” In this sense, these relationships, the willingness and ability to engage in them and what they produce, is increasingly personal. This was also the case for Todd, who, when asked about his motivations and what keeps him going, stated “it’s personally important to me and my friends and my family and we do this [reconciliation efforts] differently.” Having worked in their school divisions for a long time (over twenty years) and being resolute and unapologetic in their commitment to social justice certainly allowed Todd, Alicia, and Margaret to establish their credibility as advocates and build their community networks. Those who were newer to the principalship, however, were struggling to establish meaningful relationships, even though they acknowledged their importance. Darlene was very open and honest about this gap in her leadership: I don’t have all the relationships yet, that I would like but I’m working to try and build some of those relationships. We also had an Elder come in and speak about residential schools and that man his grandchildren at that point were going to our school. So some of those things I fall into because their kids are at our school perhaps, but those, that maybe an area still that I need to work on, is to try and build more relationships because I don’t know that I necessarily have them. The Tribal council, I don’t have a contact there yet, you know. Working in school divisions that employed Elders and Indigenous education consultants also seemed to aid relationships, enabling an ease of access that not all participants were privy to. When asked about what sorts of supports school leaders needed, for instance, Ben was quick to point out the need for “more employees that are connected traditionally to First Nations, who practice it.”

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It should also be noted, however, that building such relationships takes considerable time and effort – those who had successfully done so had been attending ceremony and engaging in activist work, for instance, for quite some time. New principals then not only lack the networks, they also struggle to find the time to engage in the necessary work outside of school amidst their new learning curve (of which, Indigenous advocacy is but one of many priorities vying for their attention). Darlene, for instance, lamented that she had to pass on her first opportunity to participate in ceremony because she was unable to accommodate her other commitments, noting “I did get asked at the end of last year to go to a Sweat, it was right in the midst of exams and I couldn’t, it just didn’t work, my vp [vice principal] was away and I couldn’t get away that day … So that’s one of my goals for the year is to be invited to a Sweat or any sort of ceremony.” Again, this speaks to the personal commitment required of school leaders; engaging the Calls to Action becomes less of a professional obligation and more a part of the fabric of who you are as a person.

D is c u s s i on In this study, the endemic nature of colonialism was a consistent theme, manifesting itself in many ways – resistance to change, the trivialization of Indigenous priority areas, and inadequacies in systematic support. Participants attempted to mitigate these challenges through careful attention to meaningful and authentic relationships, with some having developed much deeper networks and relationships and others who were in the beginning stages of understanding the importance of relationality (to both Indigenous communities and to non-Indigenous staff and parents, for instance). In this manner, the challenges they experienced – the extent to which they recognized the pervasiveness of colonialism on their own lives and that of the students and families in their schools, and how they dealt with resistance – were also nuanced. Consequently, while the study illuminates some of the challenges of non-Indigenous principal support of Calls to Action, the findings do not act as an exhaustive or definitive list. Instead, we have attempted to offer space to consider the difficulties and supports encountered in engaging in this work meaningfully. Drawing on Brayboy (2005), the school leaders in this study are not exempt from the influence of systemic racism and the misrepresentation of Indigenous histories and cultures. As evidenced in the findings, some participants had already begun to recognize the colonized nature of their settler understandings. This is what Regan (2010) refers to as “unsettling the settler within,”

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without which she notes, little will change. Coming to terms with the truth of the history of their ancestral past amidst “the myth of the benevolent peacemaker” (Smith 2014, 30) is jarring identity work. Reflecting on her settler upbringing, for instance, Sterzuk (2011) notes “It is striking to me now that these pioneer tales I so enjoyed as a child are actually stories of invasion, settlement and displacement” (64). Such realizations are not meant to be easy or comfortable. Non-Indigenous school principals must also extend this unsettling to their professional identities – rethinking the Eurocentric notions that dominate Western understandings of educational leadership and actively engaging in decolonizing their leadership practice. As Cranston and Whitford (2018) note, “it is perplexing that some school leadership preparation models advocate for “culturally responsive school leadership” (Khalifa et al. 2016) as essential to effective leadership, yet at the same time remain grounded in a solid foundation that conserves and promotes hegemonic Eurocentric paradigms” (19). To this end, new quality standards for teachers and school leaders in Alberta specifically speak to “acquiring and applying foundational knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit for the benefit of all students” (Alberta Education 2018, 6). As we suggest in other works (Osmond-Johnson and Turner 2021), however, we must be careful not to rely too heavily on mandated responsibilities to reconciliation. Given the personal nature of this journey, another approach then might be for school leaders to reflect on the level of commitment they have attended to in their own practice with respect to building their awareness and knowledge – do they know the Treaty or Indigenous Territory they live in; have they attended an Indigenous ceremony or celebration; have they attended p d or public engagement events or read Indigenous literature to better understand the truth of our nation’s history; how have they valued Indigenous knowledge systems in their schools; how have they partnered with the Indigenous community in their area? This inward turn of the lens is a good way to begin to delve into the identity work and bias acknowledgment that are necessary in moving towards the meaningful reciprocity of relationship that reconciliation obliges. Moreover, as we noted earlier, non-Indigenous school leaders must take care to engage in reconciliation efforts in ways that do not contribute to further subjugation of Indigenous students and their communities. As Tuhiwai Smith (1999) posits, the Indigenous agenda is to endeavour decolonization. Having survived the harshest of conditions for thousands of years, both before and after first contact, Indigenous peoples do not need saving. Rather, reconciliation needs to become a space where settlers relinquish determinism to the Indigenous agenda. Non-Indigenous leaders, then, must let go of traditional

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hierarchies and saviour complexes and act as conduits and vehicles for this agenda. Authentic relationships are discernable by the bringing, invitation, and inclusion of Indigenous peoples into the school in a transformative way; in other words, it is the Indigenous community themselves who are breathing life into the frail and stale structures of colonial forms of schooling. Principals must embrace Indigenous leadership of truth and reconciliation – as supporter, advocate, and genuine ally. This is the epitome of relationality and ethical engagement.

C o n c l u si on Principals occupy a tenuous space where strategic goals, as laid out on paper, meet with teachers and communities in practical ways. Although their advocacy work can go a long way in determining the depth of success of these initiatives, maintaining and reifying traditional Western approaches to school leadership will not suffice when working in the space of trc Calls to Action. The leaders in our study were attempting to create environments that could disrupt racialization and the production of whiteness and settler coloniality to create spaces for meaningful relationships between Indigenous and nonIndigenous peoples. They demonstrated a commitment to working towards decolonizing their practice to address issues of power and privilege: honouring Indigenous knowledges, respecting difference, and realizing that it was not their place to lead reconciliation from the front. Some were well versed in such practices and others were just starting the process of settler “reckoning” (Wildcat et al. 2014). Consequently, the strength of this research lies in the diversity of stories shared by these school leaders and their willingness to be vulnerable – both in their actions toward reconciliation and their openness regarding their challenges and struggles. We are hopeful then that these stories will speak to the heart of other school leaders who are not sure where to start or who are struggling with the process of unsettlement. That said, this study was carried out with only five school leaders in one province. How then do a ll school systems, their leadership, and the principals who administer schools come to increasingly see this work as necessary and as important as everything else schools do? Todd offers, “I think it needs some serious recognition as being the work we do, not on the side of the work we do, it’s not literacy, numeracy and then Indigenous education, it’s, those are all part of the same thing.” Future research is also necessary around the manner in which principal preparation programs attempt to engage future school leaders in experiences that allow them to examine and deconstruct their own biases and move

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towards decolonized understandings of leadership. Working as a team of non-Indigenous and Indigenous researchers, and in relationship with our Elder, we are attempting to do better in our own institution and are finding hope in the work of our K–12 participants, whose active engagement and commitment to reconciliation (albeit in various stages) demonstrates the need for us to be responsive in our own practice. That said, like our K–12 colleagues, we in the academy have our own identity work to do – are we working in collaboration with Elders, are we honouring Indigenous knowledge systems, and have we decolonized and indigenized our own teaching? These areas need additional attention if this work is to move from being seen as “on the side” of what we do to becoming the heart of what we do and who we are. Reconciliation requires nothing less.

R e fe r e nce s Ahenakew, Cash. 2016. “Grafting Indigenous Ways of Knowing onto NonIndigenous Ways of Being: The (Underestimated) Challenges of a Decolonial Imagination.” International Review of Qualitative Research 9 (3): 323–40. https://doi.org/10.1525/irqr.2016.9.3.323. Alberta Education. 2018. “Leadership Quality Standards.” Accessed 20 June 2019. https://education.alberta.ca/media/3739621/standardsdoc-lqs-_fa-web2018-01-17.pdf. Alfred, Taiaiake, and Jeff Corntassel. 2005. “Being Indigenous: Resurgences Against Contemporary Colonialism.” Government and Opposition 9 (1): ­597–614. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2005.00166.x. Anderson, Mark Cronlund, and Carmen L. Robertson. 2011. Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers. Winnipeg, m b: University of Manitoba Press. Battiste, Marie. 2016. Visioning a Mi’kmaw Humanities: Indigenizing the Academy. Sydney, n s: Cape Breton University Press. Brayboy, Bryan M.J. 2005. “Toward a Tribal Critical Race Theory in Education.” The Urban Review 37 (5): 425–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11256-005-0018-y. Chrisjohn, Roland, and T. Wacase. 2009. “Half-Truths and Whole Lies: Rhetoric in the Apology and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” In Response, Responsibility, and Renewal: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Journey, edited by Gregory Younging, Jonathon Dewar, and Mike DeGagné, 219–27. Ottawa, o n : Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Coulthard, Glen Sean. 2014. Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Politics of Colonial Recognition. Minneapolis, m n : University of Minnesota Press. Cranston, Jerome, and Rina Whitford. 2018. “Decolonizing the ‘Big Tent’ Knowledge Base of School Leadership.” International Studies in Educational Administration 46 (2): 3–25.

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Davis, Lynne. 2010. Alliances: Re/Envisioning Indigenous-non-Indigenous Relationships. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. Ermine, Willie J. 2007. “The Ethical Space of Engagement.” The Indigenous Law Journal 6 (1): 193–203. Furniss, Elizabeth. 1999. The Burden of History: Colonialism and the Frontier Myth in a Rural Canadian Community. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Kovach, Margaret. 2005. “Emerging from the Margins: Indigenous Methodologies.” In Research as Resistance: Critical, Indigenous and AntiOppressive Approaches, edited by Leslie Brown and Susan Strega, 19–36. Toronto, o n : Canadian Scholars Press. – 2009. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. Lawrence, Bonita, and Enakshi Dua. 2005. “Decolonizing Anti-Racism.” Social Justice 32 (4): 120–43. http://www.socialjusticejournal.org/product/ bonita-lawrence-and-enakshi-dua-2. Lawrence, Charles R. 1987. “The Id, the Ego, and Equal Protection: Reckoning with Unconscious Racism.” Stanford Law Review 39 (2): 317–88. https://doi. org/10.2307/1228797. Maddison, Sarah, Tom Clark, and Ravi de Costa. 2016. The Limits of Settler Colonial Reconciliation: Non-Indigenous Peoples and the Responsibility to Engage. Singapore: Springer. McNinch, James. 1994. “The Recruitment and Retention of Aboriginal Teachers in Saskatchewan Schools.” Saskatchewan School Trustees Association Research Centre Report 94 (10). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED380412.pdf. Osmond-Johnson, Pamela, and Peter Turner. 2020. “Navigating the ‘Ethical Space’ of Truth and Reconciliation: Non-Indigenous School Principals in Saskatchewan.” Curriculum Inquiry 50 (1): 54–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 03626784.2020.1715205. – 2021. “Weetutoskemitowin: Conceptualizing Positive Leadership for Flourishing Schools Through an Indigenous Lens.” In Positive Leadership for Flourishing Schools, edited by Keith Walker, Benjamin Kutsyuruba, and Sabre Cherkowski, 355–70. Charlotte, n c : Information Age Publishing. Radd, Sharon I., and Tanetha Jamay Grosland. 2019. “Desirablizing Whiteness: A Discursive Practice in Social Justice Leadership That Entrenches White Supremacy.” Urban Education 54 (5): 656–76. https://doi. org/10.1177/0042085918783824. Regan, Paulette. 2010. Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada. Vancouver, bc: ubc Press. Ryan, James. 2016. “Strategic Activism, Educational Leadership and Social Justice.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 19 (1): 87–100. Smith, Tamara Dawn Marie. 2014. An Unsettling Journey: White Settler Women Teaching Treaty in Saskatchewan, PhD diss., University of Regina. https://­ ourspace.uregina.ca/bitstream/handle/10294/5830/ Smith_Tamara_200231376_MED_C&I_Spring2014.pdf. Sterzuk, Andrea. 2011. The Struggle for Legitimacy: Indigenized Englishes in Settler Schools. Toronto, on : Multilingual Matters.

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Tate, William F., IV. 1997. “Critical Race Theory and Education: History, Theory, and Implications. Review of Research in Education 22 (1): 195–247. https:// doi.org/10.2307/1167376. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015a. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee of Canada. http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Honouring_ the_Truth_Reconciling_for_the_Future_July_23_2015.pdf. – 2015b. Truth and Reconciliation Canada: Calls to Action. Winnipeg, m b: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/ british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-­ documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf. Tuhiwai Smith, Linda. 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. New York, n y : Zed Books. Veracini, Lorenzo. 2008. “Settler Collective, Founding Violence and Disavowal: The Settler Colonial Situation.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 29 (4): 363–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256860802372246. Wilson, Shawn. 2008. Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Winnipeg, m b : Fernwood.

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13 In a Paradigm of Belonging Leadership Practices in a Context of Systemic Inequality Rebecca Cory, Terri-Lynne Beaton, Andrew Clarke, Beverley Dobell, Craig Ellermann, Hannah Jones, Cheri Kibzey, Susan Koski, and Meredith Lemon

the paradigm of neo-liberalism, competition and individualism our response, a paradigm of belonging

Learning requires us to be open to change. To be up for the challenge of change, learners need to feel belonging. Hence, one of the primary roles of education leaders in the classroom is to create a space of belonging. When we step into the classroom, students, educators, and leaders bring their biases, understandings, and experiences of power and privilege. Classrooms are not exempt from these social and political inequalities (Dyson 2018, 238). Therefore, to create belonging, we must become aware of the systems that produce and reproduce inequality. This is no simple task. In this chapter, we argue that education leaders who work from a paradigm of belonging can counteract the harmful isolation that results from marginalization in a neo-liberal paradigm. This chapter shares practices that have been developed over more than a decade in the context of University 101 (Uni 101), an adult education program at the University of Victoria, to create belonging for marginalized students in the classroom. This chapter has been co-written by a diverse group, consisting of six alumni of the Uni 101 program and three program staff. The chapter reads as a singular voice because every word was written as a group through a consensus writing process. We were

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often able to come to consensus quickly because the ideas in this chapter were already deeply shared by the group. Our work together is well described by Lather’s (1986, 258) articulation of praxis, “the interactive, reciprocal shaping of theory and practice.” Though many ideas are deeply shared, our process was also messier than can be made visible here and many of the dynamics we explore in the chapter were also navigated in the process of writing. In this chapter, we have attempted to demonstrate many facets of our practices, including some ways that they can go awry. One limitation of many theories about inclusion is that practices are over-simplified and do not demonstrate the challenges of real-life situations. To illustrate these challenges, we have constructed a complex interpersonal scenario to explore some of our practices to create belonging amidst multiple and complex axes of diversity and systemic oppression. Diversity is sometimes mistakenly collapsed with race; however, in our context (as in most), it must be understood as a complex concept that needs to be continually interrogated or it risks losing “its critical edge” (Ahmed 2012, 1). Within the Uni 101 community, there are many intersections of power and privilege at play, including ability, age, class, gender, physical health, mental health, race, and religion. For this chapter, we have tried to articulate the practices that we think will be most effectively transferable to other contexts.

T h e U n i 1 0 1 P ro g ra m University 101 offers free, non-credit university courses to people who have otherwise been excluded from post-secondary education. The program exists because cost, prerequisites, lack of resources, and many other systemic and overlapping barriers make post-secondary education inaccessible to many people. We address these exclusions by providing many material and learning supports. We work from the framework that barriers exist in systems, not in people. Therefore, we aim to work from an equity approach and provide students what they need for success, rather than offering a uniform set of supports or a cookie-cutter experience. To take an equity approach, leaders must develop deep and intersectional understandings of inequality and histories of power, privilege, and oppression (Crenshaw 1989; Guittar and Guittar 2015, 657). This is in contrast to a race-, gender-, or class-neutral approach, since these tend to reproduce status quo privileges and oppressions. Our program draws on a history of adult education focused on learning about the human experience; there are many similar programs across Canada and around the world.1 The Uni 101 Program is located on the territory of the Lekwungen peoples: the Songhees, Esquimalt, and wsáneć Nations.

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L e a d e r s h ip in t h e C o ntext o f U ni 101 The context of leadership in Uni 101 is unusual in two ways. First, in Uni 101, many of the volunteer leaders are alumni of the program and therefore share similar backgrounds and experiences of oppression as students. This social location creates unique opportunities and challenges, some of which are explored in the scenario and practices below. The other unique feature of leadership in Uni 101 is that responsibility for course content is shared between staff instructors, who attend all classes, and guest lecturers, who attend one or two. This means that the responsibility for class dynamics and content is distributed differently than in many traditional classrooms. For this reason, we use the language of leader throughout this chapter, but believe that the ideas and practices are relevant for any educational leader role, such as instructor, teacher, or facilitator. While we use the term leader to describe these various roles in the classroom, we also have an uneasy relationship with the concept of leader and the hierarchies it implies. In Uni 101, we work to limit or diminish the effects of hierarchies; we don’t want to pretend that hierarchies or differences of power and privilege don’t exist, but we also want to mitigate their harmful effects. We believe that where we have power, we have the responsibility to learn about inequality in order to prevent harm and promote educational equity.

T he Im p o r t a n c e o f B e l on g i n g i n a C ontext of  N e o - l ib e ra l i s m Belonging is necessary for learning and collaboration (Randel 2018). However, belonging is not simple to create or cultivate. Belonging is an active process that involves a dynamic interplay between our internal acceptance of ourselves and sharing our authentic selves with the world and “our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance” (Brown 2010, para. 12). Additionally, belonging is often inversely related to marginalization. In classrooms, students and leaders are shaped by the norms and power structures that flow from our current neo-liberal paradigm, which has made individualism, competition, and systemic inequality seem natural and inevitable (Harvey 2005, 16, 41, 64). These norms are not neutral or benign; they have real consequences for people and communities. A particularly harmful effect of inequality and marginalization is social isolation (Hortulanus, Machielse, and Meeuwesen 2006, 137). We need to understand power and privilege to foster belonging. As Friere says, “If radical educators are to understand the meaning of liberation, they must first be aware of the form that domination

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takes, the nature of its location, and the problems it poses for those who experience it” (Freire and Giroux 1985, xx). In contexts of multiple axes of diversity, respect and social dynamics between students are impacted by many forms of marginalization, therefore educational leaders must understand systemic inequalities in order to create belonging and opportunities for learning.

P a r a d i gm o f B e l on g i n g : F o u r A r e a s o f  P racti ce To form meaningful relationships across multiple axes of diversity, leaders – who by definition have or are perceived to have more power – must recognize that seemingly small things we say and do can have significant effects on people with less power (Torino 2019). With this in mind, many of our practices focus on seemingly small interactions that are situated in a larger paradigm where they work together to create belonging. Paradigms are the deepest set of beliefs in a society, and changing our paradigm changes our norms, values, and behaviours (Meadows 1999, 17). We have organized our paradigm of belonging into these areas of practice: intellectual and emotional skills that have internal (self) and relational (other) dimensions. These practices must all be employed together to cultivate belonging. Intellectually, the internal practices are to understand systems of inequality and cultivate a growth mindset. The externalization of these are practices of equity and removing barriers, collaboration, and accountability. The internal emotional practices are self-compassion and self-awareness; the emotional relational practices are vulnerability, empathy, and trust. In the classroom, these practices often occur simultaneously and therefore you will likely notice some repetition and overlap in the sections below. In particular, we have found that understanding systemic inequality needs to be practiced with each of the other skills to avoid reifying status-quo power and privilege. Naming and teaching these skills within the leadership team has built a shared language which facilitates communication and allows us to better support each other and students. Before describing the practices in more detail, we want to note one additional challenge regarding the balance between leaders’ needs and those of the students. In the classroom, we want leaders to be authentic because it creates the conditions for deeper relationships and is more fulfilling for both students and leaders. At the same time, the primary role of leaders is to support students, which sometimes necessitates compassionately holding them accountable for the impact of their words and actions on other students. The dynamic tension between the needs of leaders and students is especially

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complex when a leader experiences forms of oppression that are not shared by students. This is often difficult, emotional work, and we believe that leaders need collaborators to support each other outside of class, so that during class they can be present and available to support students.

E x p l o r in g P r a c t ices i n A cti on The following scenario has been created to explore and demonstrate some ways that our practices can be put into action. We alternate between the scenario (in italics) and our analysis of the leaders’ choices and actions in the story, highlighting the practices leaders use (or fail to use) from our model. Practices from our Paradigm of Belonging model are italicized. All characters and storylines are composite representations to preserve confidentiality.

Scenario This scenario begins at week five in a twelve-week semester. The students and leaders below have been working in the same small groups for the past few weeks.

Characters Jack is a fifty-two year-old White man. He has been a Student Liaison for three years and has been sober for eight years, after many years of addiction. Clementine is a first-time Teaching Assistant (ta) and a Gender Studies student in the final year of her undergrad. She’s a twenty-four-year-old Black woman who grew up in Toronto and moved to Victoria for university. Henri is a forty-four-year-old Métis man. He is a new student who suffers from chronic pain and sometimes uses a wheelchair. His housing situation is stressful because he lives in subsidized housing where there is a lot of conflict between tenants in the building. He feels stuck because there are so few alternate affordable and accessible suites. Ted is a fifty-six-year-old White man. He is a new student whose formal education ended in grade ten. He lives in an addiction recovery house and knows Jack from the recovery community. Ted’s current housing is only available for one year. He is looking for more permanent subsidized housing, but it is stressful because there are very few housing options. He’s worried that it will be hard to stay sober if he becomes homeless again. Hailey and Breanna are staff members who coordinate and teach in the program. Both are White women with university degrees.

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Figure 13.1  A paradigm of belonging: leadership practices in a context of diversity

Tuesday Small Groups The topic for the week is nationalism and colonization. The class is in their usual small groups working on a semi-structured question-generating activity. One student, Ted, asks a question about Indigenous taxes and social services, implying that Indigenous people are lazy and get more government support than White Canadians. Jack is the facilitator writing on the board. He knows that Ted is expressing some racist stereotypes, but he doesn’t know how to address them. Instead, Jack writes Ted’s question down but tries to adjust the language so there are fewer stereotypes. Clementine is upset by the stereotypes implicit in Ted’s question but doesn’t want to overstep her role while Jack is facilitating. Henri notices that Jack seems uncomfortable and doesn’t write exactly what Ted says, but he feels upset that no one challenged Ted. Henri contributes a question to the brainstorm in an attempt to counteract the stereotypes but participates less than he has in previous classes. When it comes time to prioritize the questions, Jack encourages the group to prioritize the question that Henri contributed.

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To counteract individualism and competition, we have developed our c­ urriculum to value diverse experiences, knowledges, and ways of learning (hooks 1994). Students work in the same small groups for most of the term, allowing trust to form and relationships to deepen. Collaborative activities that foster creative and critical thinking are scheduled prior to the lecture to bring students’ knowledge into the centre of the learning. To promote creative thinking and validate students’ voices, facilitators usually write all questions on the board exactly as they are said. However, this can also create conditions where it is difficult to challenge harmful assumptions or stereotypes that might be expressed within a question. Though Jack has had three years of training in the Uni 101 Leadership program, real-world situations are complicated. Jack wants to be an inclusive leader but isn’t confident in his own skills to challenge stereotypes in real time while also maintaining connections with Ted and Henri. Clementine is un­settled by the embedded assumptions in Ted’s question but is uncertain about whether to intervene when Jack is facilitating. Jack and Clementine are practicing self-awareness, which allows them to identify their cognitive biases, emotions, and judgments and gives critical knowledge to maintain the conditions for belonging in emotionally charged situations (Stein and Book 2011).

Tuesday Dinner In the cafeteria, Clementine checks in with Henri about the small group. Henri shares his frustration that no one challenged the stereotypes Ted expressed. He also feels worried about what people might say during that night’s lecture. Henri shares with Clementine, in part because he knows from previous conversations that they have a similar analysis about inequality and shared experiences of racism. Clementine empathizes with Henri, and they talk over dinner about colonization and nationalism. They end the conversation on a positive note, hoping that the lecture will inform people about Canada’s colonial history. On their way back to class, Clementine reminds Henri that he can leave the lecture if he needs to. Henri has built trust with Clementine, in part, through her vulnerability in previous interactions. This trust enables him to be vulnerable and share. Vulnerability is essential for authentic connection, especially when connecting across differences of privilege and identity. When leaders risk a little by sharing vulnerably, it creates the conditions for students to risk and share as well. Clementine also practices empathy here, by sitting with Henri in his discomfort and pain. Empathy requires us to witness someone’s pain, frustration,

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or joy and not try to change it. When students experience harm in the classroom, leaders need to understand the greater context of systemic inequality so they don’t compound the harm by dismissing or contradicting students. Clementine’s empathetic response, informed by her analysis of systemic inequality, contributes to building trust with Henri.

Tuesday Lecture During the lecture, the White instructor talks about colonialism as part of Canada’s history. While asking the instructor questions, a few students express some racist stereotypes about Indigenous people. The instructor attempts to address and name the stereotypes, but some students, including Ted, continue to ask questions that repeat the same stereotypes. The instructor, becoming aware of the escalating tension, redirects the discussion in another direction. Immediately following Ted’s remarks, Henri turns to Clementine and says, “Augh, I’m so tired of this racist garbage. I thought the university would be a place where I wouldn’t have to deal with ignorant people.” Henri is already feeling worn down from the small group discussion. Clementine is concerned about how upset Henri seems. She whispers, “You really shouldn’t have to deal with that.” Clementine wonders about asking Henri to chat out in the hall but decides instead to try to talk with him after class. As soon as the lecture ends, Henri quickly packs up his things. Clementine asks how he’s doing and if there’s anything he needs right now. He says, “I need to get out of here. Thanks for listening earlier.” Clementine responds warmly and says, “See you next class. Maybe we can have dinner together again.” Henri replies that he’s not sure he’ll be coming next class. We can see the negative impact compounds for Henri. When racist stereotypes are expressed in the classroom, it has a harmful impact on some people and others may not even notice it’s happening. This is alienating and exhausting for those who are impacted and one of the reasons we need to have an equity approach, prioritizing the needs of the most marginalized students, since not all students are impacted in the same way.

Tuesday After Class In the office after class, several volunteers and staff, including Clementine and Jack, debrief and brainstorm possible solutions to the impact of the racist stereotypes expressed during the class. Jack says that things did not go well in their small group. He felt overwhelmed during the small group discussion and wasn’t sure what to do but he remembered from volunteer training that

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these topics are often fraught with tension and have the potential for harm. Jack expresses his appreciation to Clementine for offering such good support to Henri. Clementine expresses her sadness and frustration at the situation. Clementine is worried about Henri and shares that he said he may not come back next class. Breanna, one of the staff, suggests that she call Henri tomorrow. They also decide that one of the staff will talk with Ted before class on Thursday. They also plan to informally check in one-on-one with the other Indigenous students in the class to see how they are doing and if they need any support. Clementine and Jack feel better after sharing their experiences and knowing that there is a plan to follow up with both Henri and Ted. Two key leadership practices are self-awareness and self-compassion. Selfawareness enables us to notice mistakes and self-compassion helps us resist becoming defensive so that we can acknowledge the mistakes that are inevitable when building relationships amidst power differences. Self-compassion practices remind us that mistakes are human (Neff 2011). We can see this practice being used by Jack in the scenario when he reminds himself that some discussion topics are innately fraught with tension and have the potential for harm. Discussing the events of the class with other volunteers is a collaborative practice that can support leaders. When leaders are supported by other leaders, their own needs are more fully met and they can more collaboratively support students in the classroom.

