Social Justice Leadership in Education: A Suggested Questionnaire

Year 2018, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 53 - 86, 27.07.2018

Yuanyuan Zhang , J. Tim Goddard , Brittany A. E. Jakubiec

https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2018.1.3

Cited By: 14

Abstract

This
paper reports on the development of the revised Social Justice Questionnaire
(SJQ2), an instrument which permits the quantitative examination of socially
just school leadership. The SJQ2 is based on data drawn from an exploratory
province-wide study to determine to what extent, and how, school principals on
Prince Edward Island understand and enact principles of social justice in their
work. Although this was a ‘stand-alone’ project, the research also provides a
Canadian contribution to the International School Leadership
Development Network (ISLDN). Project design and implementation, including data
collection and analysis, took place in 2015–2017.

The
researchers utilized a mixed methods approach to glean both qualitative and
quantitative data for analysis. The research findings indicated that there is a
statistically significant correlation between socially just school leadership
and the community context. This research supports and enhances current
qualitative studies by adding a statistical perspective to show that effective
social justice leadership cannot be segregated from the political, economic,
and cultural context of the community. Principals in high–need communities
develop more context-responsive leadership in the effort of creating a
democratic and inclusive educational environment.  

Keywords

social justice questionnaire, leadership

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