Wednesday The next day Breanna calls Henri. Henri shares some of his thoughts and feelings, including his frustration that he has to deal with racism in a university course. Breanna listens and also expresses her own frustration about the racist stereotypes expressed during class and her sadness that Henri was negatively impacted. Henri says that he won’t be coming to the next class and isn’t sure about next week. Breanna asks if there’s any support he needs. She also asks if he wants to change groups when he comes back to class. Henri replies that he’s not sure what he needs next and wants some time to think about it all. In the Leadership class on Wednesday, staff and student liaisons discuss what activity will be best for Thursday’s small groups. After seeing how the question- generating activity allowed stereotypes to arise, they discuss choosing a more structured and text-based activity. Someone suggests a large group discussion about colonialism, since there was more than one person who expressed stereotypes. Jack brings up a worry that a large group discussion could impede the one-on-one learning for Ted if he feels called out, because

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he knows that staff are also planning to talk with Ted before class about the impact of his behaviour. Hailey shares her concern that they might be spending more time thinking about Ted’s needs than Henri’s and that a large group discussion has the potential to create further harm for Indigenous students. In the end, they decide to do a collaborative activity based on the reading, with a plan to check in next week about doing a large group activity to learn more about Canada’s history of colonialism. During the phone call, we can see how Breanna trusts Henri’s decisions about what he needs. This is another important aspect of trust. In contexts where leaders have more privilege, it is essential to trust that students are resilient and inherently capable, whether they act autonomously or with assistance. When Henri says that he probably won’t come to class the next day, Breanna does not try to convince him that coming to class would be better. This trust is vital because we live in a culture that incorrectly defines people who are marginalized as less capable and unworthy. In tension with this trust is our awareness that students who are more marginalized are also more likely to be negatively impacted by the biases of other students. Too often this results in more marginalized students choosing, for their own well-being, to take themselves out of a situation. While we must respect that choice and trust students, we also need to be aware that it results in a situation that replicates status-quo power and privilege – i.e., the more privileged students stay in class, while the less privileged students leave. This is why it is so important to address impactful behaviours and continue to try to reduce the systemic barriers to participation in classrooms, such as Breanna’s offer for Henri to switch to a different small group and the leadership group’s desire to address the larger lack of awareness about colonization. When leaders recognize systems of inequality, they need to look for ways to change those systems so that “the recognition of institutional racism [doesn’t] become a technology of reproduction of the racism of individuals” by absolving people with privilege from having to take action (Ahmed 2012, 46). We have found that more structured activities often reduce the potential for people to say harmful things. However, a well-facilitated large group discussion can create an opportunity to challenge biases and build knowledge in a respectful way. The challenge is that a large group discussion can also create more space for harmful ideas to be said. This back and forth is the reality of making decisions in a multi-dimensional diverse community that has multiple and sometimes conflicting needs. There are often no simple or perfect solutions. However, potential harm to marginalized students must be prioritized in decision making (equity).

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Thursday Before Class On Thursday before class, Hailey meets with Ted in a quiet space to talk with him about the impact of his questions and comments. Hailey’s goal is to have this conversation in a way that nurtures belonging rather than disconnection, while also sharing with Ted the impact of his actions on others. Hailey starts the conversation by situating these ideas within a long history of racism towards Indigenous peoples. She shares that while prevalent, these stereotypes have a negative impact both inside and outside the classroom, especially for Indigenous students. During the conversation, Ted seems open and nods in agreement. He doesn’t say too much when Hailey is done talking, but he seems to agree with her. Hailey thinks the conversation went well. It can be difficult to unlearn our deep-seated and often unconscious beliefs (Fine 2010). This is especially true when we have more privilege; it is hard to know when our views are biased, flawed, or incomplete. We start each course with several classes about stereotypes, bias, and critical thinking. This creates a framework for conversations when a student’s biases or stereotypes negatively impact other members of the class. We aim to create an environment grounded in the common language of Dweck’s (2016) growth mindset, where everyone is encouraged to be open to learning, including learning about the impact of their own biases (Linker 2014). One of the practices that we use to enact accountability is to give feedback in ways that build connection and incorporate an understanding of systemic inequality. We try to have potentially difficult conversations with students informally when possible, to avoid repeating the negative experiences many people have had in formal education. In conversations like the one with Ted, we often start with empathy, to maintain connection amidst a difficult conversation. For example, Hailey starts by saying that these are common ideas and describes the ideas as stereotypes (for which there is already a shared understanding), rather than as racism (which might shut down Ted’s ability to continue to listen). We will later build on this initial conversation, hopefully moving Ted towards a deeper understanding of racism. We also try to make sure feedback is constructive, concrete, and focused on the impact on others, framing the conversation in terms of group collaboration and support. We trust that students are able to hear feedback and are capable of experiencing the emotions that arise. Although it can be challenging to have these accountability conversations, we believe we can’t just say we want the classroom to be inclusive, we must actively create it. For us, this means taking equity-informed action when harmful things happen in the classroom, particularly when they flow with/

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down the power hierarchy. For example, when giving feedback to someone with more access to power or resources than the person they have impacted, we are likely to speak up sooner and suggest concrete actions. On the other hand, when giving feedback to someone who experiences very high levels of systemic injustice, we would start the conversation with an acknowledgment of the impacts of those injustices (in terms of exhaustion or stress), and hold that understanding throughout the conversation. While the actions will look different depending on the particular situation and people involved, the aim is to challenge systemic inequality, name privilege, create connection, and centre the needs of those who are most marginalized. We encourage choosing momentary discomfort when resisting systemic inequality, especially when someone has more privilege than the person they have impacted or harmed.

Thursday Dinner At dinner, Jack sees Ted eating by himself away from the main group, so he asks to join him. When asked how he’s doing, Ted shares, “The staff gave me a talking to earlier about my comments last class. It was awful. They said I was being racist. I was so uncomfortable but I felt like I had to just agree. I felt like I was ten years old again, being called into the principal’s office.” Jack knows from previous conversations that Ted has past experiences of an abusive teacher. After deeply listening and expressing empathy with Ted’s feelings, Jack shares that when he first joined Uni 101 he was pulled aside by the staff to talk about some racist and sexist things he had said in class. Jack says, “learning about this political correctness stuff has been hard, but now I find that I can connect to people better, because I understand more about the impact of what I say.” Jack talks about how he has learned to practice having a growth mindset, trying to view mistakes as learning experiences. Ted feels a bit relieved after hearing Jack’s story because he can see that Jack made mistakes and wasn’t kicked out of the program; he starts to feel it might be okay for him to have made a mistake. Jack makes a point of sitting with Ted during the lecture after dinner. Jack comes back from dinner early to talk with Hailey. He wants to let her know about how Ted experienced their conversation. He doesn’t share any details that Ted told him in confidence, but he does let Hailey know that Ted was negatively impacted by the conversation. Hailey initially feels a bit defensive, since she thought the conversation went well, but she notices her defensiveness and works to listen to Jack. She proposes having a follow-up conversation with Ted, but after talking it through, Jack and Hailey decide that it’s probably best for Jack to have the next conversation with Ted and see how it unfolds before Hailey steps in again.

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Now we can see that Hailey was mistaken about her impression of the conversation with Ted. When we have more privilege as leaders, it’s important for us to be thoughtful and careful about what we say and do because our words and actions can have negative impacts, especially on people with less privilege. However, due to our positions of power, we don’t always know what effect our words and actions have. Power differences between students and leaders may result in students believing that there will be consequences for disagreeing or sharing difficult feedback with leaders. To create accountability, leaders must actively seek out feedback from other leaders and demonstrate our willingness to learn about our own privileges, practicing having a growth mindset and understanding systemic inequality. Additionally, Hailey was unaware of Ted’s history of abuse and the negative impact of their conversation. We also cannot know what effect Ted’s housing instability has on his stress and ability to be open to learning. Partial knowledge is often a reality and is one reason why having a large, diverse and collaborative leadership team is so important. Leading and learning collaboratively enables us to create accountability within the leadership team. We agree with Reynolds (2010, ii), who declares that “we are meant to do this work together. We resist individualism and invite collective social responsibility for a just society without putting the burden of an unjust society on the backs of individual[s].” The conversation between Jack and Ted also demonstrates the potential for vulnerability in leaders to create belonging. When Jack shares about his challenging learning experiences, it helps to build trust between Ted and Jack. It also helps Ted trust the Uni 101 program. When leaders are vulnerable in sharing about their mistakes, it contributes to an environment where mistakes can become learning opportunities (growth mindset). Shared meals offer an opportunity for conversation in a more relaxed atmosphere and are opportunities to build connection and trust. This trust is helpful if we need to navigate conflict.

Next Week On Monday, a staff member calls Henri a second time since he wasn’t in class on Thursday. During that conversation, Henri asks to be moved to a different small group that doesn’t include Ted. The next night, Henri returns to class. Clementine goes with Henri to his new small group and introduces him. Over dinner, Clementine assures Henri that although she wasn’t part of the conversation, she knows that the racist comments and questions from the previous

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classes have been addressed. The staff and volunteers continue to have conversations with Ted and others in the class about stereotypes and other systemic inequalities. In Uni 101, we believe it’s important to take a long-term view of learning, particularly around complex topics and systems of inequality. We want people to be in our community for a long time. One conversation does not usually solve a difficult situation. To create belonging for everyone, especially amidst a broader culture of inequality, leaders need to work together to think through and take action in a number of different directions.

C o n c l u s ions Donella Meadows (1999, 18) contends that to change paradigms “you keep pointing at the anomalies and failures in the old paradigm, you keep speaking louder and with assurance from the new one.” This chapter is our collabo­ rative attempt to speak from our paradigm of belonging and share the educational leadership practices we have developed in our diverse classroom. We believe these skills and practices are urgently needed to counter the deep injustices in education. Though these concepts and relationships are difficult to capture in this short chapter, we hope our work will be a contribution to the crucial efforts to counter the harms that are produced and reproduced by a neo-liberal paradigm. We hope readers find these practices useful and adapt them to their own contexts. As universities grapple with an increasingly diverse student community, it is important to pause and reflect on who is and is not served by some of the status quo practices. As educational leaders, we believe that we must care more about belonging and relationships than planned curriculum. This requires leaders to be flexible, creative, and responsive to student needs, especially to the needs of students who have faced the most significant barriers. In sharing our writing, we are bringing you, the reader, into our circle of trust. There is a risk in this type of vulnerability in academic writing. We know there are many preconceptions about poverty, mental health, marginalization, and systemic barriers. We have tried not to oversimplify these complex and overlapping systems – it would be doing an injustice to the relationships we are accountable to. Rather, we hope to share some practices that are grounded in theory and have worked well in our context. Our goal is to share and reflect together. We are trusting that you will listen in a paradigm of belonging.

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Note   1 Each program across Canada is unique in response to their particular context but shares support and knowledge with other programs through conferences and other kinds of connection (see for example: Halifax Humanities 2015; Loe, Metcalf, and Newell 2016).

R e f e r e nc e s Ahmed, Sara. 2012. On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. London, uk , and Durham, n c : Duke University Press. Brown, Brené. 2010. “Defining Love and Belonging.” In The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. Centre City, m n : Hazelden Publishing. Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 1 (8): 139–67. Dweck, Carol S. 2016. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York, n y: Random House. Dyson, Anne Haas. 2018. “A Sense of Belonging: Writing (Righting) Inclusion and Equity in a Child’s Transition to School.” Research in the Teaching of English 52 (3): 236–61. Fine, Cordelia. 2010. Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference. New York, ny: W.W. Norton. Freire, Paulo, and Henry Giroux. 1985. The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation. New York, n y : Bergin and Garvey. Guittar, Stephanie G., and Nicholas A. Guittar. 2015. “Intersectionality.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed., edited by James D. Wright, 657–62. Oxford, uk: Elsevier. Halifax Humanities. 2015. Each Book a Drum: Celebrating Ten Years of Halifax Humanities. Halifax Humanities Society. Harvey, David. 2005. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford, uk: Oxford University Press. hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York, n y : Routledge. Hortulanus, Roelof, Anja Machielse, and Ludwien Meeuwesen. 2006. Social Isolation in Modern Society. New York: Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis. com/books/e/9781134209347. Lather, Patti. 1986. “Research as Praxis.” Harvard Educational Review 56 (3): 257–78. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.56.3.bj2h231877069482. Linker, Maureen. 2014. Intellectual Empathy: Critical Thinking for Social Justice. Ann Arbor, m i : University of Michigan Press. Loe, Hikmet Sidney, Jeff Metcalf, and Bridget M. Newell. 2016. Hope, Heart, and the Humanities: How a Free College Course is Changing Lives, edited by Jean Cheney, and L. Jackson Newell. Salt Lake City, ut: University of Utah Press.

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Meadows, Donella. 1999. Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System. Sustainability Institute. http://donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/ Leverage_Points.pdf. Neff, Kristin. 2011. “Self-Compassion, Self-Esteem, and Well-Being.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 5 (1): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1751-9004.2010.00330.x. Randel, Amy E., Benjamin M. Galvin, Lynn M. Shore, Karen H. Ehrhart, Beth G. Chung, Michelle A. Dean, and Uma Kedharnath. 2018. “Inclusive Leadership: Realizing Positive Outcomes Through Belongingness and Being Valued for Uniqueness.” Human Resource Management Review 28 (2): 190–203. Reynolds, Vikki. 2010. Doing Justice as a Path to Sustainability in Community Work. https://www.taosinstitute.net/Websites/taos/Images/ PhDProgramsCompletedDissertations/ReynoldsPhDDissertationFeb2210.pdf. Stein, Steven J., and Howard E. Book. 2011. The eq Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success. Hoboken, n j : John Wiley and Sons. Torino, Gina C., ed. 2019. Microaggression Theory: Influence and Implications. Hoboken, n j : John Wiley and Sons.

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14 Standing as Accomplices Becoming Diversity Leaders Catherine M c Gregor

This book exploring the terrain of diversity leadership includes numerous perspectives, including those of minority or diverse leaders, and argues for approaches that disrupt mainstream modes of practice. Many of its authors grapple with understanding the gaps in socially just educational leadership theory and practice and explore approaches that might better enable the goals of creating more just and inclusive educational systems. This chapter focuses on diverse leadership styles and how the words activist, advocate, and ally are used to rhetorically symbolize forms of agency or action needed to change educational and social systems to create a more just and inclusive society. Socially just leaders engaged in diversity work need to be willful subjects (Ahmed 2014), and the terms – activist, advocate, and ally – provide us with a different entry point for exploring how educational leaders are characterized as active and persistent change agents. Unpacking the discursive patterns in how these stances are situated historically and within particular disciplinary regimes of truth/understandings (van Dijk 1991) will advance discussions on moving the theory and practice of socially just leadership forward. Unpacking the power and political contexts in which these words operate will also illustrate how they limit and shape the ways we think about and approach diversity leadership. With these limitations fully articulated, new and emerging words and practices are explored, including how creating ethical spaces of engagement as imperfect accomplices offers new potentialities for collective agency.

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S oc ia ll y Ju s t Ed u c a t i ona l Lea d ershi p: N o w is t h e T i me Educational leaders and scholars are becoming more engaged with issues of social justice and equity. In Canada, this work has been led by key scholars from diverse fields, including anti-oppressive thinkers such as Henry (2017), Ryan (2016), and Dei (1996), and Indigenous scholars such as Atleo (2008) and Battiste (2013). Each has considered strategies and theories designed to interrupt the dominant discourses of privilege and power that persistently shape the experiences of diverse educators and learners in schools and communities. Leaders can and do make a difference in schools and school communities, and their efforts and action can enable and support the experiences of all learners. We know there is a pressing need to address inclusion in schools in Canada. As James and Turner (2017) documented, Black students in Ontario are constructed as deficient and less than their White counterparts, and racist incidents are considered “one offs” rather than systemic. Among Indigenous students, graduation rates in public schools are improving, but 90 per cent of Indigenous children have no access to early childhood education, and 54 per cent of all Indigenous children are in the care of government agencies (Aboriginal Multimedia Society 2018). lg bt q + students and families still struggle to find safe non-homophobic spaces where a diversity of gender identities can be expressed and acknowledged (Meyer 2007). The Moore vs. British Columbia Supreme Court decision (2012) tells us that students with disabilities are fully entitled to accommodations and a statutory right to inclusion exists in law, although evidence continues to show that it remains elusive. Leadership is needed. To create conditions for Canada’s diverse learners to succeed, we must ensure schooling practices that enable, rather than constrain, the opportunities afforded to all learners. This means educational leaders must be strategic, committed, and engaged in the work of foundational and transformational change (Ryan 2016). Educational leaders know there is a need to act purposefully to transform systems and the people who manage and occupy these systems. Social justice leadership has become a broadly framed set of ideas that inform this work, and its purpose is transformational change. Shields (2010) summarizes this idea in a discussion of the intersections between transformative leadership and social justice orientations:

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transformative leadership takes account of the ways in which the ­inequities of the outside world affect the outcomes of what occurs ­internally in educational organizations … Transformative leaders … act courageously and continuously to ensure more equitable learning environments and pedagogical practices for all children. (584, emphasis added) While Shields and others actively promote the role of leaders in creating equitable and inclusive learning environments, these ideas are not yet embedded within the practices and discourses of educational leaders in schools. Tracing historical trajectories is an important part of understanding why these ideas remain marginalized.

H i s t o r ic a l C o n s i d e r a t i ons o f S oci a ll y J u s t   Ed u c a t io n a l Lea d ershi p Early Traces of Agency and Advocacy: the 1960s–1980s Although issues of equity related to women and race were evident as early as the 1960s, it was only with multiculturalism that the idea of equity/equality among student populations became prominent (Lewis 2016). Gerin-Lajoie (2008) adds an important Canadian context to this discussion; she documented how the Canadian government’s adoption of multiculturalism (in 1971 and 1988) drove much policy making in educational organizations. Humes’ (2000) work identifies additional discourses which framed school leaders’ behaviours, particularly reform and accountability. Beginning in the 1980s, efficiency and effectiveness became watchwords used to manage meanings and meaning making in schools. Command and control models of leadership reinforced the authority of the school leader as the manager of change. Hence, meanings and purposes were communicated from central decision makers to teachers. Humes (2000) posited that competing discourses began to influence the trajectory of educational leadership including the growth of learning communities and increased attention to the role of teachers in educational change. These discourses displaced the potential for alternative narratives related to social justice or inclusion as lead educators became internally focused on demands for centralization and subsequent educator resistance. However, more than policy discourses shaped the priorities of school leaders. Marshall and Mitchell (1991) highlighted how the “assumptive rules” of administrative communities operated to shape activity and actions among

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leaders. School leaders were discouraged from engaging in any activity that challenged unstated normative expectations. Essentially leaders “didn’t do” social justice because it disrupted the status quo. Marshall and Mitchell (1991) also traced how assumptive rules create boundaries around the work of school leaders, and identified actions for ­successful acceptance within the community: limit risk taking, remake policy quietly, avoid moral dilemmas, display only safe and/or mainstream values, commit to complying with central leadership, refuse to be a trouble maker, and keep disputes under the radar. In essence leaders “learn that their personal and professional ethics and morality must be modified to conform to the dominant values in the culture of school administrators” (411).

Demanding Change Through Education: the 1990s and Beyond Despite assumptive rules, certain policy issues based on concerns for justice and equity did become prominent in schools. Cultural pluralism had been a guiding principle of the Canadian government for several decades, and multiculturalism was touted as the educators’ tool to create a country where cultural diversity was respected (McGregor, Fleming, and Monk 2015). With education frequently imagined as the great equalizer, schools and actors within schools were challenged to address how these inequalities played out in schooling. Anti-bullying legislation, the advent of human rights for gender-diverse individuals, and the Truth and Reconciliation report all illustrate how social justice became a mainstream expectation that needed to be addressed within schools. As a result, educational leaders became bureaucrats in diversity management. We can infer that most assumptive rules guiding administrative norms changed little, despite policy efforts demanding “new norms” for leading diverse and inclusive schools. Having reviewed the policy context and growing demands for schools to address issues of equity and justice, I next consider the ways in which leadership agency have been conceptualized in the leadership literature: either as activist, advocate or ally.

E x p l o r in g t h e R h e t o ri ca l T errai n: S o c ia l J u s t ic e L e a d ers as Acti vi s ts The Leader as Activist Stance What is meant by the term activism? Moola (2004) suggested at the heart of contemporary activism is an “involvement in action to bring about change” (39). Activism involves working socially and politically with and for others;

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one engages in activism in socio-cultural contexts, and often brings together like-minded individuals who are interested in working for change. Activism can take many forms and involves a wide range of activities, including protest, boycotts, rallies, marches, and lobbying in which the individual works in concert with others committed to achieving change. Personal agency is assumed to be an important aspect of activism. Educators and leaders have been called upon to be activists by a variety of community organizations; Anyon (2005) discussed how educators are uniquely situated to participate in social movements because of their ability to build and engage their constituents, providing pathways through and with others as collaborators. She argued that teachers are also positioned to create counter-narratives to stories in which students and their families are characterized by their deficits. Educators can play a “brokering and bridging role as they join with parents and communities to combat policies that oppress” (180). She also suggests that educators can use their positions to agitate and pressure senior administrators until results are achieved. This final point recognizes that conflicting or potentially divisive ideas can be an important feature of activism. Ryan and Tuters (2017) describe how educational leaders engage in “discreet” activism. Their study suggests that leaders adopt “modest tactics” (570) in keeping with the everyday efforts of individuals who resist acts of unfairness or inequity as described by Martin, Hanson and Fontaine (2007). Activism can also be understood as micropolitics. Bolman and Deal (2008, as cited in Ryan 2010) suggest that educational leaders need to think politically and strategically by first building an agenda, creating a base of support, and managing those who might resist action or changes. In this example, the activist is someone who waits until appropriate conditions exist for moving an action or policy forward. Activism is not considered a natural stance of the school leader; as noted earlier, commitments to action are moderated through role socialization. School leaders temper their approach to activism by seeing social justice as an incremental process in which change is realized over time, prepared to wait for the right opportunity before they enact their efforts. Meyerson (2001) described these individuals as “tempered radicals.” Tempered radicals navigate between their desire to achieve justice and change and the social norms they live within; they “work within systems, not against them” (7). Activism is also characterized as an individual act of moral agency with the leader as the primary change maker, differentiating him/her/them from others who are followers or in non-authoritative positions. This understanding suggests boundaries based in roles and reinforces the notion of the leader as

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someone with power over others. It is a familiar stance in the educational leadership literature, as Bush (2020) documents in his overview of the school principal as change agent, but one that is being challenged by theories of leadership that are collective or shared. More will be said about the implications of this later in the chapter.

The Leader as Advocate Stance An advocate is an individual or an organization who speaks up for others and involves identifying, embracing and promoting a cause. Advocates participate in public discussions related to their issue, propose solutions, and often seek to influence those who are in a position to make decisions. Advocacy is also a practice of supporting a cause, for example, working on behalf of a marginalized community, and supporting efforts to have their voices heard by leaders. Advocacy is not as predominant a theme as activism in the social justice school leadership literature and is only briefly mentioned as needed to effect policy change but not promoted as a necessary practice of the school leader. Marshall and Anderson (2009) argued that educational knowledge is depoliticized, making advocacy difficult inside professional norms. There are, however, references in leadership literature to the idea of supporting minoritized students through school community partnerships, where issues of advocacy play out as collaborative practices between communities and school leaders (see, for example, Anyon 2005; Khalifa, Gooden, and Davis 2016; Welton and Freelon 2018). Whitaker (2007) advocates for educators to be political lobbyists, bringing practice-based evidence to the work of lobbying for changes in education with legislative decision makers. Culturally responsive school leadership (Khalifa, Gooden, and Davis 2016) has also become a term that encompasses advocacy for minoritized populations, with the school leader affirming the diverse identities of their student population. Frequently such leaders are themselves members of a racialized, non-­ dominant, or marginalized group. Johnson (2016) writes about the contribution of Black school teachers’ bridging the mainstream school system and the Black community in Toronto, Canada. Their advocacy work was informed by their cultural experiences in community, and then brought to the decision-making tables of the local and regional school authorities. As racialized others, they brought a powerful critical lens to the work of the mainstream school system, which often marginalized Black students as being in deficit. They used their cultural knowledge purposefully to alter or change the policies and practices of schools. Such leaders used parallel systems of influence to advocate for change: some school principals worked with community members who were

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elected as school trustees creating alliances between Black educators and policy makers. In this case, both insider knowledge and outsider influence persistently shaped directions in equity-based education. The Black social justice and advocacy leaders in Toronto and other community engaged advocacy leaders differ from the activist leaders described earlier in this paper in another important way; rather than practicing discreet policy activism or modest tactics, these leaders used their cultural and community knowledge as levers for advancing change. Bridging their personal and political worlds in their everyday lives, they were “boundary spanners” and “brokers” (Johnson 2016) who enabled policy makers to effect largerscale changes that benefitted particular communities of difference – in this case, the Black community they were a part of. Power and voice are important dynamics to unpack in understanding the role of advocacy in social justice leadership. Advocacy relies on understanding how power circulates and how to influence it; voice provides a strong narrative to frame the demand for action. Positionality and dominant identities play a role in how advocacy is framed and performed: if the social justice leader represents the dominant society and their advocacy issue is one that advocates for those who are marginalized/othered, then the advocacy may silence and/or (re)colonize the voice of the non-dominant group. When advocacy leaders are part of a community, they may be able to more intimately represent the experiences of those who are a part of this community yet be marginalized because their stance is seen as something beyond “accepted” social and cultural norms. More insidiously, advocacy can be operationalized as a binary: schools and communities are seen as separate entities, with competing interests at play, and advocacy may be seen as a challenge to the status quo, creating adversarial stances from those engaged in educational policy making. As advocacy creates conditions in which leaders are framed as the sole proprietor of change, it may create an either-or stance from which an understanding of the issue may or may not emerge. Advocacy is a powerful strategy, but does it achieve outcomes that systemically address inequality and create equitable spaces for all learners? Might a different stance help us to move from single agents to a more collective means of leading for equity?

The Leader as Ally Stance What do we mean by the term ally? Allyship is a way of understanding the relationships among and between different social groups (Brown and Ostrove 2013). However, “allies are generally conceived as dominant group members

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who work to end prejudice in their personal and professional lives, and relinquish social privileges conferred by their group status through their support of nondominant groups” (2211). Allies are also willing to take action and take on the systems which enable discrimination to continue. Allyship is primarily discussed in the anti-racism/anti-oppressive educational scholarship and in the queer/lg b t Q 2 S + educational field. Clark (2010) reviews the differences between anti-oppressive work and ally work among teachers: the first serves to “interrupt” racist, heterosexist, or homophobic talk, while ally work, “moves beyond interrupting … invit[ing] critical dialogue and discussion, interrogating perceived lines of difference and inquiring into the possibilities for creating productive alliances across these lines” (705). Petrovic and Rosiek (2007) also suggest that educators need to have “disruptive habits” (222) designed to interrupt assumptions, habits of belief and naturalized advantage. Reynolds, a social worker and queer ally (2013), emphasizes acting with others as allies to their cause. The idea of solidarity with different others makes an important statement about how allyship differs from advocacy – I don’t do for you, I engage with you – based on the needs and wishes of the marginalized group/member, as we struggle to resist marginalization. They continually question: “Am I walking the talk?” “Am I accepting critique with an open heart?” “Am I open to hearing how my efforts fail or miss the mark?” (Reynolds 2013, 62–4). Allyship would permit school leaders to respond to the needs of diverse communities and learners; provide voice and power to otherwise disempowered groups to ensure socially just outcomes are achieved; and bridge existing systems, so those external to the system and those who work within it can create a space to re-align policy, practice, and pedagogy to value alternative perspectives. Allyship also works fluidly, continually responding to changing circumstances and outcomes. In sum, allyship is an actively engaged commitment to responsive forms of change. Yet despite its obvious strengths as a means of transforming school practices, I could find no direct references to how school leaders should practice allyship in educational leadership settings. Some strands of thinking imply a commitment to the idea of leaders as allies. For example, Segeren (2016) described a group of school leaders, or “policy entrepreneurs,” as individuals who design and implement practices meant to realize equity outcomes, either procedurally or tactically. However, the approach is one of individual leaders within systems, rather than a collaborative approach to policy enactment. Rhetorically it also shields the administrator/leader from a label that might otherwise politically situate them in a place outside-of-the-main-status-quo.

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Another field that may fit with the scope of allyship as a leadership practice involves community-engaged diversity leaders (Khalifa, Gooden, and Davis 2016; Johnson 2016) whose work focuses on enactment and action in solidarity with marginalized communities to drive change forward. Ally-informed leadership practices are similarly situated within communities; however, the scholarship does not emphasize how these community leaders develop or work with communities. Like Segeren’s (2016) policy entrepreneurs, they may be working as individuals within the system attempting to represent the views of community, without actively involving them as partners in the work or as leaders in the design of the strategy or approach. The collaborative nature of ally work is an important dynamic. School leaders engaged in advocacy efforts were operating within systems demanding change, but such work, while informed by community, wasn’t always done in a shared environment where the voices of community members were as valued as the leader’s advocacy position. Although the literature suggests such leaders should be responsive to community, it doesn’t go further by suggesting that communities should be viewed as partners in the equity work within school or district settings. In contrast, the work of allyship is about sharing responsibility through distributed action and collaborative agency. Blumer and Tatum (1999) describe the need for district and school leaders to work with others to develop a language to identify oppression and marginalization and how it is perpetuated through the system and in personal beliefs. Rigby and Tredway (2015) describe the concept of equity warriors, another ally-informed stance. An equity warrior focuses on equity and inclusion in their daily work, embedding it within all of their approaches to leadership. Equity warriors also work on issues of social justice outside of their professional lives and maintain commitments to working in community and with disadvantaged populations, modelling inclusive practices, and working to further develop their own skills and understandings of diversity. They take public stances in favour of adopting new practices or policies that enable the success of all their learners, particularly those from diverse or marginalized backgrounds, relying on like-minded colleagues to support their calls for action. Allyship has several strengths, as this discussion makes evident. First, it creates a community of shared practice among diverse participants, recognizing all as partners in the ally work. The work is participatory and relationally focused, with an elevated degree of reciprocity between partners in the ally relationship. The ally-informed stance also requires an acknowledgment of privilege and the necessity of self-reflection in order to disrupt practices that marginalize. Leadership and activity are distributed across the team. The

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leader is not charged with the work and the responsibility for enactment. Rather, the community works to disrupt patterns of dominance and marginalization. Allyship requires a deep and shared commitment to change and assumes all have the agency to work as a team of equally valued members.

New Ways Forward: Practicing Allyship The term allyship offers promise, enabling a paradigm shift in our thinking about social justice leadership as much more than a commitment to knowing/ understanding “other.” Allyship insists on the open recognition and valuing of difference, which must be evident in what we do, say and practice in schools. Allyship is a highly relational and responsive system that works to empower all partners in the educational enterprise, giving voice to those excluded or marginalized and investing in a shared responsibility for action with individuals or teams who play a role as school leaders. The emphasis on sharing the design and approach for diversity work should be familiar, as shared/distributed leadership theory has been evident for some time in much educational leadership literature. However, pairing the notion of shared leadership with ally-informed diversity work deepens our commitment to diversity, while advancing direct and collective action or agency informed by authentic listening and engagement. In this way allyship is a form of praxis, rather than a personal identity. Another outcome of adopting allyship among socially just leaders is that it moves us beyond an entity-based way of thinking to one focused on leadership enabled by collaborative agency and shared purpose. In educational leadership, we often create narratives of change that recognize advocates’ specific attributes as individuals. This tendency towards affording agency to those who have formal power situates action within organizational norms instead of taking up practices or ideas that challenge or resist these norms. Even when we talk about shared leadership in school settings, we often place at the centre the formal school leader who coordinates and directs the work of the team. Instead of acknowledging the empowering effects of collaborative decision making in teams working together to enact decisions, authoritative power operates implicitly in these ways of thinking about leadership, with agency flowing as a consequence of individual enactment. Arguably, allyship can be a difficult stance for any individual who is already enabled to action through their existing privileged and formal authority in systems, but it is a necessary feature of moving away from hierarchical structures that create inaccessibility. It replaces formal authority with forms of collective authority (Reynolds 2013) and relational accountability (Wilson 2009).

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From Allyship to Accomplice Some authors critique the use of the term “allyship.” First, allyship assumes allies are primarily White and of European ancestry, and allyship, while conceptualized as a partnership, maintains difference and power over. Some authors argue that allyship is about individual action and commitment, rather than taking actions which change structures and systems (Clemons 2017). Allies are also seen as saviours, an idea informed by the binary between oppression and liberation, grounded in guilt or shame and colonial histories. An alternative term has been suggested as a way to address these limitations. Accomplices are actors engaged in shared work: “They don’t just have our backs, they are at our side, or in their own spaces confronting and unsettling colonialism. As accomplices we are compelled to become accountable and responsible to each other, that is the nature of trust” (Indigenous Action 2014, para 17, emphasis in original). Thus, accomplices challenge those structures, policies, practices, and events which continually re-situate dominance of one identity over another. Accomplices are likely to be uncomfortable frequently, unpack their privilege repeatedly, and continually explore and examine their assumptions and beliefs. Accomplices do not necessarily have answers at the ready but work with others to co-construct responses and approaches, what Greenberg (2014) described as peer collaboration. Decolonization and solidarity are key to moving beyond allyship toward being an accomplice. Kluttz et al. (2019) argue that allyship cannot be claimed, but that the designation of ally comes from the community itself. They also argue that allyship puts us in a satisfying social location/role that relieves a sense of guilt. However, a focus on decolonization reinserts discomfort as an essential component in a process of critique, making it possible to build a shared sense of solidarity in an authentic relationship with others. The stance of accomplice places a new emphasis on creating shared spaces to do solidarity-informed work without expecting results to resolve issues of concern. In summary, the work of being an accomplice is much more demanding than that of the ally because it demands we work together in unfamiliar ways. Situating our work in highly colonized spaces will become a point of tension, and power differentials are likely to operate overtly and covertly. The accomplice is forced to value the shared work rather than focusing on getting to a solution. Some could argue that the work of being an accomplice falls outside of the role any school leader can play, given the demands for conformity. Putting that objection aside momentarily, I invite readers to imagine how an emphasis

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on solidarity-building processes invokes the need for creating spaces of engagement outside of the formal school organization – spaces to deliberate together using the goals of solidarity and decolonization to explore the potential shared work might offer. Ermine, an Indigenous legal scholar (2007) describes this space as an ethical space of engagement that “will create new currents of thought that flow in different directions and overrun the old ways of thinking” (201). This stance will also challenge organizations to imagine the work of leaders differently and to accept that the work of leaders isn’t solely determined by the organization or its mission. In fact, it would require a paradigm shift that places the values of shared decision making, just outcomes, and reflexive, accomplice-informed praxis at the centre of organizational effort. These disruptive practices re-centre power within organizations as a way of making space for all and for the work of authentic diversity leaders. Such practices may flatten the school organization and provide spaces for new leaders and practices that genuinely reflect local needs.

How Do We Advance this Work? Theorizing and advancing our thinking about how we frame leaders’ work around socially just practices is an important way forward. We need a playbook, a set of tools that will assist us in this work. Brené Brown (2018) talks about building systems that support courageous actions. As educational leaders, we need tools that help us lean into hard things and become comfortable with the discomfort that comes from doing this work. Leaders need to model commitments to equity and inclusion first, but also create mechanisms through which accomplice work is both recognized and shared to understand how to move and respond differently. Schnellert et al. (2021) talk about creating “brave spaces with liberating structures.” This could involve setting up “compass questions” that guide deconstructive practices and serve as auditing tools designed to explore existing policies, practices, and programs, for example, “How am I creating spaces for others to be a part of this conversation? How is my discomfort with change playing out in my thinking about this idea? Am I defending a system rather than focusing on equitable learning outcomes?” Developing questions and applying them to ongoing work could be a powerful tool to advance the operation of brave spaces so that what has been learned can be used to explore assumptions around different cultural or identity groups. Accountability is another important tool: Setting in place regular efforts to engage in a review of what’s working and what’s not creates spaces in which systems can be changed.

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Advancing this work means shifting our internal practices of selecting leaders within educational systems. As Henry et al. (2017), Wong Sneddon, Shrma, and Tremblay (chapter 6), and Bedi (chapter 8) make clear, our systems privilege White, middle-class men and women in leadership roles. Diversity leaders are the exception, not the norm. System leaders have ignored these patterns, although recent attention to diversity and inclusion issues across the globe are making it much more likely equity hiring will become a new norm. Until there is an open discussion of how hiring practices privilege Eurocentric leadership styles and steps are taken to remove the biases that exclude diverse leaders, little will change. We need to work together, leading in ways that stretch our thinking, deconstruct our assumptions, draw attention to our bias and privilege, and focus on the values of inclusion and success that matter most to diverse communities.

C o n c l u d in g Thou g hts Words that describe social justice leadership matter and create constraints on social justice work among school leaders that we have not fully considered. I’ve argued our discursive histories, practices, and language have created conditions which enable status quo practices to continue. I have also suggested that changing the stance and description of the social justice leader to that of “ally” or “accomplice” might help us to see how power and authority have limited our capacity for collective action and provide opportunities to reshape existing educational cultures. While the literature emphasized decolonization as a primary feature of becoming an accomplice to Indigenous peoples, such a deconstructing/dismantling stance could enable important strategies for the struggling with other forms of oppression, such as racism, homo and transphobia, ableism, and ageism. Considering school leaders as accomplices to local communities offers a means of understanding the equity-advancing school leader in new ways, with a shared commitment to effecting ethical, meaningful changes in practice, policy, and curriculum. Yet these ideas may fail if we cannot create spaces for genuine encounters characterized by ethical solidarity. The challenges are significant: disruptive measures like these offer promise, but the work will necessarily be difficult and time consuming. While thinking about educational leaders as accomplices is important, understanding the real world of school leaders deserves further consideration. Could district leaders sanction and recognize an ally-informed or accomplice stance? Can educational systems become flexible enough to realize the diversity of experiences and potential practices that ally or accomplice-informed approaches to inclusion would generate? How might these ideas be explored

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in teacher and administrator preparation programs? Are there new dangers that emerge in promoting the stance of accomplice so that we unintentionally re-affirm leaders who are situated within dominant society, rather than ensuring school leaders with diverse identities take up leadership roles? Should we instead consider how to create and employ a more diverse workforce among educational leaders who have lived the experiences of marginalization in schools and authentically work with diverse communities on effecting systemic change? These remain questions to explore in the effort to ensure schools become sites of equity and inclusion.

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Meyer, Elizabeth J. 2007. “But I’m Not Gay: What Straight Teachers Need to Know About Queer Theory.” In Queering Straight Teachers: Discourse and Identity in Education, edited by Nelson M. Rodriguez, and William F. Pinar, 15–32. New York, n y : Peter Lang Press. Moola, Sarifa. 2004. “Contemporary Activism: Shifting Movements, Changing Actors.” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 18 (60): 39–46. https://doi.org/10.2307/4066337. Moore v. British Columbia (Education). 2012. s cc 61, [2012] 3 S.C.R. 360. Myerson, Debra E. 2001. Rocking the Boat: How to Effect Change Without Making Trouble. Boston, m a : Harvard Business Press. Petrovic, Jerry, and Jerry Rosiek. 2007. “From Teacher Knowledge to Queered Teacher Knowledge Research: Escaping the Epistemic Straight Jacket.” In Queering Straight Teachers: Discourse and Identity in Education, edited by Nelson M. Rodriguez, and William F. Pinar, 201–32. New York, ny: Peter Lang Press. Reynolds, Vikki. 2013. “‘Leaning In’ as Imperfect Allies in Community Work.” Narrative and Conflict: Explorations in Theory and Practice 1 (1): 53–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.13021/G8K018. Rigby, Jessica G., and L. Tredway. 2015. “Actions Matter: How School Leaders Enact Equity Principles.” In Handbook of Urban Educational Leadership, edited by Muhammad Khalifa, Noelle Witherspoon Arnold, Azadeh F. Osanloo, and Cosette M. Grant, 329–48. Lanham, md : Rowman and Littlefield. Ryan, James. 2016. “Strategic Activism, Educational Leadership and Social Justice.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 19 (1): 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2015.1096077. Ryan, James, and Stephanie Tuters. 2017. “Picking a Hill to Die On: Discreet Activism, Leadership and Social Justice in Education.” Journal of Educational Administration 55 (5): 569–88. https://doi.org/10.1108/ JEA-07-2016-0075. Schnellert, Leyton, Sara Davidson, and Bonny-Lynn Donovan. 2021. “Working Toward Relational Accountability in Professional Learning Networks Through Local Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being.” Educational Change sig Symposium: Facilitating Transformation in Diverse Contexts aera , Online Educational Meeting. 11 April 2021. Segeren, Allison L. 2016. “How Schools Enact Equity Policies: A Case Study of Social Justice Leadership.” PhD Diss., Western University. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/ cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5717&context=etd. Shields, Carolyn M. 2010. “Transformative Leadership: Working for Equity in Diverse Contexts.” Educational Administration Quarterly 46 (4): 558–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X10375609. Welton, Anjale D., and Rhoda Freelon. 2018. Community Organizing as Educational Leadership: Lessons from Chicago on the Politics of Racial Justice. Journal of Research on Leadership Education 13 (1): 79–104. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/1942775117744193. Whitaker, Sandra. 2007. Advocacy for School Leaders. Becoming a Strong Voice in Education. Lanham: md : Rowman and Littlefield Education.

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15 Black School Leaders in Low-Income Urban Ontario Schools Striving for Social Justice Alana Butler and Andrew Campbell

I n t r o d u cti on 1850: Mary E. Bibb was an African American woman who fled the United States in response to the Fugitive Slave Act and settled in Canada. Without government funding, Mary Bibb opened and ran her own ­private school in Windsor for Black children who were not permitted to attend White public schools (Henry 2019). 1952: African Canadian educator Wilson O. Brooks begins teaching in Toronto and later becomes the first Black school principal (Morgan 2021). 2015: It is estimated that Black school principals in Ontario comprise a mere 2 per cent of the total number of K–12 school principals. A survey ­published by the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators indicated that 60 per cent of the 148 respondents believed that racism affected their ­opportunities for advancement and 51 per cent reported that personal biases about Blacks influence promotion decisions (Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators 2015).

As the above examples illustrate, the struggle for equity among Black school leaders has a long historical trajectory that continues to the present day. Although there are many studies about Black school leaders in the United States context (DeCuir-Gunby and Gunby 2016; Gaetane 2013; Khan 2016; Moorosi, Fuller and Reilly 2018; Peters 2012; Reed 2012; Wilson 2016), there

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are very few studies about Black school leaders in Canada (Armstrong and Mitchell 2017). The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges faced by Black educational leaders and how those challenges impact their ability to lead for social justice. We will argue that the Black school leaders in our study engage in social justice leadership as a means of resisting and challenging systemic oppression and racism. We define social justice leadership as an approach to educational leadership that focuses on distributive justice and human rights for all societal members (Ryan 2010). DeMatthews (2018) notes that scholars have written about social justice for decades. Social justice leaders identify gaps in academic achievement by race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability and seek to narrow that gap through educational practices and policies (Shaked 2020). For Black school leaders, their lived experiences of racism and injustice leads them to pursue social justice aims. This chapter will present the findings of a descriptive qualitative study of five (5) Black school leaders who are educational leaders (Principals or Vice Principals) in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. Our analysis of their narratives showed that the participants experienced everyday racism in the form of microaggressions and engaged in resistance by transforming their schools through social justice leadership (Essed 1991; Wing Sue 2010). This chapter will contribute to the research on school leadership by exploring the unique experiences of urban Canadian Black school leaders who face internal and external challenges to implementing equity-based practices in their schools. We argue that Black school leaders engage in social justice leadership as a means of resisting the racism and oppression that they experience in their school boards.

Bl a c k C a n a dia n S choo l L e a d e r s in O ntari o There are very few studies about Black school leaders in Canada. Johnson (2016) examined the history of Black school educators in Toronto and London, uk, from 1968–1995. Her study included interviews with six Black school educators in Toronto whose roles were variously described as principals, community leaders, and school board trustees. She argued that they served as advocates for equity in their respective roles and described how Black educators, inspired by the civil rights movements in the US, participated in collective grassroots movements for educational equity (Johnson 2016). Such examples include the African Canadian Heritage Association (acha) and the Canadian Alliance of Black Educators (cabe).

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Armstrong and Mitchell (2017) conducted a small study of two Black Canadian female principals. The researchers found that the women struggled to negotiate their identities in the face of racial and gendered oppression. Their social identities provided barriers to their leadership. One participant described an “invisible curtain” of scrutiny to which they were subjected in which they had to work “twice as hard” because of negative stereotypes about their work performance (Armstrong and Mitchell 2017). Trought-Pitters conducted a literature review on the topic of Black educational leadership in Ontario elementary schools and found that most of the information was published in daily newspapers and provincial, school board, or association reports (2018). Her document analysis supports the argument that Black school leaders engaged in social justice leadership practices in response to the discrimination and marginalization they experienced. Although not focused on Black school leaders, Tuters and Portelli conducted a policy analysis and interviewed 59 educational leaders in Ontario and the US (2017). They found that principals received little mandatory training about equity and diversity. Only recent changes in 2016 to the Ontario College of Teachers policies include the adoption of a “critical pedagogical lens” (Ontario College of Teachers 2021). Tuters and Portelli (2017) also reported that the principals, and teachers under their leadership, often held deficit perceptions of certain racial minority groups in urban school settings. These institutional contexts contribute to the challenges faced by Black school educators in the present study.

T h e o r e t ic a l F r a m eworks G u idin g t h e S tu d y Our study was grounded in intersecting frameworks of critical race theory and social justice leadership theory. Each theory aligned with the themes that emerged from the data analysis. These theories helped us to interpret the narrative interviews and to frame our research questions. These theoretical frameworks also elucidate the ways in which Black school leaders engage in social justice leadership as a means of resisting the racism and oppression that they experience in their school boards.

Cr it ic a l R a c e T heory Critical race theory (crt) provides an important theoretical basis to examine the experiences of Black school leaders. “Racial realism” refers to the argument that race and racism are processes through which privilege and power operate

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(Crenshaw 2011). crt is a race-conscious method of analysis that examines how historical and current laws and policies continue to marginalize racial minority groups. A key tenet of crt is the recognition that society is organized in a manner that is not race-neutral. Critical race theorists also acknowledge that “race,” while socially constructed, is an important conceptual category (Crenshaw 2011). Goldberg notes that “race” is implicated in the formation and governance of institutions, and this would include educational institutions (1993). One method used by critical race theorists is counter-storytelling. Delgado and Stefancic claim that counter-stories offer a way to challenge the negative dominant discourses about certain marginalized groups (2012). The narratives in this study served as critical counter-stories for the participants. This paper will take a critical view of the way that race has shaped the experiences of Black school leaders through their experiences with law and policy.

S o c ia l J u s t ic e Lea d ers hi p: R e s is t a n c e a n d Ag ency Social justice leadership involves becoming both spiritually and culturally responsive to diverse populations in the school community (Bettez and Hytten 2011). Policies and practices should be developed from a perspective of social justice leadership (Bettez and Hytten 2011). Social justice leadership requires leaders with a strong critical and moral conscience to disrupt inequitable practices and create solutions through collaboration with diverse partners (Johnson 2016). Lopez notes that social justice leadership may be organized differently in various contexts but that it should be culturally responsive (2016). Ladson-Billings introduced the term “culturally relevant pedagogy” to describe teaching that integrates a student’s background knowledge and community experiences into the curriculum and teaching (2014). Key tenets of culturally responsive pedagogy include holding high expectations for all students, assisting students in the development of cultural competence, and guiding students to develop a critical cultural consciousness (Ladson-Billings 2014). According to Lopez, social justice leadership in education means to support and promote the tenets of culturally responsive pedagogy for its institutional members (2016). Each of the participants in the study engaged in social justice leadership as a means to resist and challenge the racism they experienced.

M e t h o d ol o g y Our qualitative study was guided by a set of interpretive tools that will make visible the experiences of people whose voices are often marginalized (Denzin and Lincoln 2018). We adopted a critical theoretical approach that will

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examine the intersections of race and gender in the lived experiences of Black school leaders. Participants were recruited through the membership listserv of the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators, a non-profit professional association located in Ontario. A stratified sample of five school principals/ vice principals were chosen for the study. Participants were required to have a minimum of two years’ experience as a principal or vice-principal in one of the public school boards in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. Given the fact that most school educators are female, our sampling method yielded four women and one male. We chose sixty-minute, in-depth semi-structured interviews as an appropriate method to learn about their experiences, as, through interviews, one can attempt to understand the world from the point of view of the subjects (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009). Our study was guided by the following question: What challenges do Black school leaders face with respect to social justice leadership? Our coding procedures followed the methods outlined by Saldana (2009) for first and second-cycle coding. The analysis began with simple descriptive coding. Descriptive coding designates labels to data to condense it into a phrase or word. Descriptive coding presents an array of topics for indexing and categorizing. This method helps to break down the data into preliminary categories of information. The second cycle of coding involved theoretical or selective coding. Theoretical codes operate like an umbrella that includes and accounts for the other codes and categories (Saldana 2009). Two main themes emerged from analysis of the narrative data. These were: dealing with everyday racism/racial microaggressions; and, engaging in social justice leadership. Each of the participants spoke about the overarching sociopolitical context of anti-Black racism in Canada. The first theme describes the racial microaggressions they experienced.

T h e me O ne: Ev e r y d a y R a c is m / M icroa gg res si ons Each of the five participants reported that they had experienced both antiBlack racism and racial microaggressions. Pierce argued that most instances of racial discrimination are subtle. He defined the cumulative effects of these subtle racial incidents as racial microaggressions (1995). Pierce claimed that the cumulative impact of microaggressions can affect someone’s physical and emotional health (1995). According to Wing Sue, racial microaggressions are brief, denigrating messages that indicate to victims that they belong to a subordinate group (Wing Sue 2010). Racial microaggressions can include utterances, looks, and gestures. Microaggressions take three forms – microassaults, microinsults, and

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microinvalidations (DeCuir-Gunby and Gunby 2016). Microassaults are direct speech acts such as racial slurs, microinsults are indirect and covert messages that disparage the victim, and microinvalidations may be verbal or non-verbal messages that convey diminished respect (DeCuir-Gunby and Gunby 2016). The participants experienced a combination of all three forms of microaggression during their tenure at their particular schools. When I was newly hired, I faced barriers because people thought I got the position because I was Black. I filled in for a Principal colleague and was mistaken for the hall monitor … there is that dynamic of gender as well. Most colleagues have been positive when you first get into it, that’s the big thing. It pains me because we spent the last year doing work on equity and I can’t tell you how horrified I am by some of the comments people make. (Vice-principal, Toronto District School Board) The participant had a Master’s degree with over 20 years of experience as a teacher and department head and yet she received the message that her position was given to her because of her race. The research shows that the opposite is true, that racialized professionals in Canada typically have earned higher credentials in order to achieve the same position as a non-racialized person (Galabuzi 2006). In the above narrative excerpt, the vice principal recounts that she was mistaken for a hall monitor. This is a form of micro­ invalidation (Wing Sue 2010). Most hall monitors are education assistants who may possess only community college training and the participant had a Master’s Degree from the University of Toronto. In a diverse urban school setting such as the one the participant worked; most hall monitors were Black. Being mistaken for a hall monitor served to invalidate her position of authority as a school leader. Another participant talked about how her leadership decision making was assumed to be racially biased. Wingfield and Wingfield (2014), in their exploration of tokenism discuss how the decisions of minorities tend to be second guessed. The participant states: Every decision I make it is assumed that I did it because of my colour. All my decisions are emotional. I have been accused of responding to issues early because they involved [B]lack students. I do wonder if my White principals would have to deal with that. There are times when this happen, and I have to take a strong stand. I call it myself – I have the Angry Black Woman syndrome. If I call out a teacher I have seen in examples when they look at me with a certain look as if to say “is she

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really calling me out?” – as if I don’t have the authority to do that. I am one of a very few cohorts of Black principals in the Board, so I must be on my toes – I have to make sure everything is perfect. My newsletter – I read it one-hundred times! I know if I made a mistake it would be different. (Principal, Dufferin Catholic Peel School Board) This principal claimed that she was aware of the “Angry Black Woman” negative stereotype but nevertheless did not let that impede her from speaking out when necessary. Wary of microaggressions, she was careful to ensure that she did not make mistakes because the affordances for errors do not seem to exist for Black school leaders. As Du Bois argued, Blacks possess a double consciousness that allows them to simultaneously perceive themselves through the eyes of the dominant oppressor (Du Bois 1903). Through her quote, she is invoking her own agency while being hyper-aware of the dominant perception of her Blackness. Another principal recalled hearing the N-word. This is a microassault that contributes to a negative working environment (DeCuir-Gunby and Gunby 2016). Even though the racial slur was not directed at the principal, it had the effect of inflicting psychic pain and contributed to a sense of exclusion rather than inclusion. This type of microassault sends a powerful message about anti-Black racism, White supremacy and the power of its influence (Gillborn 2017). The following quotation illustrates the pervasive nature of anti-Black racism and its influence on the institutional context for Black school leaders: Their position of leadership in the school did not protect them from the overall context of anti-Black racism. For example, just last week, a staff member was having a private but open-door conversation and I overheard the N Word. When the staff member saw me, she said “Oh my goodness. You walked by at the wrong time. But don’t worry, I was not speaking about you.” This was very disheartening. (Principal, Toronto District School Board) On an individual level, the participants experienced racial microaggressions and, on a structural level, they experienced barriers to advancement, including the fact that many Black school leaders tend to be assigned to school districts with racialized populations. Many students in these racialized populations experience intersections of low-socioeconomic status, linguistic minority status, and other marginalized social identities. Thus, Black school leaders must navigate anti-Black racism within their school boards while simultaneously providing support for their racialized students.

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T h e m e T w o : E n g a g i n g i n S oci a l J u s t ic e   L e a dershi p The second theme that emerged from the analysis was centred around the resistance and agency of the five participants in response to the racism they experienced. As one participant stated, they wanted to do more than “decorate the door for Black History Month.” All five of the participants were committed to social justice leadership. Wilson asserts that underserved schools serving low-income populations require “educational leadership that is rooted in critical care” (2016, 558). Critical care extends beyond nurturing and building confidence, but also addresses inequality and power relationships (Wilson 2016). Black principals are often engaged in political work as they struggle to make changes in their school environments (Reed 2012). This is both a personal struggle and a collective one. For low-income schools serving minority populations, culturally responsive school leadership is critical for equity (Khalifa, Gooden, and Davis 2016). Culturally responsive school leadership refers to school-based practices that are responsive to the cultural, social, and economic needs of the students and their families (Khalifa, Gooden, and Davis 2016). Wilson (2016) cites research describing how caring for marginalized urban communities may involve political activism and community engagement. DeMatthews (2018) defines social justice leadership as an orientation toward reducing structural and individual level factors that create inequality. Social justice leadership can be fraught with tensions and dilemmas because there can be conflict arising from teachers who resist equity policies (DeMatthews 2018). Social justice leaders, such as the participants in this study, encountered resistance from their staff and teachers. These situations required careful relationship building and fostering a culture of trust between themselves and their school personnel. Promoting social justice leadership was the one theme that yielded strongly positive comments. One participant spoke about the new equity and inclusion initiatives that they implemented: I take great pride in the work that I’ve done to dispel some of the ­mindsets within my staff. I changed the tea m/ spec Ed and behaviour referral process. I focused on pd  – diversity training. I implemented the equity and diversity strategy and the use of equity audits with staff. (Principal, Toronto District School Board) Another spoke about fostering positive relationships with families and serving as a local role model for youth:

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Black families are relieved and encouraged to see someone in a ­position of authority who they can trust. For Black families it’s ­powerful and builds hope in them. (Vice-principal, Toronto District School Board) Another participant extended her vision of social justice leadership to that of transformative leadership. Wilson describes transformative leadership as a political process through which the individual commits themselves to social change and involves risk-taking and advocating for social justice (Wilson 2016). The participant discussed her plans to transform the school environment to make it an equitable and inclusive space for everyone. She established that her mandate was to “think outside the box” and create new ways of teaching and learning. She also talked about the importance of visual representations of equity in the school environment. I am about creating new spaces and better spaces for everyone. Creating new and better ways of learning for not just [B]lack students but for every student. Thinking about new ways of educating. New ways of transacting discipline. Not always the same cookie cutter approach. I try to think outside the box. Creating a school that works for every student, not just for some. Creating the opportunity for the children to succeed and the adults in the building to also succeed. It is important that children see themselves in the school – the walls, the ­curriculum, the voices, the faces in front of them. (Vice-principal, Toronto District School Board) The above narrative excerpt reveals that the participant is committed to the creation of a socially just environment for all students. The approach also aligns with principles of culturally responsive pedagogy and practice (Ladson-Billings 2014). Including the cultural backgrounds of the students and having these reflected in the curriculum is what culturally responsive pedagogy is about (Ladson-Billings 2014; Lopez 2016). Through engagement in social justice leadership, the participants were able to challenge systemic racism. Participants worked to create equitable practices and policies in their local schools and school boards. Social justice leadership can take many forms (Bettez and Hytten 2011). For some of the participants, social justice leadership meant providing free equity training for their peers, and for ­others, it was developing programs to support economically disadvantaged students.

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D is c u s s i on Fullan argues that we must not forget the moral purpose of education (Fullan 2003). Each of the five Black school leaders in our study believed that an equitable, socially just system of education was a moral imperative. The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges faced by Black educational leaders and how those challenges impacted their social justice leadership. We argued that the Black school leaders in our study engaged in social justice leadership as a means of resisting and challenging systemic oppression and racism. One should acknowledge the critique that racialized persons are routinely assigned “diversity” roles by their administrations as a way of “showcasing” their commitment to equity and inclusion (Wingfield and Wingfield 2014). This can place the Black professional in the complicated position of being a part of, but apart from – being critical of their institutions while simultaneously upholding their institutions. As Ahmed argued, people of colour are seen as additive to White organizations and not an integral part of those organizations (2009). Ahmed further observed that “It is this very structural position of being the guest, or the stranger, the one who receives hospitality, which keeps us in certain places, even when you move up. Diversity becomes both a problem and a paradox for those who embody diversity” (42). In this study, each of the five participants believed it was their personal responsibility to lead social justice efforts, and none of them expressed resentment about the expectation that they should become involved. Instead, they embraced the opportunity to contribute to organizational change. They believed that it would help themselves and their students if their schools were more inclusive. Educational activism is often theorized in dichotomized ways (Johnson 2016): activism is grassroots and outside of institutional settings; or, it is contained within institutional settings. The participants in the study were engaged in community social justice activities in addition to programs that they participated in at their schools. Rather than experiencing local community social justice activism as a “distraction,” it was actually a critical element in fostering personal resilience and exercising agency for each of the participants. They needed to believe that what they were doing contributed to equity and inclusion in their communities and schools. The personal psychic cost of racism and marginalization, while significant, could be ameliorated through their participation in social justice activities. By engaging in social justice leadership, each participant in this study had the opportunity to transform their local schools.

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I n t e r s e c t iona li ty The intersections of gender and race could provide some further analytical insights into the participants’ experiences. Four of the five participants were Black females. It is well understood that barriers to institutional leadership exist for women of all ethnic and racial backgrounds (Lopez 2016). Drawing on theories of intersectionality (Crenshaw 2000), we considered how the intersections of race and gender shaped the experiences of the participants in this study. The Black female participants experienced a combination of racial and gendered microaggressions in their contexts. For example, one participant recounted being aware of the stereotype of the “Angry Black Woman” and how her awareness of this shaped her behavioural responses. Additionally, Black women are often selected to lead troubled urban schools with significant populations of racialized students, high staff and teacher turnover, and poor academic performance (Peters 2012). The participants in this study also noted that they tended to be placed in high-need schools in areas with lower socioeconomic status, hinting that as per Wingfield and Wingfield’s (2014) discussion around the conception of people of colour as diversity experts, the participants’ race may have been perceived as a panacea for the problems that existed when in reality, their appointment may have set the principals up for failure because they tend to be assigned schools with fewer resources and challenging communities. There were several limitations to this study. The small sample size of five provided rich descriptions, but the results may not be generalized to the experiences of all Black school leaders in Ontario. Further studies could explore the experiences of Black male school leaders. The sole Black male school leader in the study was privileged by his gender within the school setting but was keenly aware of the larger dominant discourses about Black males (James 2012). He also felt the burden of expectation that he should serve as a role model and father figure for the Black males at his school. Further studies could also explore the experiences of Black school leaders in rural contexts that are generally lacking in racial diversity. However, the participants in this study skillfully navigated their school environments with a heightened awareness of their own Black identities. As Black school leaders, they experienced various forms of racial microaggressions and resistance to their leadership. Our findings suggest that what sustained them was their commitment to social justice leadership and their vision for an inclusive school community. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, Black leadership in Ontario schools in 2015 was mostly non-existent. It can be inferred that that percentage has not increased substantially over the past number of years. Additionally,

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a large percentage of Black school educators are of the belief that racism and bias against Black people in general plays a significant role in maintaining and, through unchallenged microaggressions, re-erecting barriers to advancement and promotion (Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators 2015). The insidious ubiquity of microaggressions experienced by Black educators in Ontario and other marginalized populations across Canada has very real implications for the goals of creating schools, systems, and structures that are not only reflective of, but saturated with, the diversity and richness of the increasingly diverse Canadian population. Left unchallenged, oppressive systems, structures, and institutions will continue to centre the experiences and supremacy of whiteness and reinscribe the marginalization of the other.

R e f e r e nc e s Ahmed, Sara. 2009. “Embodying Diversity: Problems and Paradoxes for Black Feminists.” Race Ethnicity and Education 12 (1): 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 13613320802650931. Armstrong, Denise, and Coral Mitchell. 2017. “Shifting Identities: Negotiating Intersections of Race and Gender in Canadian Administrative Contexts.” Educational Management Administration and Leadership 45 (5): 825–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143217712721. Bettez, Silvia C., and Kathy Hytten. 2011. “Understanding Education for Social Justice.” Educational Foundations 25 (1–2): 7–24. Collins, Patricia H. 2000. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York, ny: Routledge. Crenshaw, Kimberlé W. 2011. “Twenty Years of Critical Race Theory: Looking Back to Move Forward.” Connecticut Law Review 43 (5): 1253–352. DeCuir-Gunby, Jessica T., and Norris W. Gunby, Jr. 2016. “Racial Micro­ aggressions in the Workplace: A Critical Race Analysis of the Experiences of African American Educators.” Urban Education 51 (4): 390–414. https://doi. org/10.1177/0042085916628610. Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. 2012. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, n y : New York University Press. DeMatthews, David. 2018. “Social Justice Dilemmas: Evidence on the Successes and Shortcomings of Three Principals Trying to Make a Difference.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 21 (5): 545–59. https://doi. org/10.1080/13603124.2016.1206972. Denzin, Norman K., and Yvonna S. Lincoln. 2018. The sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. 5th ed. Los Angeles, ca: s a g e Publications. Du Bois, W.E.B. 1903. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago, il : A.C. McClurg and Co. Essed, Philomena. 1991. Understanding Everyday Racism: An Interdisciplinary Theory. Newbury Park, c a : sa g e Publications.

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Fullan, Michael. 2003. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership. London, u k: s a ge Publications. Galabuzi, Grace-Edward. 2006. Canada’s Economic Apartheid: The Social Exclusion of Racialized Groups in the New Century. Toronto, o n: Canadian Scholars’ Press. Gillborn, David. 2018. “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Anti-Black Racism as Fluid, Relentless, Individual and Systemic.” Peabody Journal of Education 93 (1): 66–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2017.1403178. Henry, Natasha L. 2019. “Racial Segregation of Black People in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Last modified 27 May 2019. https://www.thecanadian encyclopedia.ca/en/article/racial-segregation-of-black-people-in-Canada. James, Carl E. 2012. “Students ‘at Risk’: Stereotypes and the Schooling of Black Boys.” Urban Education 47 (2): 464–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0042085911429084. Jean-Marie, Gaetane. 2013. “The Subtlety of Age, Gender, and Race Barriers: A Case Study of Early Career African American Female Principals.” Journal of School Leadership 23 (4): 615–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461302300403. Johnson, Lauri. 2016. “Boundary Spanners and Advocacy Leaders: Black Educators and Race Equality Work in Toronto and London, 1968–1995.” Leadership and Policy in Schools 15 (1): 91–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700 763.2015.1071401. Khalifa, Muhammad A., Mark A. Gooden, and James E. Davis. 2016. “Culturally Responsive School Leadership: A Synthesis of the Literature.” Review of Educational Research 86 (4): 1272–1311. https://doi. org/10.3102/0034654316630383. Khan, LeeAndra. 2016. “The Challenge of Being a Black Principal in Today’s Racial and Political Climate.” The Chicago Reporter. Last modified 27 July 2016. https://www.chicagoreporter.com/the-challenge-of-being-a-blackprincipal-in-todays-racial-and-political-climate. Kvale, Steinar, and Svend Brinkmann. 2009. Interviews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. London, uk: s age Publications. Ladson-Billings, Gloria J. 2014. “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the Remix.” Harvard Educational Review 84 (1): 74–84. https://doi.org/10.17763/ haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751. Lopez, Ann E. 2016. Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Leadership in Diverse Contexts: From Theory to Action. New York, ny: Palgrave Macmillan US. Moore, D. Chanele. 2013. “Race Specialists: What a Black Administrator Ought To Be and Do.” Journal of School Leadership 23 (6): 994–1014. https://doi. org/10.1177/105268461302300604. Moorosi, Pontso, Kay Fuller, and Elizabeth Reilly. 2018. “Leadership and Intersectionality: Constructions of Successful Leadership Among Black Women School Principals in Three Different Contexts.” Management in Education 32 (4): 152–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020618791006. Morgan, Velma. 2016. “Teaching Black Canadian History Every Month.” etfo  Voice. Accessed 16 August 2021. http://etfovoice.ca/article/ teaching-black-canadian-history-every-month.

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Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators. 2015. Voices of Ontario Black Educators: An Experiential Report. Turner Consulting Group. http://onabse. org/ONABSE_VOICES_OF_BLACK_EDUCATORS_Final_Report.pdf. Ontario College of Teachers. 2021. “Principal’s Qualifications.” Accessed 16 August 2021. https://www.oct.ca/members/additional-qualifications/schedulesand-guidelines/pqp. Patton, Michael Q. 2002. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. London, u k: s a ge Publications. Peters, April L. 2012. “Leading Through the Challenge of Change: AfricanAmerican Women Principals on Small School Reform.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 25 (1): 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 09518398.2011.647722. Pierce, Chester M. 1995. “Stress Analogs of Racism and Sexism: Terrorism, Torture, and Disaster.” In Mental Health, Racism, and Sexism, edited by Patricia Rieker, Bernard Kramer, and Bertram Brown, 277–93. Pittsburgh, pa: University of Pittsburgh Press. Reed, Latish C. 2012. “The Intersection of Race and Gender in School Leadership for Three Black Female Principals.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 25 (1): 39–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2011.647723. Ryan, James J. 2010. “Promoting Social Justice in Schools: Principals’ Political Strategies.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 13 (4): 357–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2010.503281. Saldana, Johnny. 2009. The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Thousand Oaks, c a : s age Publications. Shaked, Haim. 2020. “Social Justice Leadership, Instructional Leadership, and the Goals of Schooling.” International Journal of Educational Management 34 (1): 81–95. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-01-2019-0018. Trought-Pitters, Evra. “Black Educational Leadership in Ontario Elementary Schools: A Literature Review.” Actes du Jean-Paul Dionne Symposium Proceedings 1: 1–16, https://uottawa.scholarsportal.info/ottawa/index.php/ sjpd-jpds/article/view/2179/2083. Tuters, Stephanie, and John Portelli. 2017. “Ontario School Principals and Diversity: Are They Prepared to Lead for Equity?” International Journal of Educational Management 31 (5): 598–611. https://doi.org/10.1108/ IJEM-10-2016-0228. Wilson, Camille M. 2016. “Enacting Critical Care and Transformative Leadership in Schools Highly Impacted by Poverty: An African American Principal’s Counter Narrative.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 19 (5): 557–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2015.1023360. Wing Sue, Derald W. 2010. Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. Hoboken, n j : John Wiley and Sons. Wingfield, Adia H., and John H. Wingfield. (2014). “When Visibility Hurts and Helps: How Intersections of Race and Gender Shape Black Professional Men’s Experiences With Tokenization.” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 20 (4): 483–90.

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16 Black Leadership and Role of Spirituality and Community Ann Lopez

This chapter examines Black leadership and the role of community and spirituality. This chapter is from my own experiences in educational leadership in K–12 schools and higher education, the research literature, and my own journey as a critical scholar who argues for decolonization in both thinking and practice, seeking to unsettle coloniality in educational and schooling. I explore the role of community and spirituality in supporting and sustaining Black leaders on their leadership journey. As a way forward, I suggest a form of collaborative leadership grounded in decolonizing philosophies and practices.

I n t r o d u cti on I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this volume, and offer some thoughts on Black Canadian Leadership. In accepting this task, I am also reminded that I can never fully capture the breadth, depth, and wealth of experiences that Black Canadians have contributed to the field of leadership in its varied constructions. These experiences serve as an entry point for theorizing and engaging in leadership discourse. I enter the conversation as a Black diasporic woman, born and raised in Jamaica. In this chapter, I explore ways in which community and spirituality inform the everyday practices and experiences of Black Canadian leadership with the aim of contributing to leadership epistemology and informing praxis. In doing so, I draw on the work of Black scholars such as Annette Henry, Carl James, Cecil Foster, George Dei, and others. In the sections that follow, I explore notions of leadership and the Black experience, the role of community and spirituality, and suggest collaborative leadership grounded in African Indigenous knowledges (Dei 2012) as a way forward as Black people work to secure better futures for themselves and their communities.

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This is a critical juncture to be exploring notions of leadership and, more specifically, Black Canadian leadership. The covi d -19 pandemic has illuminated just how important leadership is in taking action on behalf of those who continue to be marginalized. Leadership is contextualized as a site of struggle that involves critical engagement and conflict (Mouffe 2005) and is implicated in the movement for change. It is important to acknowledge the contributions of diverse people to the field of leadership, and their epistemic contributions both valued and included in how leadership is theorized and practiced. In doing so, we must also ask: What does this mean, particularly for Black people and peoples of African descent? In positing this question, I am aware that Black people are not a monolith; however, differences among Black people do not preclude pursuing common goals (Kitossa et al. 2019). Within the larger discourse of multiculturalism, Black people in Canada continue to fight anti-Black racism and seek out spaces to be and thrive. Canada’s Multiculturalism Policy, which was implemented in 1988, identified multiculturalism as a fundamental feature of Canadian society. Some scholars have argued that official multiculturalism has masked Canada’s racial history and racial tensions (McKittirick 2011). Mullings, Morgan and Quelleng (2016) argue that Canada has had a long history of discriminatory practices towards Indigenous and racialized people, manifested in anti-Black racism and other forms of prejudices. The presence of Black Canadians in spaces disrupts White racial hegemony and its notions of what it means to be, and who is considered, “Canadian” at different moments (Henry 2010; Stewart 2014). As Kitossa et al. (2019) contend, in Canada, national myths of nationhood are dependent upon hegemonic narrations in relationship to Blackness which places Black leadership in antagonist relationships to White structures of power. This forces us to ask: How do Black leaders in these spaces engage in disruption that brings about structural change? It is against this backdrop that the chapter is conceptualized. The chapter is organized as follows: First, I explore the leadership literature, which is followed by an exploration of leadership and Black experience. Next, I examine the role of community and spirituality in the Black leadership experience. The chapter concludes with thoughts about the futurity of Black leadership.

Pe r s p e c t iv e s o n Lea d ers hi p The concept of leadership has been around as long as people have existed communally and spatially in relationship with each other. Historically, leadership has had an enduring romance with great men who are believed to be vital to the success of organizations and societies (Lui 2020). The history of

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leadership discourse and research is one dominated by White men in both scholarly writing and research inside and outside the academy (Dunn, Gerlach, and Hyle 2014). This often advances the mythology of White men as strong leaders, which continues to be damaging to the pursuit of justice (Brown 2014). Leadership remains a contested term; and while it is often researched and talked about, there remains definitional multiplicity, as examples below show. Western definitions of leadership tend to focus on the ability of individuals to influence members within organizations towards the accomplishment of goals (Yukl 2006). Leadership theorist Northouse (2019) suggests that leadership is an interactive and transactional process by which one influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal, and it is a power relationship between the leader and the followers. These understandings of leadership, focused on shared goals and influence, form much of the traditional notions of leadership, which is often understood within a leader’s ability to direct and guide others, influencing their behaviour towards participating in achieving identifiable outcomes within a particular context. In leadership discourse and theorizing, leadership has been assumed to be a process involving social mobilization around common goals or a sense of shared purpose (Kempster et al. 2011; Stein 2017). In everyday practice, leadership is understood within the context of influence and actions by those in the position to make decisions and impact the lives of others. Leadership also implies collaboration and working with others for the greater good of the larger community and is therefore seen as contextual, fluid, relational, and complex (Miller 2018). While leadership is widely considered to be universal across cultures, how it is operationalized is usually viewed as culturally specific (Ly 2019). This attention to cultural differences is often overlooked in leadership discourses dominated by Eurocentricity. Understandings and expectations of effective leaders within leadership discourses are often grounded in and framed by Western thinking, which often ignores the contextual realities of the culture that informs how leadership is understood and practiced (Day and Antonakis 2012). In response to theorizing about leadership grounded in Eurocentric ways of knowing, critical and anti-oppressive leadership theories have emerged – anti-racist, social justice, Indigenous, culturally responsive, and decolonizing (See Deim and Welton 2020; Gorringe 2008; Lopez 2016, 2021; Theorharis 2007). Critical scholars have voiced concerns about a glorified description of leadership that fails to take into consideration the dynamics and implications of power. These theories continue to perpetuate heroicized images of leaders that preserve society’s romance with “great men” leadership (Bligh and Schyns 2007; Grint 2010). By excluding leadership knowledge from Black,

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Indigenous, and global majority communities, leadership theorizing and practice centres and upholds whiteness. The invisible, normative status of whiteness assumes that White leaders occupy a “neutral” position, from which they can objectively decide how to best improve society without reference to other racial groups (Dyer 1997). There are also assumptions made that White leaders also have the ability to master all environments (Sullivan 2006), which disenfranchises Black, Indigenous, and people from global majority communities in these spaces who aspire to leadership. Conceptions of leadership continue to be mired in liberal and neo-liberal agendas that assert ideas of quality, competencies, standards, accountability, and transparency without any critical engagement with equity, social justice, and diverse local and cultural knowings about leadership from the perspective of marginalized and oppressed communities (Dei 2015; Portelli and Campbell-Stephens 2009). Different communities have varied understandings of leadership that do not always align with Western notions of leadership. Space must be created within leadership discourses to challenge neo-liberal agendas, Eurocentricity, and practices grounded in coloniality so that alternative notions of leadership can be enacted (Hwami 2014; Lopez 2021). As Dei (2019) argues, there must be representations of leadership in the form of a “community of leaders,” which is principally about equity, liberation centred on spirituality, and community-driven approaches (Dei 2019).

L e a d e r s h ip a n d Bl a ck E xperi ence As a Black educator who teaches and researches educational leadership and policy, and who has been in positions of leadership, I am constantly thinking about leadership experiences within the Canadian context, and specifically Black leadership experience and what that means for organizations. While my experiences are informed by my role as an educational leadership scholar, they are also rooted in community experience. In education, Black people and in particular Black women, have historically been overlooked as leaders. While this has begun to shift due to advocacy focused on challenging anti-Black racism in organizations and society, there is more work to be done. Black leadership is often grounded in the need and desire to make conditions better for those who are oppressed and marginalized, rather than seeking to amplify historical notions of leadership grounded in Eurocentric knowledge and White supremacy. In making this acknowledgment, I am fully aware that some Black people in positions of leadership become part of the neo-liberal establishment. And instead of engaging in practices to dislodge White supremacy they uphold and engage in White supremacy logics, thinking, and behaviours.

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However, examination of this phenomena is not my focus in this chapter. I am also aware that Black people are not a monolith, and neither are our experiences, and as such, I am in no way essentializing Black leadership experiences. Howard (2019) defines Black/African Canadian leadership as the work done in directing initiatives that seek the (admittedly contested) collective African Canadian good. Henry (2019) asserts that “Black leadership is also about service, volunteer work, and political engagement, multistranded, multitiered, addresses social justice intersections of community in terms of race, gender, class, sexuality, nationality, immigrant status, and so on. Black leadership in general has to make room to fulfill a deep yearning for wholeness in a persistently alienating and anti-Black society” (171). In other words, Western conceptions of leadership must be challenged as they do not fully represent Black experience or knowledge. Counterhegemonic definitions of leadership are necessary (Dei 2019). Black leadership is interconnected with Black identities as our raced bodies often determine our experiences in spaces. In Canada, leadership by and for Black people is always subject to challenge, questioning, and selective validation in the White imaginary (Kitossa, Howard, and Lawson 2019). In most spaces of leadership in Canada, Black people have had to rupture and challenge norms to be included, and when included, suffer untold violence to be and be heard. James (2019) suggests that “as a racialized group in Canada, Black leadership exists in relation to the racial hierarchy of society and is shaped by the historical, political, economic, and cultural contexts of the time” (19). Issues of leadership and Blackness are matters of social ethics and morality in ways that leadership and Blackness come together. Foster (2019) contends that “on a social battle field for dignity, respect, and resources shaped by race, racism, and the specificity of anti-Blackness ... and through acts of agency, both past and present, Black leaders speak to the greater need for freedom of their own group and for others as well” (xi). As a Black woman, descendant of the enslaved, born and raised in Jamaica, immigrant to Canada, and critical scholar, leadership is about agency, creating space where people can survive and thrive, and acting with intentionality and purpose in challenging oppression, coloniality, and reliance on Eurocentric knowledge (Lopez 2021). Leadership takes a multiplicity of forms manifest in Black assertiveness and resistance, and no matter the space, Black people have always had to be leaders, for themselves, with and for the benefit of others (Foster 2019). Black leadership is also about joy, celebrating Black knowledge which is important in all spaces. I honour Black Canadian leaders who have made enormous contributions – Jean Augustine, Rosemary Brown, Howard D. McCurdy, Zanana Akande, Dudley Laws, Michaëlle Jean, Charles Roach,

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Afua Cooper, and George Dei to name a few, including local community leaders who have been active at the grassroots level. In the sections below, I share some thoughts on the importance of community and spirituality as grounding for Black leadership.

Bl a c k L e a d e r s h ip a n d Co mm uni ty Community is the circle that nurtures and hold space, what some call the “beloved community.” Throughout my entire life I have benefitted from the love and support of Black community members on my educational journey. I often say this is how our ancestors expect us to be – in support of each other. This is what community means. The support of community helps us to navigate spaces that are often hostile to our well-being. Dei (2019) suggests “there is an urgent need to look back to African Indigenous knowledge, and engage in community politics that eschews individualism and the sense that the community is a “sea of individuals” (364) and that connections to community is a form of empowerment. Dei argues further: A search for a genuinely Black/African centred Indigenous leadership must be an anti-domination project, one committed to the existential wholeness and well-being of Black/African peoples and our varied ­communities, expressive of our material, emotional, cultural, and ­spiritual well-being. In speaking of Black leadership that is collective and ­community driven, we must exercise care and caution, not. f­ oreclose on possibilities ... we have to enter a moment of decolonizing our ­exclusive value systems. It is only through the act of re-envisioning that we can invite new discussion that enrich and empower our history. (358) Black leadership in education and schooling has taken on great significance, as communities call for more intentional ways to challenge anti-Black racism in all its forms. Those in leadership have a unique role to play in fostering and guiding this change. Educational leaders play a critical role in the success of practices and policies that bring about real changes in the lives of students historically marginalized by the education system. Gutmann (1999) suggests a deliberative process that situates families and communities as critical ­political actors in establishing democratic education policies. Tuck and GaztamideFernandez (2013) remind us that settler colonialism is ever present in communities through the occupation of land, language, and culture. Building strong relationships with communities mean disrupting Western epistemological

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systems and creating opportunities for the re-conceptualization of educational leadership practices. Henry (2019), in a letter to Black women in academic leadership, urges Black women to participate in meaningful coalitions and support colleagues in their various struggles. Henry urges us to take care of ourselves and “be prepared to move forward in the name of justice, equity, in the name of Black People” (xp. 178) which might not necessarily be in formal leadership positions. When Black people enter formal leadership roles, much is expected of us and we expect much of ourselves in supporting Black communities. This means taking a critical stance, fighting in and against spaces often dominated by White men, and seeking out ways to use whatever power and influence there is to hire more diversified staff and to effect real change. This can often take a toll on Black leaders who take refuge in community love and care. Henry suggests that, despite the challenges, the presence of Black people in positions of leadership makes a difference. She argues, “our leadership experiences depend on our settings, our colleagues, their values, and politics, and the general culture of the institution” (175). She suggests further: Whether we recognize it or not, we are linked to a community-in-­ struggle at our universities. Etymologically, a university is a “whole, community.” Rather than thinking in “us and them” ways, I believe that our leadership as Black feminists should involve our lives and work in relation to others’ lives – including those of our colleagues and students … It is our responsibility as Black women activist/leaders to keep race and gender from a Black perspective on the table. (178) Our collective future and success depend on building community inside and outside of institutions and reaching back to our African Indigenous roots and knowledge. In the spirit of Sankofa we reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward in community. We must intentionally disrupt notions of community grounded in individuality and engage in practices guided by our histories. Educational leaders must respond with creativity, new thinking, and approaches grounded in anti-racist decolonizing philosophies and approaches. Black leadership across Canada has been active in communities at the grassroots level, challenging the status quo and seeking to change the experiences of members of the Black community in many areas – housing, policing, health care, social services, and indeed all aspects of life. It is at this level where Black leaders engage in purposeful activism and advocacy.

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Bl a c k L e a d e r s h ip a n d S pi ri tua l i ty In discussing leadership and spirituality, I use as my reference point my own teaching, research, and scholarship. I draw on the work of African American scholar Michael Dantley who argues the acknowledgment of one’s spiritual self has served as a bedrock of African American life (Dantley 2010). Stewart (1999) outlines five tenets of African American spirituality. Firstly, that spirituality has established the unique Black identity and has solidified Black individuality as a singular anthropological hermeneutic. Secondly, that the spiritual reality of the African American personality has served a socially functional process. Thirdly, that African Americans’ celebration of their spiritual selves serves as a creative process and practice; and fourthly, African Americans have employed spirituality survival mechanisms over the decades to combat systemic racism and other forms of hate. Stewart argues that such mechanisms have included adaptation, ritualization, and improvisation. Fifthly, Stewart suggests that African American spirituality, along with cultural practices, form a set of beliefs and practices that give meaning and value to the Black experience. Bryant et al. (2003) suggest that spirituality “involves seeking personal authenticity, genuineness, and wholeness; transcending one’s locus of centricity (i.e., recognizing concerns beyond one-self); connectedness to self and others through relationships and community … fostering a relationship with a higher power or centre of value that transcends human existence and rational ways of knowing (274). As a Black educational diasporic leader in Canada, I too have had to rely on my own spirituality as I navigate academia and stay the course. Nora (2015) argues that for African Caribbean women, educational institutions are not only spaces where they are unconsciously subjected to the ideology of the dominant group, but a space where they come to understand the consciousness of their position and power. Leaders drawing on their spirituality to guide their work is not new in the leadership literature. However, there are differing understandings of how spirituality is manifested. The definition and interpretation of spirituality depends on one’s worldview and various interpretations have been posited. Scholars have highlighted wholeness and purpose (Love 2001); connectedness to self and other (Tisdale 2003); and liberation and resistance (Wane et al. 2011). Leaders draw on their spiritual identity in their leadership practice, which helps them to engage with a sense of authenticity, drawing on their beliefs (Ngunjiri 2010). Black people drawing strength through spirituality is well documented through our stories. For many of us, these stories have been passed on orally from our ancestors. Dei (2002) suggests spirituality involves acknowledging the power of the inner self, being able to interact with

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the outer world and the collective, and resisting oppression and domination by strengthening the individual self and the collective souls to deal with the continued reproduction of colonial and re-colonial in institutions including in academia. I must signal here that the spirituality that I am writing about is not connected to formal religion or religious practices. This separation of spirituality from religion recognizes the institutional nature of religion and the transformative nature of spirituality (Fry et al. 2011). Drawing on our spirituality allows us to deal with the ongoing effects of oppressive structures in society and supports the pursuit of agency, resistance and advocacy. In my research with Black school leaders, spirituality was a consistent theme in helping them to navigate their contexts, which were often challenging with frequent experiences of racial microaggression. Spirituality discourses posit ideas and ontologies that emphasize connectedness, belongingness, identifications, well-being, love, compassion, and peaceful co-existence with nature and among groups (Dei 2002). As a Black educational leader, I have also drawn on spirituality, my inner strength, and intuitive reflexes to stay the course (Lopez 2019). Educational leadership scholar Michael Dantley (2010) argues that African American spirituality is an integral part of Black life in the US. It is the mechanism through which African Americans have shaped their consciousness and understanding of themselves as well as who they are in relationship to others. Other leadership scholars such as (Alston 2005; Cooper 2009; Witherspoon and Taylor 2010) have also drawn on spirituality in theorizing notions of leadership. In Canada, Black scholars such as Njoki Wane (2007), who has researched Black Canadian women in leadership and theorizes her work through decolonial praxis, posit spirituality as an important aspect of that work. Wane argues that spirituality cannot be disconnected from our lives and practices. In her chapter entitled “Practising African Spirituality: Insights from Zulu Latif, an African Woman Healer,” Wane writes, “This sense of our spirituality is where it all begins; it is our starting point, knowingly or unknowingly, it is the life force that informs our experiences, our actions, our thoughts and our very being” (48–9). Wane (2011) suggests that spirituality has been under­ explored and often misunderstood, particularly in the field of education. She asserts further that as “academics, activists, and educators we must be willing to recognize the damage that the current systems are inflicting on us, society and students and choose to bring the spirit into our work in ways that challenge existing structures and that create spaces for the ‘whole self,’ spaces that embrace spiritual and emotional knowledge” (xvi). bell hooks (2003) highlighted ways in which Black people draw on spirituality to resist, especially in academia as they worked in climates that are hostile. hooks noted, “I can

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testify to the meaningfulness of spiritual practice and that such a practice sustains and nurtures progressive teaching, progressive politics, and enhances the struggle of liberation” (162). As Canadian Indigenous scholar Marie Battiste (2013) notes, spirituality is part of people’s existence and is never separated from their everyday experiences and lives. The spirit, according to Stewart (1999), instils in people a determination to survive and affords what Stewart suggests is a desire to survive: A desire to confront and surmount all threats to their being and ­existence while concurrently creating idioms of life and culture which provide them with adaptive mechanisms that reinforce their sanity, affirm their wholeness, and establish their spiritual and ontological ­location in American society. (3) As Black leaders, spirituality helps us to understand our own strengths and challenges beyond the immediacy of our contexts. Engaging with my spirituality has been a journey of reclaiming, rebuilding, acknowledging, honouring my ancestors, and developing critical self-consciousness by reclaiming the traditions of my ancestors. Fairholm (1997) argues that “spirituality is that part of life and community which provides meaning to our lives and an understanding of our world. It is the source for our values, principles, and influences that are exhibited in our behaviours and interactions with others” (25). For me, spirituality as a Black educational leader also means reclaiming my African ancestry and drawing on African Indigenous knowledges. Dei (2019) suggests: To reclaim indigenous understandings of African leadership we must be willing to embrace African Indigeneity notwithstanding colonial ­resistance. What is needed is a return to African Indigenous leadership rooted in local cultural knowledge, shunning rugged and competitive individualism as well as relations of domination and power and instead fostering shared collective understandings and community aspirations. African peoples must reclaim the power of cultural memory, resisting the temptation to forget and to erase our history and knowledge systems due to colonial occupation and White colonial settlerhood. (365) Spirituality not only offers Black leaders a mechanism for sustenance, as affirmed by Black school leaders with whom I conducted research, it also offers ways to be agentive. West (1999) suggests that prophetic spirituality offers opportunities for reflection and transcendence, but demands an agenda of activism to bring

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about substantive systemic change. He asserts there is also a subversive element to spirituality that leaders use as resistance, rebellion that seeks to transform educational settings.

Co n c l u s i on In this chapter, I offer some thoughts on Black Canadian leadership, drawing on my lived experiences as a Black scholar and academic in the field of educational leadership. As a Black woman in leadership and in academia, I am deeply indebted to the many Black Canadians in all aspects of society who have paved the way for others to build on. Black Canadians bring to these spaces knowledge and perspectives through the lens of our lived experiences and ontologies. While the Black community in Canada is not a monolith, our ancestry binds us together. Community and spirituality are key aspects of Black Canadian leadership for sustenance, advocacy, resistance, and agency. Dei (2019) calls for Black Canadian leadership that “acknowledges membership in, and indebtedness to, the Black community across space and time, as well as leadership that is not inhibited by what he calls the intellectual gymnastics of poststructuralism and postmodernism that impinge Black resistance and community interests – a collective leadership that can remain true to principles of social change” (352). As a Black Canadian educational leader who argues for decolonization of education, schooling, and leadership, I support Dei’s (2019) call that leadership must be rethought within buttressed by African Indigenous knowledges (see Lopez 2021). We must build solidarities around the intersecting and different identities of Blackness. To achieve transformative outcomes and change, I argue that Black Canadians in leadership must pursue a collaborative approach grounded in community and African Indigenous ways of knowing. A collaborative approach secures our future. As we move forward, we must continue to ask some critical questions such as: Within the context of Canadian multiculturalism, who speaks for us as Black people, and when? How do we prevent the tokenization of Black bodies in leadership? Have we hired for representation without power? When will policies change so we can move beyond the phenomenon of the “first Black” in organizations, institutions and industries? How do we draw on skills and resources that reside in communities? How do we hold organizations and institutions accountable? According to Dei (2019), one of the leaders in the Black community in Canada who has been advocating for anti-racist education for decades and written about African Indigenous knowledge, this kind of leadership is necessary in helping to restore and develop local capacities to articulate our issues, undertake

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research, and offer home-grown solutions to problems. Shared experiences are never singular. Dei makes an urgent call: We need strong community leadership that counters divisive strategies and builds the community as a site and place of learning and healing. Strong community leadership is vital to inculcating in African youth an understanding that the perceived tensions between the “individual” and “community” are false. The individual is part of the community, not an island unto him or herself. The Western liberal notions of the individual can be limiting when they encourage rugged individualism and competitiveness. In Indigenous African knowledge the individual makes sense only in relation to the community he or she is [they are] part of. The African worldview makes the important and necessary ­distinction between the competitive individual who is not afraid of those around her or him [them], and the cooperative individual who sees themselves as enriched by the community she/he is [they are] part of. (364) It is important that we continue to reimagine and redefine leadership and the possibilities that not only Black communities and leaders can offer, but Indigenous and global majority communities. We must acknowledge the work of the many people in the Black community across Canada and create opportunities for generations of leaders. Moving forward is about making advances grounded in our past and our identities; a future where we dream, work and share outcomes of our efforts together. I argue for the decolonization of leadership that displaces colonial influence from the field of educational leadership in terms of knowledge production (Lopez 2021). Black Canadian leaders have made lasting contributions to Canada in every aspect of society and continue to do so. It is important that I conclude this with a note of hope and optimism, and being true to my grandmother’s words; because that is who I am even in the face of challenges – hopeful and optimistic – because hope for me is a vehicle for action.

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the Terrain of Academe: International Perspectives, edited by Raphael Heaggans and Henry Frierson, 47–62. London, u k : Emerald Publishing. – 2021. Decolonizing Educational Leadership: Exploring Alternative Approaches to Leading Schools. New York, n y : Palgrave Macmillan. Love, Patrick G. 2001. “Spirituality and Student Development: Theoretical Connections.” In The Implications of Student Spirituality for Student Affairs Practice, edited by Margaret A. Jablonski, 7–16. San Francisco, ca: Jossey-Bass. McKittrick, Katherine. 2011. “On Plantations, Prisons, and a Black Sense of Place.” Social and Cultural Geography 12 (8): 947–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 14649365.2011.624280. Miller, Paul. 2018. The Nature of School Leadership: Global Practice Perspectives. New York, n y : Palgrave Macmillan. Morgan, Anthony, and Darcel Bullen. 2015. “Civil and Political Wrongs: The Growing Gap Between International Civil and Political Rights and African Canadian Life.” African Canadian Legal Clinic. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/ Treaties/CESCR/Shared%20Documents/CAN/INT_CESCR_CSS_CAN_2 2907_E.pdf. Mouffe, Chantelle. 2000. Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism Report. Vienna, Institute for Advanced Studies. Mullings, Delores, Anthony Morgan, and Heather K. Quelleng. 2016. “Canada the Great White North Where Anti-Black Racism Thrives: Kicking Down the Doors and Exposing the Realities.” Phylon (1960-) 53 (1): 20–41. Ngunjiri, Faith W. 2010. “Lessons in Spiritual Leadership From Kenyan Women.” Journal of Education Administration 48 (6): 755–68. https://doi.org/10.1108/ 09578231011079601. Northouse, Peter G. 2019. Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousands Oaks, ca: s a ge Publications. Portelli, John P., and Rosemary Campbell-Stephens. 2009. Leading for Equity: The Investing in Diversity Approach. Toronto, o n: Edphi. Schyns, Birgit, and Michelle C. Bligh. 2017. “On the Romance of Leadership: In Memory of James R. Meindl.” Applied Psychology: An International Review 56 (1): 501–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00301.x. Stein, Stevens J. 2017. The eq Leader: Instilling Passion, Creating Shared Goals, and Building Meaningful Organizations Through Emotional Intelligence. Hoboken, n j : John Wiley and Sons. Stewart, Anthony. 2014. Visitor: My Life in Canada. Halifax, ns : Fernwood. Stewart, Carlyle F. 1999. Black Spirituality and Black Consciousness. Trenton, n j: Africa World Press. Sullivan Shannon. 2006. Revealing Whiteness: The Unconscious Habits of Racial Privilege. Bloomington, i n : Indiana University Press. Theoharis, George. 2007. “Social Justice Educational Leaders and Resistance: Toward a Theory of Social Justice Leadership.” Educational Administration Quarterly 43 (2): 221–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X06293717. Tisdale, Theresa C. 2003. “Listening and Responding to Spiritual Issues in Psychotherapy: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.” Journal of Psychology and Christianity 22 (3): 262–72.

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Tuck, Eve, and Ruben A. Gaztamide-Fernandez. 2013. “Curriculum, Replacement, and Settler Futurity.” Journal of Curriculum Theorizing 29 (1): 72–89. Wane, Njoki N., Energy L. Manyimo, and Eric J. Ritskes, eds. 2011. Spirituality, Education and Society: An Integrated Approach. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers. West, Cornel. 1999. Cornel West Reader. New York, ny: Basic Civitas Books. Witherspoon, Noelle, and Dianne Taylor. 2010. “Spiritual Weapons: Black Female Principals and Religio-Spirituality.” Journal of Educational Administration and History 42 (2): 133–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220621003701296. Yukl, Gary. 2006. Leadership in Organization, 8th ed. Harlow, uk: Prentice Hall and Pearson Education.

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17 nîkânastamâkêwin Leading Indigenous Initiatives in (Colonial) Universities Shauneen Pete

Niya Neheyawin. I am from Little Pine First Nation (Treaty 6 territory, Canada). I begin by acknowledging that I now live and work on the homelands of the Coast Salish peoples. I serve as the Indigenous Resurgence Coordinator in the Indigenous Education Department of the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. I was a full professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, and I also served in several administrative roles, including Executive Lead: Indigenization (University of Regina) and VicePresident (Academic) and Interim President at First Nations University of Canada. Like many other Indigenous academics, I understand universities to be colonial places (Smith and Smith 2018; Battiste 2013; Kuokkannen 2007). Smith and Smith (2018) state, universities “often reflect and reproduce the existing societal relations of dominance and subordination by legitimatizing themselves through mechanisms such as the control over what counts as legitimate knowledge” (2). They continue by stating, “the colonial academy is deeply implicated in both historical and contemporary practices that have systematically excluded and undermined the presence and the validity of Indigenous Peoples, their knowledge, cultures and values” (3). Battiste (2013) and Kuokkanen (2007) claim that the contemporary university promotes both cognitive imperialism and epistemic ignorance. Given this tendency, I’ve learned that I can’t always expect my colleagues to be able to engage with me on topics associated with settler colonialism and Indigenous resurgence. This chapter begins by exposing these limitations.

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Battiste offers a frame from which to understand how cognitive imperialism serves to erase Indigenous peoples, languages, and ways of knowing from the dominant knowledge base called “the white washing of the minds” (26). Further, Battiste concludes that cognitive imperialism expects Indigenous learners to assimilate toward dominant ways of knowing – effectively erasing Indigenous peoples and their ways of knowing. Not only are Indigenous ways of knowing erased, but Eurocentrism is advanced at the expense of other than dominant ways of knowing. Like Battiste, Kuokkanen (2007) asserts that epistemic ignorance refers “to academic practices and discourses that enable the ongoing exclusion of other than dominant Western epistemic and intellectual traditions” (6). She asserts that sanctioned ignorance of other than dominant ways of knowing, like Indigenous knowledges, is a racist and colonial practice. Sanctioned ignorance results in a lack of understanding about Indigenous peoples, their lived experiences and our shared history with colonialism. Colonial policies designed to eradicate, erase, and make Indigenous peoples dependent also impact all Canadians. Every term, I ask students how they learned about Indigenous peoples in their home, school and community. For nearly twenty years, the responses have remained dismally limited. Battell Lowman and Barker (2015) explain that the “settler Canadian identity is entangled both historically, and in the present with the process of settler colonization, the means through which our state and nation have wrested their land base from Indigenous peoples” (2). They suggest that settler Canadians must recognize that colonization happened while Indigenous peoples continue to live with the legacy of forced displacement from historical territories and relocation to reserves, as well as assimilative agendas like residential schools, child welfare, and the criminal justice system. The settler Canadian identity allows for sanctioned ignorance; in fact, it requires it. Battel Lowman and Barker (2015) state, “there is a deep refusal to see colonization” (3); not seeing serves the purpose of ensuring that members of the dominant group do not have to examine or own their part in ongoing violence, racism, and the maintenance of White dominance. I recognize this move to innocence as a desire for non-complicity. Like other Indigenous faculty members, I’ve taught the mandated introductory courses in Indigenous Education. Every term, I have had to assume that learners knew very little about Indigenous peoples, even what to call us. They are stymied by the terminology: Indigenous, Aboriginal, Native, First Nations … How can I advance the discussion about indigeneity when their

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working understanding is so limited? I’ve also observed that many students associate Indigenous with culture, and too often culture in the historical sense. They come to my office to ask how to authentically integrate Indigenous culture into their teaching practice, without grasping that there is no one Indigenous culture and that it is not their job as settlers to teach that anyway. I’d like to make a totem pole with my class … the conversation usually starts like that. I ask the student(s) to describe their vision for the p ­ roject, what is their learning objective? Well, I want to make a totem pole … but why? Because … I want to respond to the First Peoples Principles of Learning … Hmmm, which one, which principle? I don’t know … What do you want students to learn? I want them to have fun. And onward the conversation goes … As an educational leader, I persistently attempt to shift student gaze from narrow concepts of culture toward complicated and troubling knowledges like systemic underfunding, ongoing colonial violence, genocide, and White dominance. I want them to move toward a deep praxis of decolonization so that they can understand that the work ahead is not merely about cultural inclusion but about achieving eco and social justice. For many months, in my community and across the country, Indigenous peoples and allies have been gathering in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary Chiefs who are asserting their right to say no to the Coastal Gaslink pipeline construction on their territories. ­Non-violent demonstrations of support have been met with the violent removal of First Nations peoples from blockades on their territories by the rc mp. Mainstream media has responded to violent threats online by closing down the comment sections which follow news stories. Some comments have included calls to kill First Nations demonstrators. In my education courses, I begin with First Nations peoples and land. We explore the violent history of colonization in Canada. I want them to understand that settler colonialism continues to shape our experience with schooling. Epistemic ignorance results in university learners having very little understanding of either colonialism or settler colonialism. Justice for Indigenous peoples will remain elusive until settlers not only understand these colonial impacts but begin to work alongside Indigenous peoples to dismantle them. I recognize that my best work is to help settlers build their stamina for the ambiguity that decolonial work requires; this is the story of my leadership journey.

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S t o r y in g T owar d I n d i g e n o u s Res ur g ence This chapter uses a storying approach to describe a leadership journey toward Indigenous resurgence and decolonization, specifically in the Faculty of Education where I now work. I offset these storying elements by indenting and I utilize, as I have elsewhere, a storying approach to my writing, because this too, is a decolonial act. As I write these words, I am reminded of a memory from long ago … When I was a girl, my grandmother had a very big garden. She and my grandfather would harvest some of the produce and they would take it to other people in the community. I remember asking her, “why do you give all the vegetables away?” She smiled, and said simply, “because we can, we should.” My grandmother was a teacher, midwife, and healer. She was very generous with what she knew. She taught her older daughters the plant medicine teachings. She taught me plant identification. Archibald (2008) states, “sharing what one has learned is an important Indigenous tradition” (2). As a teacher, I have spent my career sharing insights about Indigenous ways of knowing, pedagogies, and methodologies with students and colleagues, a key part of how I define my good work. I take seriously my responsibilities to share what I know not only to restore and revitalize Indigenous knowledges, but to inform others how we may move forward toward good relationships as Indigenous and settler peoples. I want us to heal from the legacies of colonization. These historical relationships began with the violent dispossession of Indigenous peoples from ancestral lands, and they continue with the exploitation of lands and resources. A part of mending these relationships is naming and confronting settler colonialism: the insistence on White superiority, capitalism, and individualized land ownership and its resulting myth of meritocracy. My goal of decolonization is informed by a desire to transform praxis and interrogate unequal relations to power. To be honest, this storying approach allows me to think aloud about what decolonization in this teacher education program could and perhaps should look like. Storying as a decolonial act has the power to counteract the colonial tendency toward the erasure of Indigenous peoples. As I bring forth the story in this way it is current: Indigenous peoples are here, telling stories right now. Storying counteracts our erasure and the invisibility of settler colonialism

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from settler consciousness. Settlers often ask, “why didn’t I learn about this history?” and “I thought that happened a long time ago.” By offering up the stories I place them not in a historical context, but here: they are alive right now. For example, in a meeting with faculty colleagues, I described how our policy on cultural accommodations, which allows absences from class due to cultural engagement, were limited. I explained that some of our students were absent from class because they had been arrested for participating in a sit-in at a local politician’s office. They were demonstrating their support for land protectors who had been arrested earlier in the week, thus responding to ongoing colonial violence directed toward Indigenous peoples in their own traditional territories. I concluded that a cultural accommodation policy did not address the politically motivated reasons that students were absent. Storying is designed to serve as a counter-narrative to the invisibility of ongoing colonialism. This conversation spawned a discussion outside of the meeting about Indigenous resurgence and settler decolonization. Storying calls you into relation with Indigenous peoples. Stories create connection in real time. I share story because I respect my relationship with you. As I share my truth with you, I convey the message that I value and trust our relationship and that I am willing to be vulnerable with you so that we may improve our relationship. Sharing acimowin (true stories) assumes that you will take what you need from the story and act on it as a demonstration of your commitment toward reciprocity. My intention is purposeful: I want you to engage with indigeneity in ways that counteract erasure and elimination, and I want you to consider what indigeneity has to teach you as a settler that may improve your contributions to our relationships. Taking a storying approach to writing about my leadership work is not new to me. I began my career sharing acimowin in schools and at the local heritage park in the community where I lived. Later, as a graduate student, I chose storying to present my research on how Indigenous women decolonize their faculty work. I story because of the nonconfrontational manner in which it offers up the gift of learning. Even though I often address hard truths, in this relationship you can still choose how much you take on. My hope is that by sharing this story of a leadership journey, you too will come to a deeper understanding that resurgence work is emergent and localized, and that you can play a role. As I tell the story, I connect my unfolding leadership vision with the scholarship on resurgence and decolonization, thus the process is reflexive and narrates an emergence of a framework. Storying then is emergent, reflexive, and praxis oriented. But, it is not one sided – you, the reader/ listener are asked to consider what you will do with what you read/hear. How will you take up decolonial praxis in your own life?

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As a beginning language learner, I also attempt to utilize nêhiýawewin terms where I can because I understand that nêhiýawewin communicates a depth of meaning. For example, nîkânîstamaw means to be in the lead of someone, be a leader among someone, while nîkânohtêmakan means to be in the lead, and nîkânastamâkêwin means leadership (many thanks to my dad, Jacob Pete, linguist Dr Arok Wolvengrey, and language teacher, the late Darren Okemaysim who have helped me to learn along the way). Acimowin, or storying, coupled with nêhiýawewin terms allows me to create a different space for our engagement; it is designed to unsettle you. You, as reader, are invited to step into my point of view and to briefly experience the sort of othering that so many of us, Indigenous peoples, feel when we are negotiating our place in dominant places like the university. You may experience unsettling as a form of discomfort as this other point of view rubs up against ideas that you hold dear. For example, this chapter will call into question the dominant ideas of equality, equity, and diversity premised on the inclusion of other than dominant bodies. We insist on something very different from inclusion: we insist on systems which support the development of an Indigenous resurgence.

T o w a r d I n d i g e n o us R es ur g ence Simpson (2017) defines Indigenous resurgence as “a radical practice in Indigenous theorizing, writing, organizing and thinking” (44). Resurgence work is aspirational, transformative, and visionary: it inspires both cultural and linguistic reclamation and reformation, and it works against settler colonialism. Corntassel (2012) states, “being Indigenous today means struggling to reclaim and regenerate one’s relational, place-based existence by challenging the ongoing, destructive forces of colonization … processes of resurgence are often contentious and reflect the spiritual, cultural, economic, and social and political scope of this struggle” (88). Indigenous resurgence calls for a localized, cultural, and language informed decision making so that we may live miýo-pimãtisiwin (in a good way) as individuals and nations. Simpson (2011) states, “we are advocating and building a resurgence in order to provide the best political and cultural context for the lives our people to flourish” (86). I believe Indigenous resurgence, while aspirational, is attainable, and achieving an Indigenous resurgence calls on a different kind of orientation to leadership both in and for diversity. But let me be clear: I do not position myself under the rubric of diversity, lumped into the category of racialized others. As an Indigenous person working toward settler decolonization, I work from the understanding that there

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are Indigenous peoples and settlers in Canada. For me, settler is a broad category, in much the same way that the term Indigenous is a broad category. A relational – not merely historical – term, settler includes recent immigrants, refugees, and people of colour alongside members of the dominant group (White folks). I make this distinction because I have learned that my lived experiences are similar to people of colour in that we share an experience of racism and a political project for inclusion, equity, and diversity, but as an Indigenous person I also experience settler colonialism, and I engage in the political project of decolonization. I recognize the limits that insisting on binary thinking creates; however, I am also conscious of my current context: I work in teacher education program with mostly White/settler students and staff and few visible minorities. Therefore, my orientation to leadership in higher education exceeds leadership for diversity, and moves toward leadership for decolonization. I agree with Smith and Smith (2018) who argue that “Indigenous work is inherently political and is overtly pro­Indigenous” (12). Indigenous work is not just about equity in access or even equality of opportunity; it calls on Indigenous leaders to lead toward decolonization by exposing the status quo, confronting limiting knowledges, implementing treaty obligations, responding to a reconciliation agenda, being informed by local Indigenous languages, including Indigenous concepts and stories in physical spaces, and supporting Indigenous nation-building and other priorities (Smith and Smith 2018, 150). You may ask, what does that look like? This chapter articulates one approach toward decolonization. It considers the leadership choices that I made in my role as Indigenous Resurgence Coordinator. When I started working as the Coordinator, one of my first tasks was to develop an Indigenous Resurgence Framework. In this chapter, I story the leadership choices that I made along the way. I name the context of our workplace and describe the process used to develop the framework, and I identify some of the strategies that I utilized to implement the framework. I conclude with a statement of leadership vision and address how this leadership vision moves beyond the dominant discourses of diversity in leadership.

Em b r a c in g n îk â n as ta m âkêwi n My thesis in my master’s program, focused on the preparation of ­administrators for work in schools with high Aboriginal populations. I found that few administrators were provided with information about Aboriginal peoples, their communities, let alone the implication for Indigenous knowledge on educational planning. I decided if that ­perspective was to be offered to graduate students in the department

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(Educational Administration), then I’d have to assume responsibility for that inclusion myself. I pursued a doctorate in higher education administration with the intention of leading reforms toward greater ­levels of Indigenous engagement. (Pete-Willett 2001) The women in my family are leaders: Kohkom Myra left the reserve under the pass system to earn a teaching certificate, and my mother, Eileen, was instrumental in developing the Indian child welfare programs with First Nations in Saskatchewan. I joined my mother and Kohkom in living toward my leadership potential by earning my degrees and becoming an educator. Since completing my doctoral degree from the University of Arizona (2001), I have located my decolonizing labour in Canadian higher education. In every leadership role, I have illuminated and confronted entrenched whiteness and the unexamined colonialism of Canadian higher education. I do so as one way of asserting my responsibilities toward Indigenous resurgence. Smith and Smith (2018) call the work of confronting colonialism and leading toward decolonization, Indigenous work. Their concept of Indigenous work “involves praxis, an integration of Indigenous theory, action and reflexing … an honorable responsibility, rather than a burden” (2). As a nêhiyawiskwêw (Cree Woman), I step up to lead because I have embraced my responsibilities toward kiskinawacihcikana (leaving trail markers for those that follow). While I position my labour in universities, my primary loyalties are toward my Nation and an Indigenous renaissance. I lead to remove the barriers for those who follow on the trail. As a nêhiyawiskwêw, I pick up the responsibilities of leadership: the risk and the challenges, so that others may find their way a bit easier. The words of my kohkom echo in my ears: because we can, we should. Easing the way means to support other Indigenous peoples toward our active resistance to colonial assumptions of erasure and assimilation and to expose the contradictions of the colonial institution. I help to ease the way for others by empowering anti-oppressive and anti-colonial theory and practice in higher education and by promoting Indigenous resurgence. I was so inspired by the title of the position … Indigenous Resurgence Coordinator. For me, it offered endless possibility. I imagined that it would be collegial and collaborative work, so different from my work as an academic. I imagined we would insist on time together for the purposes of visioning and dreaming. I imagined we would collectively create decolonial spaces that served us as Indigenous intellectuals. I hoped that we would be able to cocreate theory and practices that were emancipatory and future-centred. I wondered what words and languages we would utilize to articulate our emerging theories … oh it was a good dream.

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When I accepted the Indigenous Resurgence Coordinator position I was confronted with a discomforting reality: besides my colleagues in the Indigenous Education department, there were few Indigenous peoples in our faculty and few students, staff, or faculty of Indigenous ancestry. I wondered, how do I lead toward resurgence in a faculty with so few Indigenous peoples? I needed to understand the context and to explore what the vision was for resurgence work in the faculty.

C o n t e x t : T h e F a c u l t y o f Ed ucati on The mission of the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria is to serve diverse communities by advancing knowledge, research and exemplary practice (Faculty of Education Strategic Plan). The faculty takes pride in its efforts to creating a fully inclusive learning environment with deep respect for all forms of diversity (Values statement, Faculty Strategic Plan). Yet, in the 2017 Environmental Audit conducted by ADR Education, the faculty was described as a “white-monoculture” whereby whiteness permeated the “language, traditions, and learning requirements.” Concluding that whiteness itself was a barrier to diversity, the review acknowledged much work was needed to diversify the organization. The faculty is organized into four departments: Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies; Indigenous Education, and the School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education. The Department of Indigenous Education promotes Indigenous language revitalization through community-based partnerships and graduate programs. While I saw my colleagues in the department daily, I wondered where were the Indigenous students? I learned that our academic programs privileged community-based and cohort delivery, so many of our students were enrolled and studying in their home communities. The diploma and certificate programs were offered in community, and graduate students attended short intensive courses on campus. I returned to the question – how could I promote an Indigenous resurgence in a faculty with so few Indigenous learners on site?

D e v e l o p in g a n I n d i g enous R e s u r g e n c e   F ra m ework I began the framework document by creating strategic alignment between the University of Victoria Strategic Plan, the Indigenous Plan, the Faculty of Education Strategic Plan, and the Department of Indigenous Education Plan. I identified sections of the plans that directly related to Indigenization,

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decolonization, and resurgence, and I identified gaps between and within the plans. I used Gaudry and Lorenz’ (2018) “Indigenization as inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization” as a lens to organize the priorities. As I concluded my review of the strategic plans, and I came to better understand the alignment between the plans, I wondered, how do I engage in the aspirations toward resurgence with such a small cohort of colleagues and a mostly off-campus student body? I concluded that I would have to promote a twopathways approach within the faculty: one path that addressed resurgence and the other that addressed settler decolonization.

A T w o - P a t h w a y s A p proach towar d R e c o n c i liati on The former resurgence coordinator developed a survey tool to identify the learning needs of faculty and students. They responded that they wanted to learn about and from Indigenous peoples. A closer examination of the data showed that settler students and colleagues required an introduction to Indigenous education that included the history of Indigenous peoples (residential schooling, treaty making, or the Indian Act) and contemporary issues (culture and linguistic diversity, reserve system, Métis identities, the Sixties Scoop, and other issues). Few participants had personal relationships with Indigenous peoples, and a third of respondents had no connection to an Indigenous community. On the other hand, Indigenous respondents wanted to deepen their understanding of how to negotiate the university’s colonial structures. These two parties have different needs regarding content, and they expressed different learning outcomes; therefore, the two pathways approach is required. I define the first path as leading toward Indigenous Resurgence, and the other path, toward Settler Decolonization. My hope is that by working on the pathways at once, we can achieve education toward reconciliation. Next, I explore the vision for and intended outcomes for this two-pathways approach.

Indigenous Resurgence Indigenous Resurgence centres Indigenous students, colleagues, and communities. I help Indigenous students to gain a deeper understanding of how colonization shapes our experiences in higher education. My learning outcomes include that they will be able to recognize the ways that Indigenous knowledges are sustained and have sustained us as nations. I want them to be able to identify how the history of colonization has resulted in unequal access to power, and that in spite of this power imbalance, our peoples have

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persisted and resisted. I do this by sharing articles and stories with colleagues and students from the great Indigenous knowledge keepers, scholars, and public intellectuals so that we might engage in a deeper praxis of Indigenous thinking and interacting. I am also available as an “auntie” to hear our Indigenous students’ own experiences and support them as they navigate the culture of the university. I am available to work with them in both formal and informal ways. We have tea and visit. We connect their experiences in university to a body of critical research. In some cases, I’ve developed special topic courses like The University as a Colonial Institution that encourage the learner to identify the systemic ways in which the organization is both raced and colonial. These strategies encourage relationality and support the department goal of student retention. Indigenous resurgence is also about researching, promoting, and disseminating resources. I have been working with three other resurgence coordinators from other faculties. We share our workplans and resources, and we mentor one another. We are developing a resource bank and intend to collaborate on the development and delivery of workshops. Our intention is to help Indigenous learners to recognize the Indigenous intellectual legacies that Indigenous scholars offer and to help them to see their own responsibilities toward resurgence. I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with university staff to better support Indigenous students. In some cases, this has led to policy reform, including a new smudging policy. Policy reforms ensure that we can do our good work in a good way without fear of reprisal. I’ve created opportunities to celebrate achievements in language revitalization programming, and I support departmental growth of our programs. We are developing an elder-in-residence program, lands/water-based learning experiences, a suite of Indigenous education courses for working teachers, and our own post-degree program for Indigenous students in education. Additionally, I am working with colleagues to revise our tenure/promotion criteria and process in support of the retention of Indigenous faculty. Indigenous resurgence efforts support Indigenous learners and colleagues, promote and expand our programs, and connect with university and community partners. While we are building toward Indigenous resurgence in our department and faculty, we rub up against the colonial structures of the university. We need to address resource allocation and how this affects our hiring practices; we need to explore sustainable funding arrangements to support off-campus delivery and encourage allocations of funds toward lands/water-based pedagogies and learning experiences alongside Elders/knowledge keepers. These

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innovations are funded largely through grants/donations which do not build sustainability. Leading toward resurgence means bringing forward the resource allocation needs and providing colleagues with the background understanding about how systemic underfunding works across all aspects of Indigenous education. This Indigenous Work requires Indigenous leaders to embrace our honourable responsibilities toward institutional reformation, sometimes exposing deficits and sometimes holding space for imagining a new way together. I have to be clear about my vision for an Indigenous future. I also have to recognize settler tendency toward evading responsibility and be prepared to counteract it. I’ve learned that until settler decolonization is taken up so that more settlers come to understand the legacy of colonialism and how it shapes their own identities, achieving Indigenous resurgence will always be limited by them.

Settler Decolonization My leadership is shaped by the recognition that universities remain colonial places that encourage the maintenance of settler colonial ways of knowing (Smith and Smith 2018; Kuokkanen 2007). Therefore, I believe that settlers are the problem, and I focus on settler re-education in my teaching and leadership so that I can turn settlers toward joining in decolonization. I want (and need) them to take a more active role in exposing settler colonialism and undertaking the critical work of decolonizing higher education. I am conscious that what I ask of settlers is to unpack settler privilege, their own included. Veracini (2017) wrote, “I am a settler, but indigenous resurgence is in my interest. It will make me a better human being and a worse settler” (1). I understand this “worse” settler being one who is actively engaged in the undoing of settler domination and ushering in greater recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. Like Veracini, I work from the belief that “decolonization is here understood as a process that will lead to the eventual undoing of settler colonialism as a mode of domination and its legacies” (7). Settlers must be prepared to ask themselves, “What measure of my privilege am I willing to give up to create equality for another, namely, Indigenous peoples in this country?” I want settlers to take up this work for themselves in collaboration with Indigenous peoples, but leading the work for other settlers. In the meantime, as the coordinator I build capacity toward this work by developing and offering learning experiences for students (Kairos Blanket Exercise; Indigenous topics and tea; article/book talks; and mini-conferences) and accepting invitations to speak with classes. With faculty/staff I promote the Indigenous

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Cultural Acumen Training (i c a t ) offered by colleagues from Indigenous Academic and Community Engagement (iace). I promote and offer workshops based on the CampusBC resource, Pulling Together: Indigenizing your Institution, and I work with instructors who are reforming their instructional practices. I also share resources on settler decolonization, sit on a variety of committees, and encourage examination of the designated work through the lens of decolonization. I want settlers to understand that the work of decolonization begins with land (and preferably, the return of land). I want them to include land as a central topic in their courses by shifting their pedagogical practice and resource selection. I want settler educators to critically examine the devastation to land rationalized by settler colonialism and to reconsider their relationships with land. I want my colleagues to take up the urgent and emergent issues of Indigenous peoples and explore these topics through a settler lens. I want them to assert a different educational vision and to re-evaluate educational and “political, social, economic and judicial structures” (Laenui 2006). If settlers would do this, Indigenous people would be free to engage more purposefully toward resurgence and achieving miýo-pimãtisiwin. If settlers continue to make these topics Indigenous peoples’ work, then Indigenous peoples will continue to be undermined in their ability to effect change in the university. Settlers must lead one another out of the mess of settler colonialism. The learning outcomes of settler re-education include (but are not limited to) deepening their understanding of colonialism and settler colonialism. I want them to begin differentiating between reconciliation, Indigenization, and decolonization because too often settlers are using these words like they mean the same thing: Indigenous cultural inclusion. I want them to increase their readiness to take up the big messy topics that are urgent in Indigenous communities and were addressed in the trc Calls to Action and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People, like violence directed toward Indigenous women, incarceration rates, and underfunding in education and child welfare. I want settlers to get over their fear of appropriation when we are facing the very real fear of extermination. I want settlers to take up Veracini’s challenge to be a worse settler. There is hope here in my faculty. Some recent settler-led strategies include hosting a decolonizing roundtable with provincial teacher education programs. Our assistant dean and a department chair are leading a faculty d ­ ecolonization group who will begin by exploring the scholarship on settler decolonization. We’ve taken our first steps on the pathway toward settler decolonization, and I believe it is because we were ready for the articulation of a different kind of leadership.

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L e a d in g T o w a r d R e conci l i ati on in H i g h e r Ed ucati on I believe that when settlers have taken up settler decolonization work for themselves by themselves, they will have demonstrated to me that they are ready to begin reconciliation work alongside Indigenous peoples. Reconciliation work for me has the potential to alter the social/political structures both inside and outside of the academy. Mere inclusion will not do it! I am calling for a radical reformation that begins with “free, priorinformed consent” (undrip), collaboration and dialogue about all aspects of Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences (governance, education, child ­welfare, justice, etc.), and strives toward mutually respectful relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples. Reconciliation work may be initiated by Indigenous peoples, but settlers must share the load, and in order to be ready for that work, they must begin to identify their own learning needs and to act to address them. When they can demonstrate that they have done their work, I may believe that they are ready to lead alongside me toward reconciliation. Indigenous peoples and settlers are on different footing when it comes to their understanding of the history of colonialism and its impacts. As an educator with over nineteen years of experience in higher education, I’ve learned that many students in Canadian universities have been structurally denied the opportunity to learn about Indigenous peoples. As such, many settlers are ill-equipped to imagine reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and believe that inclusion as access to higher education is enough. But access is not enough. We must work consciously and consistently toward decolonizing higher education generally, and Faculties of Education specifically, otherwise we will never reconcile anything. About a month into this position, a student came to ask me how to approach a lesson on making totem poles; and that would not be the only inquiry of this nature that I would be asked to respond to. Back then, the students’ questions focused on the re-centreing of Indigenous cultures in their own teaching practice. Today, I am responding to ­students who are missing class because they are participating in ­solidarity actions in support of Indigenous land protectors; and they are leading informational sessions on campus. I am thankful for the ways that these settler students are rising up alongside Indigenous ­peoples; after all we are not only talking about Indigenous land rights we are talking about justice: eco and human.

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This chapter explored some of the ways I have initiated and sustained institutional reforms toward decolonization as framed through my leadership story. My leadership vision expands on institutional priorities for inclusion towards something much bigger. I want more than inclusion – I want justice in the face of settler colonialism. Justice for Indigenous peoples would mean that when we say no to national development projects like pipelines, Canadians understand why. This is not a story about diverse leadership or leadership toward diversity as suggested by the book structure: this is a story about leadership toward decolonization. This chapter is designed to offer a helpful and hopeful pathway toward reconciliation in Canadian higher education.

R e fe r e nce s Archibald, Jo-Ann. 2008. Educating the Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit. Vancouver, b c : u b c Press. Battel Lowman, Emma, and Adam J. Barker. 2015. Settler: Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada. Halifax, ns : Fernwood Publishing. Battiste, Marie. 2013. Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit. Saskatoon, sk : Purich Publishing. Corntassel, Jeff. 2012. “Re-envisioning Resurgence: Indigenous Pathways to Decolonization and Sustainable Self-Determination.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education and Society 1 (1): 86–101. Cote-Meek, Sheila. 2014. Colonized Classrooms: Racism, Trauma and Resistance in Post-Secondary Education. Halifax, n s: Fernwood Publishing. Gaudry, Adam, and Danielle Lorenz. 2018. “Indigenization as Inclusion, Reconciliation, and Decolonization: Navigating the Different Visions for Indigenizing the Canadian Academy.” AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 14 (3): 218–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180118785382. Kuokkanen, Rauna. 2007. Reshaping the University: Responsibility, Indigenous Epistemes, and the Logic of the Gift. Vancouver bc: ubc Press. Laenui, Poka. 2006. Processes of Decolonization. https://sjsu.edu/people/marcos. pizarro/maestros/Laenui.pdf. Pete-Willett, Shauneen. 2001. “Kiskinawacihcikana: Aboriginal Women Faculty Experiences in the Academy.” PhD diss., University of Arizona, ua Campus Repository. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/280049. Simpson, Leanne. 2011. Dancing on our Turtle’s Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence and a New Emergence. Winnipeg, m b: Arbeiter Ring Publishing. – 2017. As We Have Always Done. Minneapolis, m n: University of Minnesota Press. Smith, Graham Hingangaroa, and Linda Tuhiwai Smith. 2018. “Doing Indigenous Work: Decolonizing and Transforming the Academy.” In Handbook of Indigenous Education, edited by Elizabeth Ann McKinley and Linda Tuhiwai Smith, 1–27. New York, n y : Springer.

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University of Victoria Faculty of Education. 2016. Strategic Plan 2016–2021. https://www.uvic.ca/education/assets/docs/education-strat-plan-2017.pdf. Veracini, Lorenzo. 2017. “Decolonizing Settler Colonialism: Kill the Settler in Him and Save the Man.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal 41 (1): 1–18.

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Conc l us ion Embedding Practices of Social Justice Shailoo Bedi and Catherine M c Gregor

As we conclude our book with a few thoughts, we want to briefly reflect on the current context we find ourselves in. As we write this in summer of 2021, the pandemic is slowing, and we are nearing a stage of re-opening – across provinces and territories in Canada and around the world. There is a lot of excitement and anticipation about a return to the “usual ways” of doing things, but also a realization that the pandemic served as a disrupting force, one that had potentially positive influences on how we do our work as educators and leaders. Our learning environments have become more accessible and adaptable. Conversations about race, oppression, and colonialism are more prominent on our virtual campuses. However, we also sit with heavy hearts following the discovery by groundpenetrating radar of the gravesite in Kamloops, British Columbia, a truth already known by Indigenous peoples. The revelation of this unmarked gravesite is undeniable evidence of the horrors of colonialism and the structural abuse inflicted on Indigenous children by settler communities and churches. Our understanding and enactment of leadership in this unsettling terrain requires leaders to acknowledge, reflect on the impacts of privilege, inequity, injustice, and discrimination. It is also a reminder that Canada’s dark history unfolds in our contemporary lives. Leaders must address the colonial harms and trauma. These contexts add to the initial landscape we described in the opening of this edited collection. We talked about the Canadian landscape for social justice, drawing upon the trc, the #MeToo and the Black Lives Matter movements. Leaders and scholars alike are now reflecting on how these events impact diverse communities. Some, like Eizadirad and Sider (2020), are exploring the meaning of these contexts for leaders, and for leaders engaged in social justice work; they argue now is the time to advance our understandings about race, racism, and inequities:

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Coronavirus hasn’t caused the educational inequities that impact ­students. But it has shed light on how our most vulnerable communities are marginalized, silenced and oppressed systemically due to lack of access to opportunities perpetuated historically, socially, economically and politically via Canadian institutional policies and practices including by schooling. (2020, para. 3) The authors also list other critical events that have led to deep reflection and learning that has come about through the pandemic. Like Eizadirad and Sider, we are inspired to ensure the final discussion in this book takes a similar pathway: what are the critical words, ideas, events, and models that can help us to reflect and learn about what is needed to advance socially just, equitable educational systems? And what are the potential threads we should follow as researchers in the coming years to support the advancement of this work? There are six concepts or ideas we believe can be drawn from the wisdom and experiences of this books’ diverse authors.

T h e N e e d f o r C o u nterhe g e moni c D ef in it io n s   o f  Lea d ers hi p One of Canada’s critical thinkers about diversity leadership is George J. Sefa Dei (2019). He has argued for a turn to counterhegemonic leadership, emphasizing that there “is a problem with Western conceptions of leadership, and with leadership in our educational institutions” (346). Western notions of leadership have been contested throughout this volume, perhaps not as explicitly as Dei’s call for replacing the theories and descriptors we use in order to interrupt the violence of Western norms in leadership practice. However, authors in this text have taken up this call in various ways. Lopez, for example, argues that leadership is a site of struggle, for liberation and justice, particularly in and among Black bodies challenging injustice, rather than serve the organizational voice and/or purposes represented in dominant society. Lopez also adds the importance of spirituality in Black leadership and how drawing on spirituality provides strength as a way to resist oppression. Bringing forward faith and spirituality in itself, from Black and Indigenous leadership, counters the dominant culture where for too long the supposedly rational and reasoned leadership has been devoid of faith and “alternative” ways of knowing and leading. Other authors within this text similarly argue for conceptualizing leadership differently. Pete, for example, speaks to the “white washing of minds” and the erasure of Indigenous knowledges and traditions of thought. She argues for leadership as insurgence – an alternative paradigm that can disrupt colonial patterns and approaches that can reclaim and reform.

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Authors Wong Sneddon, Shrma, and Chowdhari Tremblay suggest that we cannot underestimate the role of perseverance and the need to develop inner strength in challenging the hegemonic practices of leadership. Cormier also explores socially just leadership by asserting that it emerges from context, place, and local culture and customs. He emphasizes a move away from violence – asserting that cultural and structural violence has shaped leadership culture and practices, including the epistemological violence of a Western imposed worldview. Like post-positivist anthropologists, these thinkers are helping us to “make the familiar strange,” and probe the assumptions we make as leaders and scholars in the field of leadership. Counterhegemonic models of leadership favour communal and culturally relevant leadership that arise from shared affiliation in cultural interfaces; these are the ethical spaces in which social justice leadership practice emerges. A counterhegemonic framework for leadership also needs to consider a shift in what practices of leadership are valued; throughout this text authors have described ways to converse in non-judgmental ways, hold spaces for ­different perspectives, listen deeply, share and honour diverse experiences, and recognize non-dominant bodies and identities, all practices that fall outside  of the more typical ways in which researchers measure leadership performance. Osmond-Johnson, Cappello, and Turner remind us that social justice leadership requires us to not take up the space of those we seek to serve. In other words, counterhegemonic approaches to leadership require us to not only acknowledge our ignorance but also to challenge it. Counter-stories and ­narrative experiences captured throughout this book give shape to a counterhegemonic framework for leadership. True to the tenets of critical race theory and critical social justice research, data and stories challenge and replace negative dominant discourses and unchecked hegemonic beliefs. Counterhegemonic narrative frameworks illustrate the enabling features of connectivity through difference as shared experiences cross borders/boundaries, providing another way of interrupting and disrupting cultural norms. Theories and models need to shift – from the mechanisms of economic/social management and individualistic and capitalistic ideals, to people-oriented, equity, and justice-seeking stances that put relations at the centre. This means a move away from thinking about individuals who enact directions to an emphasis on processes which bring cultures, spaces, and diverse identities together in shared activity and/or dialogue. This move also requires an emphasis on learning and engaging with one another in ways that move us towards shared goals. As co-conspirators in the world of educational leadership, reciprocity and recognition become essential fields of leadership performance.

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S o c ia ll y J u s t L ea dershi p is P e r f o r m ati ve Any counterhegemonic model for socially just leadership will need to assert leadership as performative, not descriptive or attributional. A move to the performative suggests an emphasis on impacts and outcomes rather than roles or responsibilities. In educational research, the performative has always been foundational; it is what can be accomplished through the application of practice that matters most. This is the shift that educational leadership theorizing also needs to take, although we cannot fall into the old trap of heroic models. It is not the noteworthy individual who achieves equitable outcomes that is celebrated; instead, teams or groups build braver spaces that collaboratively enact equitable and inclusive outcomes. In this space where everyone works towards social justice outcomes, leaders from the non-dominant sociocultural identities no longer need to prove themselves repeatedly through their accomplishments but are valued through their differences and varied approaches to leading. Here the idea of relationality as a key performative feature of leadership is emphasized by many authors in this text. For example, McLaughlin describes how empowerment is enabled relationally and that shared reflection creates spaces to dismantle power differentials while enhancing authenticity. Handford and Yahia argue a multi-voiced paradigm is necessary for socially just educational leadership, with specific regard for how one engages in practices of “reciprocal care and responsibility.” McGregor and Bedi also emphasize relationality across time and space as a central feature of performative leadership. This notion of relationality is at the root of the nested leadership model discussed in chapter 2. Many authors describe how power shapes leadership practice and the opportunity for leadership; and while authoritative power has traditionally been the mantra of leadership scholarship, re-mapping the terrain to ensure that power is shared is an essential feature of the counterhegemonic model we promote here.

P r o v o c a t io n E nab l es L e ad e r s h ip P e r for mance Counterhegemonic performative leadership is enabled through provocations of all kinds. There are many different texts – historical, social, cultural, and political – that link the past, present, and future in ways that can advance socially just thinking and work in equity and inclusion. These texts serve

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as provocations to change, but importantly, as sites for new actions to emerge. Provocations create generative spaces, although sometimes they are only tiny cracks in the otherwise impenetrable systems or dominant discourses. Political provocations are discussed in Butler and Campbell’s chapter; they remind us that Black and racialized minority leaders work across and between personal and collective struggles, and these dynamics shape leadership practice. McGregor and Bedi remind us of this in their exploration of Indigenous leadership: these Indigenous leaders travel across space and time to draw upon strengths conferred through shared experiences, drawing strength from shared cultural values. A shared commitment to reconciliation was described by Etmanksi et al. as means of bridging across silos and building a generative space from which to co-create actions leading to social inclusion and change. “Revealing collective truths” provides a provocation to action and builds relational trust among leaders sharing the work in order to advance the goals of truth, justice, and equity. Sider et al. use intersectionality as a provocation to explore the multi­ dimensional features of power, privilege, and social location as a means of realizing a socially just perspective on educational leaders’ practice. Critical incidents are described as catalysts for engagement with educational leaders as a way to explore the competing and even contradictory ways in which equity is viewed or experienced. Such practices inevitably shift thinking and transform beliefs, perspectives, and approaches to equity-informed leadership practices. These are critically provocative texts that enable the deconstruction of dominant social norms among leaders in education who remain primarily White, male, and privileged. Creating shared spaces for action is a powerful enabling outcome of provocative texts, yet we need to remember how systems constrain this potentiality. As Wong Sneddon, Shrma, and Tremblay argue, formal and informal spaces recreate stereotyping practices, so finding ways to challenge this need to become part of the ongoing effort of leaders. Provocations on their own will fail to interrupt the dominant terrain, as the examination of historical narratives of genocide and exclusion evident in the stories of racialized leaders described in this book.

C o - c o n s p ir a t o r s a n d So l id ari ty Building on the intersection of performance, provocations, and the creation of shared, relational, and generative spaces, the themes of resistance, allyship, and solidarity became important topics to further explore the counter­ hegemonic spaces we’ve described. A variety of terms were used by authors in

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this book that unite around the theme of solidarity. We use the term solidarity as a way of speaking across the racialized, gendered, and classed divides among social justice leaders in order to advance social justice agendas in shared, collective, and co-constructed spaces. An important feature of solidarity is how leaders who represent dominant cultures become partners and allies. Dominant culture leaders can use their positions of privilege to interrogate the status quo and critically examine assumptions about inclusion as McGregor, McLaughlin, and Antoine et al. discuss. As importantly, problematizing privilege is central to re-centreing diversity and difference as an essential feature of organizational work. In doing so, spaces of solidarity and shared action are created. Several authors, including Chan and Sivia and Butler and Campbell, speak to the navigational tensions which racialized leaders experience while advocating for their racialized students. The juxtapositioning (Chan and Sivia) of racialized identities with the assumptive worlds of administrators who largely reflect the dominant culture can be an uncomfortable and contested space, but is a terrain that can be crossed using practices such as “inequity-hunting.” By exposing power imbalances and how diverse voices are silenced, solidarity across administrator groups can be enabled. Authentic shared experiences can build solidarity, as Butler and Campbell note in their discussions of how Black school leaders were mentored by colleagues. Similarly, Chan and Sivia mentioned mentorship spaces for racialized leaders are critical for spaces of support where honest and respectful dialogue can happen. In these spaces, mentorship and support can be found and allies created. Nurturing and sustaining these spaces are critical for supporting racialized leaders. Importantly, we note that allyship has been a contested idea among diversity scholars; solidarity provides a conceptual idea that supports developing coconspiratorial practices, built in shared “brave” spaces (Schnellert 2021), enabling a move beyond organizational goals to advancing solidarity processes in collaboration with diverse others. McGregor argues this approach can shift the paradigm for social justice leadership thinking and practices; as such it is a strong fit for the counterhegemonic framework proposed here.

W h it e n e s s a n d Pri vi l e ge Mu s t b e E x t r a c t e d f r o m Lea d ershi p Theory Audre Lorde (1984) said we have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think

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it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate. We have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals. (115) She makes clear to us that, as a society, we have internalized the rejection of difference, and furthermore, this discourse of rejection also permeates systems and practices. Leadership scholars have neither openly nor fully addressed the White supremacy that is deeply and structurally embedded in the ways in which leadership has been theorized and conceptualized. As Kendi suggests, there is no neutrality in the struggle against racism; “the only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it – and then dismantle it” (2019, 14–15). This identification has been largely missing from the mainstream, dominant leadership literature. DiAngelo has argued that White people use a whitewashing discourse, designed to keep race and racialization practices invisible. It is past time to ensure that all leadership work identifies how racialization, colonialism, patriarchy, ageism, heteronormativity, and ableism operationalize and systematize patterns of exclusion. Narratives that frame racialized minority or other diverse identity leaders as equal to the White-privileged minority without accounting for the barriers and microaggressions/microinvalidations faced in everyday and institutional life must also become a thing of the past. When we regularly and consistently discuss these experiences openly and without denial of their existence, it can become possible to value and account for differences as a strength and advantage.

L e a de r s h ip a s Id enti ty: R a c ia l iz e d Lea d ers Can racialized and Indigenous leaders truly lead from who they are? Many of our authors explored this question. How does one do this in the face of stereotypes, biases, microaggressions, microinvalidations, and systemic and institutional racism? This can be described as the challenge of leading authentically. Chan and Sivia highlighted how exploring leadership as a racialized person means navigating identity through uncertainty and on shaky foundations where the goalposts are unclear and shift constantly. The double unconscious, insider/outsider, and two-eyed seeing add to the complexity of the terrain that must be traversed. Bedi makes a similar point by describing how racialized leaders created hybrid identities to help them navigate across and between different communities, essentially walking in two worlds. McGregor and Bedi also note this phenomena in their description of how Indigenous leaders took their knowledge of two worlds to build in spaces to enact cultural and community goals. Handford and Yahia mention that the

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identities of racialized and Indigenous leaders were central to their enactment and practice as leaders. Their research showed that racialized leaders did not separate their identities, but their identities as minorities were deeply integrated with their identities as leaders. Their understanding of the nature of leadership and its roles, was bound to their personal identities and their lived experiences, making the enactment of leadership deeply connected to their identities. Engaging in leadership then is engaging with identity work. The two are intertwined in the terrain; as Hanford and Yahia put it, identity work is constant among racialized minority and Indigenous leaders. But the construction and reconstruction of leadership as identity is not always in the hands of the racialized or Indigenous leader. As Wright Fields, Early, and Howell remind us, marginalized identities are used to subjugate leaders through consciously and unconsciously held stereotypes. Thus, discussions about their identities as leaders are informed through their physical presence/ differences and not by their enactments of leadership. The counterhegemonic framework we’ve described in this section is a tool to dismantle these assumptive worlds and practices.

F in a l W o r d s As the authors in this book have repeatedly pointed out, leadership is a contested term and a complex topic. As we conclude this edited collection, we reflect metaphorically on a journey that has explored terrains of leadership. We set out to explore the terrains of diversity and leadership by inviting diverse voices, representing many perspectives, to share their research and scholarship of what it means to practice socially just leadership. We, and other contributing authors, have identified that the playing field is not equal – operational spaces are deeply troubled by systemic barriers, dominant discourses, social and cultural construction, and historical and political contexts. We acknowledge there remain practices and traditions of leadership that are silenced, still not seen by mainstream or dominant cultures. However, we have explored some ideas – a move towards counterhegemonic frames to disrupt normative readings of leadership theory and practice; the need to see leadership as performative rather than attributional; the focus on mutual enactment, including co-conspiratorial models of advocacy; a recognition of the White supremacy dominant in scholarly inquiry into leadership and leadership practice; and the ways in which the intersections of identities provide generative spaces for action. Communal and culturally relevant leadership that arise from shared affiliation in cultural interfaces are the new ethical spaces in which social justice leadership practice will emerge.

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These ideas are the new foundations for diversity leadership, and they suggest that alternative reflexive spaces will emerge built on principles of diversity, inclusion, and equity; this will enable theory development – and ultimately practice – to be conceptualized and understood differently. We invite readers and scholars alike to continue this work. The time for just and inclusive leadership practices that positively advance global societies is long past due.

R e fe r e nce s Dei, George J. Sefa. 2019. “An Indigenous Africentric Perspective on Black Leadership.” In African Canadian Leadership: Continuity, Transition, and Transformation, edited by Tamari Kitossa, Erica Lawson, and Philip Howard, 345–69. Toronto, o n : University of Toronto Press. http://doi.org/10.3138/ 9781487531409-015. DiAngelo, Robin. 2018. White Fragility. Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Boston, m a : Beacon Press. Eizadirad, Ardavan, and Steve Sider. 2020. “Schools after Coronavirus: Seize ‘Teachable Moments’ About Racism and Inequities.” The Conversation Canada, 23 July 2020. https://theconversation.com/schools-after-coronavirus-seizeteachable-moments-about-racism-and-inequities-142238. Kendi, Ibram X. 2019. How To Be an Antiracist. New York, ny: Penguin Random House. Lorde, Audre. 1984. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Berkeley, ca: Crossing Press. Schnellert, Leyton, Sara Davidson, and Bonny-Lynn Donovan. 2021. “Working Toward Relational Accountability in Professional Learning Networks Through Local Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being.” Educational Change sig Symposium: Facilitating Transformation in Diverse Contexts. aera , Online Educational Meeting. 11 April 2021.

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Contributors

a s m a - n a - h i a n t o i n e . Asma-na-hi translates as “Caring for Precious Ones.” It comes from her late mother, Vera Thompson, of the Toquaht Nation, Nuu-chah-nulth lands. Her last name comes from her late father, Eugene Antoine, from the Saik’uz Nation, Carrier Sekani lands. She is the director of Indigenous engagement at Royal Roads University. niels agger-gupta was born in Germany to German Norwegian parents and has lived in Saskatoon on nêhiyawak (Cree), Oceti Sakowin (Sioux), and Métis territory, and in Calgary on the borderland between the Niitsitapi / Siksika (Blackfoot) and the Tsuut’ina (Sarcee) Nations. He is an associate professor and acting director in the School of Leadership Studies at Royal Roads University. shir l ey a l phonse is from the Cowichan Tribes and is a member of the Heron People Circle at Royal Roads University. She serves as a spiritual representative of the T’Sou-ke Nation and was the Elder in Residence for bc Premier, John Horgan. She works with people of all ages to share her teachings and preserve cultural knowledge. terri- l ynne beaton was involved with the University 101 program at the University of Victoria as a student liaison and active volunteer. She is very interested in building community, developing leadership skills, and, most importantly, learning. s h a i l o o b e d i is the executive director of the Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation Division at the University of Victoria and teaches and researches in the areas of anti-racism, leadership, identity creation, and

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visual research methods. She has published in several academic journals and has co-edited a book on visual research methods for Facet Publishing. k a r y n v a n d e n b o o m e n holds an m a in education from Lakehead University. She specializes in research design and policy development in educational organizations. Her research interests include Indigenous research methodologies, adult education, and equitable learning spaces. alana butler is an assistant professor at Queen’s University in the Faculty of Education. Her research interests include equity, diversity, and inclusion; post-secondary access; and at-risk youth. an d rew ca m pbe ll is a faculty member in the Master of Teaching (mt) program at the University of Toronto and an adjunct assistant professor at  Queens University. His research interests include the scholarship of ­learning and teaching with a focus on anti-racist pedagogy and diversity in educational leadership. m i c h a e l c a p p e ll o is an associate professor of education core studies with the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina. As a settler scholar, his work is focused on identifying the racism and colonialism inherent in ­educational systems while working toward anti-racism, reconciliation, and decolonization.  a d rienne S . chan is professor emeritus at the University of the Fraser Valley. Her research interests span anti-racism and social justice in higher education, decolonization, and institutional change. an d rew c l arke has been involved in the University 101 community at the University of Victoria as a student liaison since 2017. He is interested in building community, developing leadership skills, the dynamics of hierarchy, and the open sharing of knowledge. k r y s t a l c o o k is a Kwakwaka’wakw woman from the Namgis First Nation. She is a theatrical performer, facilitator, and poet. She works with Aboriginal Nations Education Division in School District 61. lisa corak was born on the traditional territories of the Tsleil-Waututh people, and she is grateful to raise her family on these beautiful lands. She currently serves as program coordinator for the Master of Arts in Global Leadership program at Royal Roads University.

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321

paul cormier is a member of Lake Helen First Nations / Red Rock Indian Band in Northern Ontario. He is an associate professor and chair in Aboriginal education at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. His research interests include Indigenous peace building and traditional Indigenous education systems. r e b e c c a c o r y has been involved in University 101 at the University of Victoria as the program coordinator since 2005. Her research and practice focus on building collaborative knowledge and making knowledge more accessible. b e v e r l e y d o b e ll completed the University 101/102 program at the University of Victoria in 2016 and the leadership program in 2017. As a lifelong learner, it was a privilege for her to be part of this educational community. sherry l . ear l y, PhD, is the program coordinator for veterinary education at Michigan State University. Research interests include leadership capacity building, socially responsible leadership, mentoring relationships, and socialization in higher education. craig ellermann has been involved with the University 101 program at the University of Victoria as a student and volunteer since 2009. His personal mission statement is “to make my fellow humans laugh and try to have compassion, empathy, and love for all creatures and to participate in programs whose mission is to reduce inequalities created by humans.” catherine etmanski grew up in Vancouver on the lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. Her mother’s family were New York Dutch, British, and Irish American. Her father’s family were from the Kashubian region of Poland as well as Clan MacDonald of Clanranald in Scotland. She is a professor in the School of Leadership Studies at Royal Roads University. victoria handford is an associate professor and coordinator of graduate programs for Thompson Rivers University. Recent publications include “Schooling during covi d-19: restoring human – centredness amidst uncertainty” from Teachers and teaching: Theory and practice. c h e r y l h e y k o o p grew up in Ontario on the ancestral lands of the Anishinabewaki and Huron-Wendat Peoples. She is of Dutch and English origin. She is an associate professor and Michael Smith Health Research Scholar in the School of Leadership Studies at Royal Roads University.

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gl oria howell is director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center at Indiana University Bloomington. A recent (2022) publication includes “Unapologetically Black Creative Educational Experiences in Higher Education: A Critical Review” from Review of Research in Education. h a n n a h j o n e s was involved in University 101 at the University of Victoria as a program assistant from 2013 to 2021. She is interested in the transformative possibilities of engaging mind and body through hands-on creative practices. c h e r i k i b z e y (she/her) has been involved with University 101 at the University of Victoria since 2016 as a student and a member of the leadership team. One of her many goals is empowering others to discover their strengths, voices, and power, and to feel that they belong in a world that has systemically marginalized them. susan koski was a long-time student and volunteer with the University 101 program at the University of Victoria. She is a co-author of the chapter in this volume entitled “In a Paradigm of Belonging.” meredith lemon was involved with the University 101 community at the University of Victoria in various capacities from 2016–20. Her research interests include decolonizing education by rebuilding honourable relationships between and among self, other humans, and the rest of nature. ann e. lopez is a Jamaican-born professor of educational leadership and policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (oise), University of Toronto, Canada. A former public school teacher and administrator, she is a leading voice and scholar on anti-racist, decolonizing, and equity education in K–12. ki m ber l y m aich is a professor in the Faculty of Education at Memorial University who researches autism and other areas of disability. A recent publication (2022) is entitled “Employing intensive teaching triads to enhance the impact of a peer-mediated social skills program” in the International Journal of Inclusive Education. d o n n a m cg h i e - r i c h m o n d is an associate professor in educational ­psychology at the Faculty of Education, University of Victoria, whose research focuses on inclusive education for students with disabilities. She is a research fellow of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education.

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323

catherine m cgre gor is an associate professor and acting dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. Her research is focused on diversity leadership to advance change and create just organizations. She is the author of a recent public report (2021) that revealed systemic racism and bias in the K–12 sector in Prince George, bc. c o n o r p . m cl a u g h l i n is a staff learning and development specialist at San Diego State University. He is the co-author with K.Y. Colquitt of “Okay, You ‘Get It …’: Whiteness, Masculinity,  and the Development of Critical Consciousness in Leadership Development” in New Directions for Student Leadership. jhone l m orvan is a superintendent of education in a French-language school board in Northern Ontario and a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at Brock University. His research interest focuses on school leadership, inclusion, equity in mathematics, and mathematics achievement of Black students. p a m e l a o s m o n d - j o h n s o n is an associate professor of educational leadership with the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina. Recent research interests include teacher activism as an act of resistance and equityfocused leadership. shauneen pete is the chair of the Emerging Indigenous Scholars Circle at Royal Roads University. A recent publication (2022) includes “Decolon­ izing Equity Praxis,” a chapter in Decolonizing Equity from Fernwood Publishing. l o k p r i y s h r m a is a member of an international research team at the University of Victoria studying gender and covid-19. As a public policy and gender economics researcher, Lokpriy has over twelve years of experience working with global policy shapers across countries (Canada, the US, the UK, and India) in government, non-profit, and public sectors. s t e v e s i d e r is associate dean and professor in the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He recently (2022) co-authored (with Dr. Kimberly Maich) a book, Leadership for  Inclusive Schools. His research interests are at the intersection of  school  leadership, inclusive education, and international and comparative education.

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awneet s ivia is the associate vice president of teaching and learning at the University of the Fraser Valley. Her research interests include social justice leadership, anti-racism in higher education, and self-study in teacher education. jacqueline specht is a professor and director of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education at Western University. Her research interest is in the area of inclusive education for students with disabilities. reeta chow d hari tre m bl ay is professor of comparative politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria. Her major areas of research are secessionist movements (Kashmir) in South Asia, the politics of subaltern resistance and accommodation in postcolonial societies, democracy and governance, and comparative federalism. peter turner is a doctoral candidate with the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina. His research interests include Indigenous language revitalization and the genealogies of kinship in First Nation histories. w i ll w e i gl e r was born and raised on the territory of the Multnomah peoples in Portland, Oregon. He is a theatre director, playwright, producer, and professional storyteller, and has written five books on different aspects of cocreating theatre with people in communities about the issues that matter to them. g race won g sne dd on is an adjunct assistant professor, art history and visual studies, and ombudsperson for triumf at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include Chinese Canadian history; women in leadership; racialized women in popular culture; and equity, diversity, and inclusion. c h r i s t i n a w r i g h t f i e ld s , PhD, is an assistant professor at Marist College, New York State. A recent coauthored publication (2022) includes “An Argument for administrative critical consciousness in public administration” in Public Integrity. leena yahia is a PhD candidate in measurement, assessment, policy, leadership, and evaluation in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. She was second author in a recent publication (2022), “Schooling during ­covi d -19: restoring human – centredness amidst uncertainty” in Teachers and teaching: Theory and practice.

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Index

Page numbers followed by (t) and (f) indicate references to tables and figures. accomplices, 256–9. See also allyship activism and advocacy: overview, 246, 249–52; accommodation ­policies, 297; advocacy for schools, 251–2; collaborative aspects, 254; community engagement, 251, 254, 272; culturally responsive leadership, 251–2; historical context, 248–9; lobbying, 251; positionality, 252; power relations, 250–2; social justice leadership, 272; solidarity, 253, 256–7, 295, 306, 313–14; spirituality and, 286–7. See also allyship; social justice leadership Adelson, Naomi, 52, 60 adolescence. See identity development; and entries beginning with ­education (K–12) adult education: overview, 56–7; Anishinaabeg leadership and interface analysis, 52, 55–63; belonging paradigm overview, 230–4, 235(f), 243; deficit perspective, 57, 58;

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Eurocentrism, 52–4, 58, 60; ­interface analysis, 58–9; official languages, 57, 58; social class mobility, 57, 58; systemic barriers, 230–3, 239; terminology, 56; transformative learning theory, 56–7. See also Indigenous ­leadership, interface analysis adult education, belonging paradigm: overview, 230–44, 235(f); ­accountability, 233–4, 235(f), ­240–3; ­collaboration, 233–4, 235(f), 236, 238–40, 242; ­empathy, 233, 235(f), 236–7, ­240–1; growth mindset, 233, 235(f), 240–2; racist stereotypes, 235–43; relationality, 233, 235(f); self-awareness and self-­ compassion, 233, 235(f), 236, 238; systemic barrier reduction, 231–2, 239–43; trust, 233, 235(f), 240; uv ic program (Uni 101), 230–44 African Americans. See United States, African Americans African Indigenous knowledges, 277, 282, 286–7

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326 Index

agency, collective, 246. See also ­activism and advocacy; allyship Agger-Gupta, Niels: chapter by, 81–95; positionality, 82, 319 Agosto, Vonzell, 23–4 Ahenakew, Cash, 216 Ahmed, Sara, 272 Ainscow, Mel, 180 Alberta: Chinese women ­demographics, 104, 105(t); ­student knowledge of Indigenous peoples, 225 Alert Bay, b c, 37 Alfred, Taiaiake, 216 allyship: overview, 246, 252–7, ­313–14; accomplices, 256–9; vs. advocacy, 253; collaborations, 132–3, 254–5, 256; decolonization, 256–8; equity warriors, 254; ­historical context, 248–9; Indigenous education (K–12), ­222–7; old boys network, 128–9; politicized White women, 129; power relations, 253, 256–8; queer allies, 253; saviour mentality, 256; solidarity, 253, 256–7, 295, 306, 313–14; White mentors for ­racialized leaders, 164. See also activism and advocacy Alphonse, Shirley: chapter by, 81–95; positionality, 82, 319; referenced, 86, 91 Alvesson, Mats, 23 Amanti, Cathy, 152 American College Personnel Association (acpa), 68, 69, 74–6 Ancona, Deborah, 55 Anderson, Amy L., 251 Anderson, Cheryl, 26 Angelle, Pamela S., 51

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Anishinaabeg leadership. See Indigenous leadership, Anishinaabeg social justice Antoine, Asma-na-hi: chapter by, 81–95; positionality, 82, 319; ­referenced, 86 Anyon, Jean, 250 Archibald, Jo-Ann, 296 Ariss, Rachel, 58 Arlestig, Helene, 51 Armstrong, Denise, 265 Asian Canadians: participants in K–12 leadership research, 143, 148–9; Stop Asian Hate movement, 106. See also Chinese Canadians Asma-na-hi. See Antoine, Asma-na-hi assimilation of Indigenous people. See Indigenous peoples and settlers Atleo, Marlene, 62, 247 authentic leadership: overview, ­131–2, 200, 315–16; authentic self, 34, 59–61, 200; challenge for women of colour (WoC), 125–6, 131–2; classroom context, 233; Indigenous reconciliation, 226; racialized minority leaders, 164, 200; transformative dialogue, 196, 202–3, 206; White heterosexual male leaders, 34 Avolio, Bruce J., 19 Azar, Edward, 54 Barker, Adam J., 294 basic adult education. See adult education Battel Lowman, Emma, 294 Battiste, Marie, 53, 55, 59–60, 61, 247, 286, 293–4 Baxter, Amy R., 18

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Index

Beaton, Terri-Lynne: chapter by, ­230–45; positionality, 230–1, 319 Bedi, Shailoo: chapters by, 3–12, 36–50, 137–58, 309–17; ­positionality, 319–20; referenced, 98, 258, 312, 313, 315; on themes, 33–4, 97–9, 209–10 behaviour challenges. See education (K–12), students with special needs belonging: assumed vs. earned ­privilege, 129–30; compassion and empathy, 203–5; paradigm of belonging, 230, 235(f); students with special needs, 183–7, 190–1; trust and distrust, 233, 235(f), 240. See also adult education, belonging paradigm Berdahl, Jennifer, 174 b f t (Black Feminist Thought), 195, 198, 201–6 Bhabha, Homi, 147, 151 bias. See discrimination, bias, and prejudice; stereotypes Bies, Robert I., 170 Billing, Yvonne Due, 23 Biran, Mia, 198 Black leadership: overview, 277–8; advocacy for Black students, ­251–2; Black Feminist Thought (b f t ), 195, 198, 201–6; Black Lives Matter, 3, 106, 114, 309; Black women stereotypes, 200–1, 268–9; counterhegemonic ­leadership, 310–12; demographics, 102, 103(f); double consciousness, 150, 269, 315–16; not a ­monolithic community, 281; ­provocations for change, 312–13. See also education (K–12), Black leadership, Ontario (case study);

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higher education, faculty, Black women; United States, African Americans Black leadership, spirituality and community: overview, 277–88; African Indigenous knowledges, 277, 282, 286–7; Black leadership, 280–8; community of leaders, 280, 282–3, 287–8; leadership overview, 278–81; spirituality, 284–7. See also spirituality in leadership Blackmore, Jill, 139 Blanchett, Wanda, 181 Blumer, Irwin, 254 Boomen, Karyn Vanden: chapter by, 51–66; positionality, 51, 60, 320 Bray, Nancy, 17 Brayboy, Bryan M.J., 224 British Columbia: Chinese ­immigration and demographics, 105(t), 106–10; legal rights for inclusion, 247 Brookfield, Stephen, 124 Brooks, Wilson O., 263 Brown, Brené, 257 Brown, David, 52, 55–6 Brown, Tammy Melitta Miles, 141 Brown, Wendy, 22 Brownlee, Joanne, 123 Bryant, Alyssa N., 284 Bush, Tony, 251 Butler, Alana: chapter by, 263–76; positionality, 320; referenced, 313, 314 Butterwick, Shauna, 57–8 Cajete, Gregory, 34, 61 “calling it out,” 126–8, 169 Calmore, John O., 142

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Campbell, Andrew: chapter by, ­263–76; positionality, 320; ­referenced, 210, 313, 314 Canada: Chinese immigration and demographics, 105(t), 106–10; demographics, 102–5, 103(f), 105(f), 105(t) Cappello, Michael: chapter by, ­212–29; positionality, 214–15, 320 Carroll, Brigid, 27 Catherine. See Etmanski, Catherine Chan, Adrienne: chapter by, 119–36; positionality, 119–20, 320; ­referenced, 98, 119–20, 126–33, 314, 315 change: texts as catalysts, 43–5; touchstones as catalysts, 37–8, 47. See also activism and advocacy; allyship; social change model of leadership (s c m); social justice leadership Charles, t e ⱥ i e Nadine, 81 Chen, Chao C., 23 children. See entries beginning with education (K–12) Chin, Jean Lau, 23, 196, 200 Chinese Canadians: overview, 101–3; anti-Asian racism, 106–8; ­demographics, 102–5, 103(f), 105(f), 105(t); exclusionary ­citizenship practices, 101, 104, 106; historical background, ­106–13; model minority myth, 110–11, 113–14; patriarchal ­society, 104, 107, ­110–12; racial/ gender leadership deficit, 101–2; stereotypes, 101, 107, 110–11; whitewashing, 106, 113 Chinese Canadians, women: overview, 98, 101–15; demographics,

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102–5, 103(f), 105(f), 105(t); ­double marginalization, 101, ­110–12; insider/outsider binary, 112–14, 315–16; intersectionality, 107–8; outstanding leaders, 107–8; racial/gender leadership deficit, 101–2, 104–8, 114–15 Chrisjohn, Roland, 213 Cioè-Peña, Maria, 180 Clark, Caroline, 253 Clarke, Andrew: chapter by, 230–45; positionality, 230–1, 320 Cochran-Smith, Marilyn, 124 collaboration: allyship, 132–3, ­254–5, 256; Black leadership, 277, 288; four C’s, 28; leadership-aspractice, 27–9; leadership by WoC, 132–3; participatory theatre, 85–6 College Student Educators International (a c pa ), 68, 69, 74–6 Collins, Patricia Hill, 127, 128, 198, 201–2, 204 colour blindness, 20 community engagement: activism and advocacy, 251, 254, 272; ­community of leaders, 280, 282, 287–8; Indigenous education, ­217–27; Indigenous social justice, 61–3; spirituality in leadership, 285–8. See also Black leadership, spirituality and community consensus building, 162, 230–1 constructivism, 197–8 controversy with civility, 202–3 Cook, Krystal: chapter by, 81–95; positionality, 82, 320; referenced, 92 Cooper, Marie, 50n1 Corak, Lisa: chapter by, 81–95; ­positionality, 82, 320

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Index

Cormier, Paul: chapter by, 51–66; positionality, 51, 60, 63n1, 321; referenced, 53, 58, 311 Corntassel, Jeff, 216, 298 Cory, Rebecca: chapter by, 230–45; positionality, 230–1, 321; ­referenced, 210 Coser, Lewis, 56 Coulthard, Glen Sean, 213 Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (c m ec), 179 c o v i d -19 pandemic, 3, 10, 278, 309–10 Cranston, Jerome, 225 Cree language, 297, 298–300 Cree women, 300. See also Pete, Shauneen Crenshaw, Kimberlé, 182, 200 critical incidents and change, 179, 182–3, 188–9, 313 critical race theory (crt): overview, 121, 144, 151, 160, 215, 265–6; counterhegemonic leadership, 311; counter-story, 140, 142, 144, ­173–4, 266, 311; history of, 160; power relations, 160; racial ­realism, 265–6; TribalCrit (Tribal Critical Race Theory), 215–17 Cui, Bing, 141 culturally responsive leadership: ­overview, 84–5, 168; advocacy for students, 251–2; for all students, 271; cultural competencies, 266; culturally relevant pedagogy, 266; expectations of achievement, 266; in low-income schools, 266, 270; as social justice, 84–5; student ­critical consciousness, 266. See also social justice leadership

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329

cultural violence, as term, 54 Cutfeet, John, 58 Dam, Lincoln I., 169 Dantley, Michael, 285 Daschuk, James, 52 decolonization: overview, 61, ­298–307; allyship, 256–8; ­authentic self, 59–61; vs. inclusion and resurgence, as terms, 298–9, 305–6; Indigenous languages, 298, 301, 303; Indigenous work, 300; interface analysis, 54–6, 311; ­narrative/storying approach, 45–6, 48–9, 173–4, 296–8; privileging Indigenous ways, 52, 54, 60–3; research methods, 216–17; settler, as term, 93n2, 299; settler ­decolonization and Indigenous resurgence pathways (uv ic), ­298–307; tr c Calls to Action, 53, 83, 209, 212–13, 216, 218; ­university initiatives (uv ic), 304–7. See also Indigenous peoples and settlers; Indigenous education (K–12), leadership and decolonization, Saskatchewan (case study); Indigenous leadership, Anishinaabeg social justice; Indigenous leadership, interface analysis; reconciliation and ­resurgence; Truth and Reconciliation Commission (tr c ) Dei, George J. Sefa: African Indigenous knowledge, 282, ­286–7; community of leaders, 280, 282, 287–8; counterhegemonic approaches, 48–9, 247, 310–12; spirituality and leadership, 284–7 Delgado, Richard, 144, 266

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DeMatthews, David, 121, 123, 264, 270 Desormeaux, Lyne, 200 DiAngelo, Robin, 113, 315 Dilworth, Paulette Patterson, 18, 26, 196 disabilities: employment equity law, 25; legal rights to inclusion, 247; social barriers vs. personal impairment, 189; statistics on university faculty, 6. See also education (K–12), students with special needs discrimination, bias, and prejudice: overview, 54; “calling it out,” ­126–8, 169; cultural violence and, 54–5; insider/outsider status, 113, 315–16; intersectionality and ­hierarchies of discrimination, ­107–8; terminology, 54. See also stereotypes distrust. See trust and distrust diversity leadership: overview, 4–10, 9(t), 22–4, 33–4, 121–2, 130–3, 309–17; as colonial oppression, 84–5, 86–7; as complex and ­contested concept, 8, 231; counterhegemonic approaches, 48–9, 247, 310–12; critical leadership studies (c l s ), 22–3; deficit, 25–7, 119; feminist narrative research, 122, 133; inclusive diversity, 174; vs. Indigenous resurgence, 298–9; insider/outsider status, 272; interdisciplinary approach, 23; ­intersectionality theme, 8–10, 9(t), 23–4, 97–9; key questions, 5, 24; leadership-as-practice, 27–9; as performative, 312; provocations for change, 42–8, 48(f), 312–13; reimagined realities theme, 8–10,

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9(t), 209–10; relationality theme, 8–10, 9(t), 33–4, 311; research approaches, 22–4; response to rejection of difference, 314–15; shift in practice paradigm, 9, 9(t). See also intersectionality; ­reimagined realities; relationality Dobell, Beverley: chapter by, 230–45; positionality, 230–1, 321 Dua, Enakshi, 215 Du Bois, W.E.B., 126, 130, 150, 269 Dugan, John P., 68 Duvoux, Nicolas, 21–2 Dweck, Carol S., 240 Dyck, Lillian Eva Quan, 107–8, 114 Eagly, Alice H., 23, 196 Early, Sherry L.: chapter by, ­195–211; positionality, 197–8, 321; ­referenced, 99, 316 education: education as human right, 179–80; systemic barriers, 231–2. See also adult education; education (K–12); higher education; Indigenous education education (K–12), Black leadership, Ontario (case study): overview, 263–74; critical race theory, ­265–6; culturally responsive ­leadership, 266; expectation to serve, 272; intersectionality of race and gender, 273–4; microaggressions, 264, 267–9, 273–4; research participants, 267; research study, 264–7, 272–4; social justice ­leadership, 264–7, 270–4 education (K–12), racialized administrators, b c (case study): overview, 99, 137–52; assimilation theory, 138, 146; critical race theory, 138,

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Index

144; empathy for students, ­149–52; hybrid identities, 138, 147–52, 315–16; identity ­development, 138, 141, 144–52; life-history research, 138–42; ­literature on, 137–41, 150–2; ­personal qualities, 141; research gap on racialized minorities, ­139–40; research methods, 138, 142–4; role models, 141 education (K–12), students with ­special needs: overview, 98–9, ­178–92; Canadian study ­(2016–19), 179, 182–3; critical incidents and change, 179, 182–3, 188–9, 313; equity and diversity, 183–5; feeling of community belonging, 183–7, 190–1; inclusive leadership, 179–82, 188–91; ­intersectionality framework, ­180–2, 184, 189–92; languages, 180, 184; leadership competencies, 188–91; literature review, 180–2; policy frameworks, 179–80; social justice leadership, 181–2; staff, 187–9; strategies, 184–9; ­students of colour, 190; student voices, 186; terminology, 179–80, 181 Eizadirad, Ardavan, 309–10 Ellermann, Craig: chapter by, ­230–45; positionality, 230–1, 321 Employment Equity Act (1986), 25 epistemology, 197 equity myth, 15–18, 22, 27, 172 Equity Myth, The (F. Henry), 9, 172 equity warriors, 254. See also allyship Erikson, Erik H., 144–5, 151 Ermine, Willie, 53, 62, 257 Esses, Victoria, 102, 103(f)

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ethics and values: overview, 168–9; authentic self, 168, 203–5; Black leadership, 280–1; caring and empathy, 28, 201, 203–6; counterhegemonic leadership, 311–12; ­culturally responsive leadership, 168, 272; obligation to serve, ­165–70, 172, 272. See also ­authentic leadership Etmanski, Catherine: chapter by, 81–95; positionality, 82, 321; ­referenced, 86, 313, 314 Eurocentrism, 52–4, 58, 60, 279, 294 Fairholm, Gilbert, 286 feminism: Black Feminist Thought (b f t), 195, 198, 201–6; critical race theory, 121; feminist voice as a WoC, 128; narrative research, 122, 133; research history, 20–1 Feuerstein, Reuven, 40, 44 Fink, Dean, 169 Fitzgerald, Tanya, 140, 142, 150 Foldy, Erica, 166, 174 Fontaine, Danielle, 250 Ford, Jackie, 20 Fortune 500 list, 17 Foster, Cecil, 277, 281 four C’s (collectiveness, concurrency, collaboration, compassion), 28 Franzway, Suzanne, 20–1 Friere, Paulo, 232–3 frozen middle in organizational change, 125, 131–2 Fullan, Michael, 272 Furman, Gail, 132 Furniss, Elizabeth, 215 Galtung, Johan, 54, 56, 62 Gaudry, Adam, 302

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Gee, James Paul, 145 gender and sex: changing forms of gender relations, 21; dominant group identities, 68–9, 75–7; ­gender blindness, 20; gendered/ racialized leadership gap, 101–2, 104; gender equity, 25; insider/­ outsider status, 113, 130; sexism and intersectionality, 198. See also Chinese Canadians, women; higher education, administration, women of colour; higher education, ­faculty, Black women; higher ­education, student affairs, social justice leadership by White men (case study); lg bt q + people; men and masculinity Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1924), 179 George, Bill, 131 Geraci, Johanna, 57 Ginger, Roland, 81 Giorgi, Amedeo, 197 Global Gender Gap Report (2017), 17 Gonzales, Norma, 152 Gooden, Mark, 6 Gordon, Milton, 145 Grant, Rebecca, 20, 25 Guy, Mary E., 20 Hall, Stuart, 147, 151 Handford, Victoria: chapter by, ­159–77; positionality, 321; ­referenced, 98, 312, 315–16 Hankivsky, Olena, 181 Hanson, Susan, 250 Hargreaves, Andy, 169 h e (higher education). See higher education Helmke, Gretchen, 114

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Henry, Annette, 277, 281 Henry, Frances, 9, 172, 247, 258 Hernandez, Kathy-Ann C., 125 Heron Peoples Circle, 81, 86–8, 90–2, 93nn1–4 heterosexuality: dominant group identities, 68–9, 75–7; social change model (sc m), 68–9, 74–7, 196 Heykoop, Cheryl: chapter by, 81–95; positionality, 82, 321 higher education: administrator or researcher binary, 166; commodification of education, 167; diversity, statistics, 6–7; equity myth, 9; Eurocentrism, 52–4, 58, 60, 294; faculty evaluation process, 164; Indigenous educators and students, 7, 98; systemic barriers, 231–2; tr c Calls to Action on education, 83; Western cognitive imperialism, 53, 55, 61, 62, 293–4. See also leadership in academic studies higher education, administration: ­culturally responsive leadership, 168; insider/outsider status, 113, 124–5, 130, 166; obligation to serve, 165–70, 172; statistics, 6–7; tenure status, 165; visible ­minorities, 6–7, 163, 170, 172 higher education, administration, racialized minorities (case study): overview, 98, 159–74, 162(f); advancement in hierarchies, 165–6; allyship and networks, 164, 167–8; counter-stories, 160, 173–4; critical race theory, 160; equitable spaces, 172; hybridized adaptive leadership style, 161, 165–6; identities as unique, 165–6; learning as

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Index

continuous process, 163–6; microaggressions, 167–8, 171, 174; ­obligation to serve, 165–70, 172; power and political relations, ­161–4; research gap on minorities, 159–60; research project, 160–1, 162(f), 173–4; resilience, 167–8; sustainable leadership, 169–70, 172; tenure status, 165; trust and distrust, 170–1; values and ­principles, 168–9; visibility ­strategies, 163, 170, 172 higher education, administration, women of colour: overview, 98, 119–20, 130–3; allyship, 128–9, 132–3; authentic leadership, 126, 131–2; “calling it out” against ­racism, 126–8; Chinese Canadian administrator, 119–20; collaborative leadership, 132–3; earned vs. assumed privilege, 129–30; ­feminist narrative research, 122, 133; “frozen middle” and, 125, 131–2; identity negotiation, 132; inequity-hunting, 123–4, 314; insider/outsider status, 113, 124–5, 130, 315–16; leading with the grain, 131; multi-voiced model, 123–4, 312; power relations, 121, 127, 131; resistance to change, 124–5; South Asian administrator, 119–20; teaching against the grain, 124–5; voice and agency, 127 higher education, faculty, Black women: overview, 195–206; authors’ positionalities, 196–7, 202–5; b f t (Black Feminist Thought) principles, 195, 198, 201–6; caring and empathy, 201, 203–5; classroom context,

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198–205; dialogues as transformative, 201, 202–6; identity salience, 199–200, 202; intersectionality, 200–2; lived experience, 202–6; phenomenological approach, 195, 197; research gap on Black women, 196; sc m (Social Change Model), 195–6, 202–3 higher education, student affairs, social justice leadership by White men (case study): overview, 34, 67–80; authentic self, 34; ­communal, participatory change, 34, 70–1, 74–5; individual and ­systemic oppression, 76; intersectionality, 72; journal writing, 70, 74; power relations, 34, 71–2, 74–5; professional standards, 68, 76; relationship building, 70, 72–3; research question and findings, 70–4; role modelling, 34, 70, 73–5; social change model (sc m), 68–9, 74–7; student affairs professional as social justice leaders, 69–70; study text (Teaching to Transgress), 34, 67, 70–4, 76–7, 77n1; ­transgressive teaching, 34, 67, 70–4, 76–7, 77n1 Hoffman-Kipp, Peter, 145 hooks, bell: on diversity in the ­academy, 119; on education and freedom, 77; intersectional framework, 77n1; on spirituality, 285–6; talking back and “­calling it out,” 126–8; Teaching to Transgress and social justice ­leadership, 34, 67, 70–4, 76–7, 77n1 Horting, Karen, 111 Howard, Philip S., 281

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Howell, Gloria: chapter by, 195–211; positionality, 197–8, 322; ­referenced, 99, 316 human rights: children with ­disabilities, 179–80; education as ­universal right, 44–5, 179–80; ­historical background, 249; Indigenous rights, 44–5; ­international ­agreements, 179–80; provocations for change, 44–5; social justice leadership, 264 Humes, Walter, 248 Hunt, Valerie, 24 hybrid identities, 138, 147–51, 315–16 hybridized adaptive leadership style, 161, 165–6 i c i e (Indian Control of Indian Education) (1972), 36, 43, 49n1 identity: overview, 137–8, 165–6, 315–16; categories of, 145, 147; classroom context, 198–200; as continual process, 147, 151, ­165–6, 315–16; hybrid identities, 138, 147–51, 315–16; identity salience, 199–200; internal and external construct, 145; inter­ sectionality as theme, 8–10, 9(t), 97–9; personal and social ­identities, 197–8; reconciliation and identity work, 222, 225, 227, 315–16; relation to practice, 137, 152; as unique, 165–6. See also intersectionality identity development: overview, ­144–52; in adolescence, 145, 151; as continual process, 146–7, 151, 165–6, 315–16; cultural ­identity, 138, 144–7, 149–51;

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Erikson’s theory, 144–5; ethnicracial identity, 144–6; hybrid ­identities, 138, 147–51, 315–16; life-history research methods, ­142–4; professional identity, ­146–7, 315–16 immigration: assimilation theory, 146; Chinese Canadians, 105(t), 106–10; settler, as term, 299 inclusion: vs. decolonization and resurgence, as terms, 298–9, ­305–6; leadership studies, 19; ­limitations to theories, 231 inclusive education: overview, 179; intersectionality, 181–2; legal rights for, 247; terminology, 178–9 Indigenous education: overview, 53–4, 56–8; achievement gaps, 53; adult education, 56–63; Aki (Earth)–based learning, 58–9, 61; as central for change, 39–41; ­cognitive imperialism, 53, 62–3; community relationships, 217–26; cultural violence, 53–5; decolonizing research methods, 216–17; early childhood education, 247; graduation rates, 247; Indigenous control of education, 36, 43–4, 49n1; kinship relations, 58–9; post-secondary education, 53; ­residential schools, 44, 45–6, 212, 309; transformative learning theory, 56–7; tr c national centre, 38, 40, 44; Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), 215–17; two worldviews, 41, 46–7, 315–16. See also Truth and Reconciliation Commission (tr c ) Indigenous education (K–12), ­leadership and decolonization,

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Saskatchewan (case study): ­overview, 213–27; allyship and ­networks, 222–3; authors’ ­positionalities, 214–15; colonial structures, 213–14, 216–26; ­community relations, 225–7; ­curriculum on treaties, 218, 221; future research, 226–7; identity work by leaders, 222, 225, 227, 315–16; non-Indigenous principals, 213, 217, 220–1; professional development, 222, 225; ­relationality, 216, 218–19, 222–4; research project, 216–17, 226–7; resistance to change, 216, 218–19, 221–2, 224; social justice leadership, 216; strategies, 223, 225, 227; TRC Calls to Action, 212–13, 216, 218, 224; Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), 215–17; unlearning colonial thinking, ­217–21, 225, 227 Indigenous leadership: counterhegemonic leadership, 310–12; counternarratives, 296–8; identity, 140, 142, 150, 315–16; as insurgence, 310; provocations for change, 42–8, 48(f), 312–13 Indigenous leadership, Anishinaabeg social justice: overview, 51–63, 63n1; Aki (Earth)–based learning, 58–9, 61; authentic self, 59–61; community context, 61–3; cultural learning, 58–9; interface analysis overview, 52–62, 311; leaders as teachers and learners, 55; leadership as process, 60; Ojibway terms, 55, 58, 60; peace culture, 51–2; privileging of Anishinaabeg ­worldview, 52, 54, 60, 62–3;

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relationality, 58, 61–3; spirituality, 51–2, 61, 63; strength through diversity, 61. See also Indigenous leadership, interface analysis Indigenous leadership, interface ­analysis: overview, 51–63, 311; authentic self, 59–61; colonial ­violence, 51–5, 62–3; counterhegemonic leadership, 310–12; cultural interfaces, 52, 54–5, 311; leadership as process, 60; negotiations between worldviews, 59; organizational interface, as term, 55; ­privileging Indigenous ways, 52, 54, 60–3; relational leadership, 61–3; strength through diversity, 60–1. See also Indigenous leadership, Anishinaabeg social justice Indigenous leadership, relationality: overview, 38–42, 48–9, 48(f); Anishinaabeg social justice, 58, 61–3; bridges between cultures, 45–6; counterhegemonic leadership, 310–12; counter-narratives, 44, 45–6, 48–9; discursive tools, 43–4; education as central, 39–41; human rights, 41, 44–5; inspirational leaders, 36–8, 42, 48–9, 49nn1–2, 50n3; nested model of leadership, 46–8, 48(f), 312; ­organizations, 42; provocations for change, 42–8, 48(f), 312–13; relationality as theme, 41–2, 46–8, 48(f); texts as change catalysts, 43–5; touchstones as change ­catalysts, 38–9, 47; two worldviews, 41, 46–7, 315–16 Indigenous peoples: decolonization, inclusion, and resurgence, as terms, 298–9, 305–6; international

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organizations, 45; language ­revitalization, 297–8, 301, 303; precolonial cultures of peace, 51–2; statistics on women, 3; as term, 93n3; women as leaders, 140, 142, 150; worldview, 58–9. See also African Indigenous knowledges Indigenous peoples and settlers: ­overview, 52–4, 82–3, 215–16, 293–9; academic research, 21; assimilation, 53, 57, 146, 294; bridges between cultures, 45–6; child services, 247; cognitive ­imperialism, 53, 55, 61, 62, 293–4; colonialism, 215–16; education as cultural transmission, 53; employment equity law, 25; epistemic ignorance, 293–5; Eurocentrism, 52–4, 58, 60, 294; Indigenous resurgence, 298–9; multiculturalism as colonial thinking, 84–6; ­settler, as term, 93n2, 299; settler decolonization and Indigenous resurgence (u vic), 298–307; TribalCrit (Tribal Critical Race Theory), 215–17; two worldviews, 41, 46, 217, 315–16; universalism, 52–3; violence in relations, 51–3; White Paper (1969), 41; White supremacy, 52–3; whitewashing, 294. See also decolonization; ­reconciliation and resurgence; Truth and Reconciliation Commission (trc) inequity-hunting, 123–4, 314 integrity. See ethics and values interface analysis. See Indigenous leadership, interface analysis intersectionality: overview, 97–9, 181–2; as colonial thinking, 84–5;

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diversity leadership practice ­paradigm, 9(t); double and ­multiple consciousness, 126, 130, 150, 269, 315–16; education ­barriers and, 231; gendered/­ racialized leadership gap, 101–2, 104; hierarchies of discrimination, 107–8; identity negotiation in ­leadership, 132, 315–16; inclusive/ exclusive space, 97; leadership-aspractice, 27–9; multiple identities, 97, 130, 315–16; oppression and, 97–9; power relations, 181–2; as provocation for change, 312–13; relational intersectionality, 24; social justice leadership, 181–2; terminology, 181; as theme, 8–10, 9(t), 97–9. See also disabilities; gender and sex; identity; Indigenous peoples; racialized ­people (visible minorities) Jackson, Jerlando, 26, 113 James, Carl E., 172, 247, 277, 281 Johnson, Lauri, 251, 264 Johnson, Thomas, 141 Jones, Hannah: chapter by, 230–45; positionality, 230–1, 322 Kanter, Rosemary M., 20 Karyn. See Boomen, Karyn Vanden Kendi, Ibram X., 315 Kibzey, Cheri: chapter by, 230–45; positionality, 230–1, 322 Kincheloe, Joe L., 59 King, Thomas, 90, 93n6 Kirkness, Verna, 42, 49n1 Kitossa, Tamari, 278 Klinga, Suzanne, 57 Kluttz, Jenalee, 256

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Kodama, Keil, 81 Koschack, Kolby, 81 Koski, Susan: chapter by, 230–45; positionality, 230–1, 322 Kumashiro, Kevin, 205 Kuokkanen, Rauna, 293–4 Ladson-Billings, Gloria, 266 Lai, David Chuenyan, 112 Lamont, Michèle, 21–2 Lange, Elizabeth, 56–7 languages: Indigenous language ­revitalization, 297–8, 301, 303; official languages, 57, 58 Lather, Patti, 231 Lawrence, Bonita, 215 Lawrence, Charles R., 144, 216 leadership: overview, 83–4, 278–80, 284–8, 309–17; as contested ­concept, 8, 279, 288; counterhegemonic definitions, 280, 310–12; critical scholarship on, 279–80; as culturally specific, 279–80; frozen middle of spectrum, 125, 131–2; historical background, 278–9; leadership-as-practice, 27–9; as performative, 312; process vs. ­outcome variables, 28–9, 279, 312; spirituality as guide, 284–7; Western notions, 279–80, 310–11. See also culturally responsive ­leadership; diversity leadership; social justice leadership; spirituality in leadership leadership in academic studies: ­overview, 19–24; critical leadership studies (c l s ), 22–3; diversity ­studies and leadership literature relationships, 22–4; epistemological issues, 19–22; interdisciplinary

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approach, 23; intersectional approach, 23; key questions, 19, 24; research paradigm, 23; Weber’s objective standards, 19–23 learning disabilities. See education (K–12), students with special needs Lemon, Meredith: chapter by, ­230–45; positionality, 230–1, 322 Levitsky, Steven, 114 Levy, Lester, 27 Lewicki, Roy J., 170 lg b t q+ people: overview, 199; ­allyship, 253; dominant group identities, 68–9, 75–7; safe spaces, 247; student inclusiveness and belonging, 184 Li, Guofang, 17 Lil’wat community, 37 Limerick, Brigid, 26 Lisnic, Rodica, 24 literacy, 57. See also adult education Little Bear, Leroy, 62 Liu, Helena, 24 lived experience: b f t (Black Feminist Thought) principles, 201–6; critical race theory, 121. See also narrative and story lobbying, 251. See also activism and advocacy Lopez, Ann E.: chapter by, 277–88; positionality, 277, 280, 281, 284, 322; referenced, 84, 210, 266, 310 López-Dominguez, Mercedes, 165 Lorde, Audre, 314–15 Lorenz, Danielle, 302 Loubier, Cynthia, 23 Lucas, Jeffrey W., 18 Lumby, Jacky, 19, 23 Luthan, Fred, 19

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MacLure, Margaret, 142 Maich, Kimberly: chapter by, ­178–94; positionality, 322 Manitoba: Chinese women ­demographics, 104, 105(t); ­gendered/racialized leadership gap, 101–2 Manuel, George, 42, 45, 49n1 Marshall, Catherine, 248–9, 251 Martin, Deborah G., 250 Matarasso, Francois, 84 McAllister, Daniel J., 170 McDonald, Steve, 129 McEwen, Celina, 24 McGhie-Richmond, Donna: chapter by, 178–94; positionality, 323 McGregor, Catherine: chapters by, 3–12, 36–50, 246–62, 309–17; positionality, 323; referenced, 210, 312, 313, 314, 315; on themes, 33–4, 97–9, 209–10 McLaughlin, Conor P.: chapter by, 67–80; positionality, 67, 323; ­referenced, 312, 314 Meadows, Donella, 243 Medianu, Stelian, 102, 103(f) men and masculinity: challenging ­traditional norms, 21, 128–9; Chinese Canadian patriarchy, 104, 107, 110–12; dominant group identities, 68–9, 75–7; material privilege, 68–9; patriarchal favouritism, 128–9; remasculinization of elite, 26; social change model (s c m ), 68–9, 74–7, 196 mentors, 164, 169–70 Métis, 38, 57 microaggressions and microassaults, 167, 171, 174, 267–9, 273–4, 315. See also racism

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Mills, Charles, 106 Mitchell, Barbara A., 248–9 Mitchell, Coral, 265 model minority myth, 110–11, 113–14 Moll, Luis C., 152 Montevirgen, Alexis S., 140 Moody, Joanne, 17 Moola, Sarifa, 249 Moran, Ry, 36–45. See also Indigenous leadership, relationality Morgan, Anthony, 278 Morimoto, 24 Morrison, Marlene, 19, 23 Morvan, Jhonel: chapter by, 178–94; positionality, 322–3 Mullings, Dolores, 278 Multhaup, Marina, 111 multiculturalism: overview, 25–6, 278; critiques of, 84–5, 86–7, 106; educational research, 138, 160; as public policy, 248, 249, 278 Naff, Katherine, 20 Nakata, Martin, 52, 53, 55, 62 narrative and story: overview, ­296–8; Black spirituality, 284–5; ­counterhegemonic leadership, ­311–12; counter-story, 140, 142, 144, 151, 173–4, 266, 311; ­critical race ­theory, 140, 142, 144, 173–4, 266, 311; feminist narrative research, 122, 133; Indigenous counter-­narratives, 45–6, 48–9, 173–4, 296–8; Indigenous languages, ­297–8, 301, 303; life ­histories and ­identity, 140–4. See also ­participatory ­theatre (Walk with Me at r r u); voice

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na s p a (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators), 68, 69, 74–5 National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (n ctr), 38, 40, 44 Nelson, Alex, 37 Nelson, Nella, 36–43, 45–6. See also Indigenous leadership, relationality neo-liberalism: overview, 21–2; belonging paradigm as counter to, 230, 232–3, 243; leadership assumptions, 280; White male leaders, 9 nested model of Indigenous leadership, 46–8, 48(f), 312 networks: coalitions of support, 163; Indigenous reconcilation, 222–7; mentors, 164, 169–70; old boys network, 128–9; trust and distrust, 170–1, 223. See also activism and advocacy; allyship Ngunjiri, Faith Wambura, 125 Norberg, Katrina, 51 Northouse, Peter G., 83, 92, 279 Nunavut Arctic College, 57 O’Callaghan, Elizabeth M., 26, 113 Ojibway language, 55 Okemaysim, Darren, 298 Ontario: Black school principals, ­statistics, 263, 273–4; Chinese women, demographics, 104, 105(t); critical pedagogy policy, 265. See also education (K–12), Black leadership, Ontario (case study) Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators, 263, 267 ontology, 197

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oppression: individual and systemic, 76, 113, 114–15; internalized oppression, 111; intersectionality and, 97–9, 181–2; microaggressions and microassaults, 167, 171, 174, 267–9, 273–4, 315; power relations, 181–2; social change model of leadership (sc m ), 76. See also discrimination, bias, and prejudice; and entries beginning with Indigenous organizations: equity myth, 16; ­frozen middle in change, 125, ­131–2; interface analysis overview, 52–62, 311; path dependency, 106, 110. See also Indigenous leadership, interface analysis Osmond-Johnson, Pamela: chapter by, 212–29; positionality, 214–15, 323; referenced, 209, 311 Ospina, Sonia, 166, 174 outsider, as term, 113 Palmer, Parker J., 199 pandemic, c ov i d-19, 3, 10, 278, 309–10 paradigm, as term, 233. See also adult education, belonging paradigm participatory theatre (Walk with Me at r r u): overview, 81–93, 90(t); ceremony, 90–1; collaboration, 85–6; colonial context, 82–3, 86–7; experiential stations, 87–91; Heron Peoples Circle, 86–8, 90–2, 93nn1–4; maps without colonial borders, 86, 88; participant ­reflections, 85, 91; performative engagement, 84, 89–90; reflection prompts, 90, 90(t); r r u participants, 87, 92; stories, 86, 88–90,

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92; Walk with Me events (2018, 2019), 81, 84–93, 90(t); website, 88. See also reconciliation and resurgence partnerships. See allyship patriarchy. See men and masculinity Paul. See Cormier, Paul people of colour (poc). See racialized people (visible minorities) Pete, Jacob, 298 Pete, Shauneen: chapter by, 293–308; positionality, 293–8, 299–300, 306–7, 323; referenced, 210, 310 Peters, Harvey Charles, 84 Petrovic, Jerry, 253 phenomenology, 197 Pierce, Chester M., 267 Portelli, John, 265 post-secondary education. See adult education; higher education power and privilege: overview, 121, 127, 129–30, 314–15; activism and advocacy, 250–2; allyship and accomplices, 256–9; “calling it out,” 126–8, 169; counterhegemonic leadership, 312; earned ­privilege, 129–30; hierarchies in adult education, 231; intersectionality, 181–2; leadership-as-practice, 27–9; leading with the grain, 131; masculinist behaviours, 68–9; oppression and intersectionality, 181–2; racial realism, 265–6; reconciliation and bias acknowledgment, 222, 225; response to rejection of difference, 314–15. See also Whiteness prejudice, as term, 54. See also ­discrimination, bias, and prejudice privilege. See power and privilege

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professional development: diversity training, 270, 271; Indigenous ­education, 222, 225 public policy: advocacy and lobbying, 251, 253; neo-liberal impacts, 21–2. See also activism and advocacy Pullen, Alison, 24 queer community. See lg b t q + people Quelleng, Heather K., 278 Quigley, Patricia A., 57 racialized people (visible minorities): demographics, 101–3, 103(f), 105(f), 137; double consciousness, 126, 130, 150, 269, 315–16; employment equity law, 25; ­immigration experience with Whiteness, 146; vs. Indigenous resurgence, 298–9; insider/outsider status, 113, 124–5, 130, 272; ­statistics on higher education, 6–7; struggle for equality, 141, 268–9. See also Black leadership; Chinese Canadians; and entries beginning with Indigenous racism: overview, 113; “calling it out,” 126–8, 169; individual and systemic, 76, 113, 114–15, 247, 269, 273–4; insider/outsider status, 113, 315–16; internalized oppression, 111; microaggressions and microassaults, 167, 171, 174, ­267–9, 273–4, 315; racial realism, 265–6; rejection of difference, ­314–15; whitewashing, 106, 113, 310, 315. See also critical race ­theory (c r t); stereotypes

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Raelin, Joseph A., 27–8 reconciliation and resurgence: ­overview, 296–307; authentic ­leadership, 226; bias acknowledgment, 222, 225; counter-narratives, ­296–8; framework for resurgence, 300–2; identity work, 222, 225, 227, 315–16; vs. inclusion and decolonization, as terms, 298–9, 305–6; Indigenous resurgence and settler decolonization (u vic), ­298–307; language revitalization, 298, 301, 303; settler, as term, 93n2, 299; theatre-based methods, 83, 92–3; trust and distrust, 223; two pathways, 302–7. See also decolonization; Indigenous peoples and settlers; participatory theatre (Walk with Me at rru ) Red River Métis, 38 Regan, Paulette, 213–14, 224–5 reimagined realities: overview, ­209–10; counterhegemonic approaches to leadership, 48–9, 247, 310–12; diversity leadership practice paradigm, 9(t); ­leadership-as-practice, 27–9; ­provocations for change, 42–8, 48(f), 312–13; as theme, 8–10, 9(t), 209–10. See also critical race theory (crt) relationality: overview, 33–4; ­counterhegemonic leadership, ­311–12; decolonizing research, 216–17; diversity leadership ­practice ­paradigm, 9(t); inclusive model, 33; leadership-as-practice, 27–9; narrative and story, 297; ­nonhierarchical model, 33; ­reciprocity, kinship, respect,

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and shared beliefs, 8; relational ­intersectionality, 24; social justice leadership in K–12 schools, 216, 218–19, 222–7; as theme, 8–10, 9(t), 33–4; trust, 33, 170–1, 223. See also Indigenous ­leadership, relationality; ­narrative and story; trust and distrust religion and spirituality, as terms, 285. See also spirituality in leadership research methods: appreciative approach, 173; critical incidents, 189; decolonizing research, ­216–17; identity-neutral claims, 174; phenomenological approach, 197; positionalities, 197–8; race in specific contexts, 173. See also ­narrative and story Reynolds, Jennifer, 125 Reynolds, Vikki, 242, 253 Rhodes, Carl, 24 Richardson, Agnes, 23 Richmond, David, 27 Riehl, Carolyn, 137, 152 Rigby, Jessica G., 254 Robinson, Jeanene, 198 Roland, Ericka, 23–4 Rosiek, Jerry, 253 Royal Commission on Aboriginal People (1996), 53, 305 Royal Roads University (r r u): ­leadership studies (so ls), 82, 83, 92; model of learning, ­teaching, and research, 86; Walk with Me (2028, 2019), 81, 84–93, 90(t). See also participatory ­theatre (Walk with Me at r r u) Ryan, James, 181, 216, 247, 250

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Salamanca Statement, 180 Sam, Ron, 87, 93n4 Sandill, Abha, 180 Santamaria, Lorri and Andrés, 162, 169, 174 Saskatchewan: Chinese women ­demographics, 104, 105(t). See also Indigenous education (K–12), leadership and decolonization, Saskatchewan (case study) Sawyer, Katina, 200 Schnellert, Leyton, 257 scholarship sharing, 124 s c m . See social change model of leadership (s cm) Segeren, Allison L., 253–4 settlers as term, 93n2, 299. See also Indigenous peoples and settlers sex. See gender and sex shared leadership, 19 Shewell, Hugh, 57 Shields, Carolyn M., 84–5, 191, 247–8 Shirley. See Alphonse, Shirley Shore, Lynn M., 19 Shrma, Lokpriy: chapter by, 101–18; positionality, 324; referenced, 258, 311, 313 Sider, Steve: chapter by, 178–94; positionality, 323; referenced, 98, 309–10, 313 Simmel, Georg, 56 Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake, 53, 61, 83, 298 Sinclair, Murray, 42, 49n2, 212 Sivia, Awneet: chapter by, 119–36; positionality, 119–20, 323; ­referenced, 98, 119–20, 123–6, 130–3, 314, 315 Smith, Graham, and Linda Tuhiwai, 293, 300

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Smith, Malinda, 17 social change model of leadership (sc m ): overview, 68–9, 74–7, 196; authentic dialogue, 196; ­co-­creating just spaces, 68; ­controversity with civility, 202–3; dominant group identities, 68–9, 75–7; identity development, 196; individual and systemic oppression, 76; power relations, 68–9, 75–6; resistance to change, 68–9; role modelling, 34, 70, 73–5. See also higher education, faculty, Black women; higher education, student affairs, social justice leadership by White men (case study) social justice leadership: overview, 84, 121–2, 246–8, 257–9, 266; accountability, 257; activism and advocacy, 249–52; for all students, 271; allyship and accomplices, 252–9; community engagement, 272; “compass questions,” 257, 258–9; as concept, 8, 84, 121–2; counterhegemonic leadership, ­310–12; culturally responsive, 84–5, 168, 225, 251–2, 266, ­270–1; historical background, 248–9; inequity-hunting, 123–4, 314; interface analysis overview, 52–62, 311; intersectionality, ­181–2; leading with the grain, 131; multi-voiced model, 123–4, 312; as performative, 312; power relations, 251–5, 312; provocations for change, 42–8, 48(f), 312–13; for students with special needs, ­179–82; teaching against the grain, 124–5; transformative leadership, 19–20, 247–9, 271. See also

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activism and advocacy; allyship; culturally responsive leadership; decolonization; Indigenous ­leadership; Indigenous leadership, Anishinaabeg social justice solidarity, 253, 256–7, 295, 306, 313–14. See also activism and advocacy; allyship South Asian people: case study on K–12 administrators, 143, 148–9; case study on women university administrators, 119–23; demographics, 102, 103(f) Specht, Jacqueline: chapter by, ­178–94; positionality, 324 special education. See education (K–12), students with special needs Spelman, Elizabeth V., 198 spirituality in leadership: overview, 210, 310; African Indigenous knowledges, 282, 286–7; authenticity, 284; Black leadership, 210, 284–8, 310; community life, ­285–8; counterhegemonic leadership, 310; identity development in youth, 149; Indigenous leadership, 51–2, 61, 63, 310; as inner strength, 284–6, 310; religion vs. spirituality, 285; student belonging, 184; values, 285–6. See also Black leadership, spirituality and community St. Denis, Verna, 84–5 Stefancic, Jean, 144, 266 Steinberg, Shirley R., 59 stereotypes: overview, 200–1; angry Black woman, 268–9, 273; Asian model minority myth, 110–11, 113–14; Chinese Canadians, women, 101, 107, 110–11; impacts

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on identity development, 145; as provocation for change, 313; ­strategies to counter racist ­stereotypes, 235–43 Sterzuk, Andrea, 225 Stewart, Carlyle F., 284, 286 Stoicheff, Peter, 53 story. See narrative and story structural violence, 54, 56. See also violence Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (na spa ), 68, 69, 74–5 student affairs offices. See higher ­education, student affairs, social justice leadership by White men (case study) Suarez-Orozco, Carola and Marcelo, 147 support systems. See allyship; networks; relationality sustainable leadership, 169–70, 172 Tancred-Sherriff, Peta, 20, 25 Tator, Carol, 172 Tatum, Beverley Daniel, 254 Teaching to Transgress (hooks), 34, 67, 70–4, 76–7, 77n1 theatre as reconciliation. See ­participatory theatre (Walk with Me at r r u) Timmons, Vianne, 53 touchstones as change catalysts, 37–8, 47 training. See professional development transactional leadership, 19–20 transformative leadership, 19–20, 247–9, 271. See also social justice leadership

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t r c . See Truth and Reconciliation Commission (trc) Tredway, L., 254 Tremblay, Reeta Chowdhari: chapter by, 15–32, 101–18; positionality, 324; referenced, 258, 311, 313 Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), 215–17 Trought-Pitters, Evra, 265 trust and distrust: overview, 170–1; authors and readers, 243; ­belonging paradigm, 233, 235(f), 236–7, 239–40, 242; counter-­ stories, 173; ethics of caring, 203; Indigenous reconciliation, 223; organizational trust, 170–1; ­relationality, 33, 170–1, 223; simultaneous existence, 170–1 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (t r c ): overview, 2 ­ 12–13; Calls to Action, 53, 83, 209, 212–13, 216, 218; colonial legacy, 82–3, 216, 218; ­decolonization of schools, ­212–13, 218; leaders, 49n1; national centre (n ctr), 38, 40, 44 Tuck, Eve, 84–5, 213, 282 Tuhiwai Smith, Linda, 225, 300, 307 Turner, Caroline, 125 Turner, Dale, 60 Turner, Peter: chapter by, 212–29; positionality, 214–15, 324; ­referenced, 209, 311 Turner, Tana, 247 Tuters, Stephanie, 250, 265 Umana-Taylor, Adriana J., 145 un Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), 180 un Sustainable Development Goals, 180

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United States: Chinese women, 110; intersectionality research, 24 United States, African Americans: critical race theory, 144; double consciousness, 126, 130, 150, 269, 315–16; leadership deficit, 18; ­narrative case studies, 141; ­spirituality, 284–7 University of Manitoba, 38 University of Regina, 293 University of Victoria (uv ic): adult education (Uni 101), 230–44; ­education faculty organization, 301; Indigenous leadership, 37, 300–5; Indigenous resurgence and settler decolonization pathways, 298–307. See also adult education, belonging paradigm values. See ethics and values Van Velsor, Ellen, 23 Veracini, Lorenzo, 304, 305 violence: overview, 54–5, 62–3; ­cultural violence, as term, 54; ­gender-based, statistics, 3; Indigenous leadership and colonial violence, 51–5, 62–3; interface analysis, 54–6; personal vs. ­structural, 54, 56; terminology, 54 visibility of leaders, 163, 170, 172 visible minorities. See racialized ­people (visible minorities) voice: overview, 127; challenging the centre, 32; counter-story in c r t, 144; multi-voiced model, 123–4, 174, 205, 312; talking back and “calling it out,” 126–8. See also narrative and story von Koss, Doug, 93n5

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Index

Walk with Me (Heron Peoples Circle of Elders/Old Ones and rru ), 81, 84–93, 90(t) Walsh, Lucas, 181 Walumbwa, Fred O., 19 Wane, Njoki, 285 Weber’s objective standards, 19–23 Weigler, Will: chapter by, 81–95; positionality, 82, 324; referenced, 84 West, Cornel, 286–7 Wet’suwet’en activism, 295 Whitaker, Sandra, 251 Whiteness: overview, 314–15; ­allyship and accomplices, 256–7; assimilation of White immigrants, 146; dominant group identities, 68–9, 75–7, 113; earned vs. assumed privilege, 129–30; insider/ outsider status, 113, 315–16; ­leadership dominance, 278–80; material consequences, 68–9, 106; saviour mentality, 220–1, 226, 256; settler, as term, 299; social change model (scm), 68–9, 74–7; White mentors for racialized ­leaders, 164; whiteness as ­property, 26; White supremacy, 106; ­whitewashing, 106, 113, 294, 310, 315. See also higher ­education, ­student affairs, social justice ­leadership by White men (case study); power and privilege Whitford, Rina, 225 Wilkinson, Jane, 137–8 Williams, Joan C., 111

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345

Williams, Lorna, 36–41, 43–5, 49n1 Wilson, Angela Cavender, 62 Wilson, Camille M., 270–1 Wingfield, Adia H. and John H., 268, 273 Wing Sue, Derald W., 267 Winston, Battalia, 18 Wolfe, Brandon L., 18, 26, 196 Wolvengrey, Arok, 298 women: demographics, 104; hiring trends, 17. See also Chinese Canadians, women women of colour: authentic self, 126; double and multiple ­consciousness, 126, 130, 150, 269, 315–16; ­intersectional ­scholarship, 21 Wong Sneddon, Grace: chapter by, 15–32, 101–18; positionality, 324; referenced, 258, 311, 313 Woon, Yuen-Fong, 112 World Council of Indigenous Peoples, 45 Wright Fields, Christina: chapter by, 195–211; positionality, 197–8, 324; referenced, 99, 316 Yahia, Leena: chapter by, 159–77; positionality, 324; referenced, 98, 312, 315–16 Yang, K. Wayne, 84–5, 213 youth. See identity development; and entries beginning with ­education (K–12) Zajicek, Anna, 24

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