A New Way Forward for Social Justice Researchers: Development and Validation of the Social Justice Behavior Scale

Year 2019, , 303 - 346, 15.11.2019

Lee D. Flood

https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2019.2.4

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Despite
social justice leadership receiving an increasing amount of attention by
researchers, a methodological imbalance with qualitative inquiries dominating
the existing empirical literature base persists. Compounding this issue is the
lack of a discipline-specific, quantitative instrument made for the exact
purpose of exploring the nature of social justice leadership. This study aimed
to answer the calls of a number of scholars (Jean-Marie, Normore, & Brooks,
2009; Nilsson, Marszalek, Linnemeyer, Bahner, & Misialek, 2011; Otunga,
2009) by developing and validating a scale. The Social Justice Behavior Scale
(SJBS) was developed through the creation of items based on a literature
review, informed directly by a meta-analysis, and refined through the Delphi Technique.
Surveys were digitally distributed to principals in the United States. The
final dataset consisted of 227 principals from 27 states. Following a principal
components analysis with oblimin rotation, the SJBS was found to have three
components made up of 23 items that accounted for 62.16% of the total variance.
Cronbach’s alpha for the entire instrument was .933. The SJBS shows promise as
a quantitative research instrument moving forward. Future recommendations
include collecting additional data for confirmatory analyses, distributing the
instrument in additional contexts, and bolstering future investigations into
social justice leadership through the use of the SJBS as a research tool.

Keywords

Social justice, quantitative, principal, leadership, principal behaviors

References

• Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211. Ajzen, I. (2012). The theory of planned behavior. In P. A. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins. Handbook of theories of social psychology: Volume 1 (Vol. 1, pp. 438-459). London: SAGE Publications Ltd doi: 10.4135/9781446249215.n22 Angelle, P. S., & DeHart, C. A. (2016). Comparison and evaluation of four models of teacher leadership. Research in Educational Administration & Leadership (REAL), 1(1), 85-118. Arar, K., Beycioglu, K., & Oplatka, I. (2017). A cross-cultural analysis of educational leadership for social justice in Israel and Turkey: Meanings, actions and contexts. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 47(2), 192-206. Beavers, A. S., Lounsbury, J. W., Richards, J. K., Huck, S. W., Skolits, G. J., & Esquivel, S. L. (2013). Practical considerations for using exploratory factor analysis in educational research. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 18(6), 1-13. http://pareonline.net/pdf/v18n6.pdf Bishop, H., & Mcclellan, R. (2016). Resisting social justice: Rural school principals' perceptions of LGBTQ students. Journal of School Leadership, 26(1), 124-153. Blackmore, J. (2002). Leadership for socially just schooling: More substance and less style in high risk, low trust times? Journal of School Leadership, 12, 198-222. Blackmore, J. (2009). Leadership for social justice: A transnational dialogue. Journal of research on leadership education, 4(1), 1-10. Bogotch, I. E. (2000, November). Educational leadership and social justice: Theory into practice. Paper presented at: Annual Meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration. Albuquerque, NM. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED452585.pdf Bogotch, I. E. (2002). Educational leadership and social justice: Practice into theory. Journal of School Leadership, 12(2), 138-156. Bogotch, I. E. (2014). Educational theory: The specific case of social justice as an educational leadership Construct. In I. Bogotch & C. Shields (Eds.), Social justice and educational leadership handbook (pp. 51–66). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Bogotch, I. E., & Shields, C. M. (Eds.). (2014). International handbook of Educational Leadership and Social (In) Justice (Vol. 29). New York, NY: Springer. Bosu, R., Dare, A., Dachi, H., & Fertig, M. (2011). School leadership and social justice: Evidence from Ghana and Tanzania. International Journal of Educational Development, 31(1), 67-77. Brooks, J. S., Jean-Marie, G., Normore, A. H., & Hodgins, D. W. (2008). Distributed leadership for social justice: Exploring how influence and equity are stretched over an urban high school. Journal of School Leadership, 17(4), 378-408. Brown, K. M. (2004). Leadership for social justice and equity: Weaving a transformative framework and pedagogy. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(1), 79-110. Bruner, D. Y. (2008). Aspiring and practicing leaders addressing issues of diversity and social justice. Race Ethnicity and Education, 11(4), 483-500. Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56(2), 81. Comrey, A. L., & Lee, H. B. (1992). A first course in factor analysis (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Hove L. Erlbaum Associates. Cooper, C. W. (2009). Performing cultural work in demographically changing schools: Implications for expanding transformative leadership frameworks. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(5), 694-724. Cribb, A., & Gewirtz, S. (2003) Towards a sociology of just practices: An analysis of plural conceptions of justice. In C. Vincent (Ed.), Social justice, education and identity (pp. 15-29). London: RoutledgeFalmer. Dantley, M. E., & Tillman, L. C. (2006). Social justice and moral transformative leadership. In C. Marshall & M. Olivia (Eds.), Leadership for Social Justice: Making Revolutions in Education (pp. 16-30). Boston, MA: Pearson. Dantley, M. E., & Tillman, L. C. (2010). Social justice and moral transformative leadership. In C. Marshall & M. Oliva (Eds.), Leadership for Social Justice (pp. 19-34). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Dantley, M. E., Beachum, F. D., & McCray, C. R. (2008). Exploring the intersectionality of multiple centers within notions of social justice. Journal of School Leadership, 18(2), 124-133. DeMatthews, D. (2014). Dimensions of social justice leadership: A critical review of actions, challenges, dilemmas, and opportunities for the inclusion of students with disabilities in US Schools. Revista Internacional de Educación para la Justicia Social, 3(2). DeMatthews, D. E. (2015). Making sense of social justice leadership: A case study of a principal’s experiences to create a more inclusive school. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 14(2), 139-166. DeMatthews, D. E. (2016). Competing priorities and challenges: Principal leadership for social justice along the US-Mexico border. Teachers College Record, 118(8), 1-37. DeMatthews, D. (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), 545-559, DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2016.1206972 DeMatthews, D. E., Edwards Jr, D. B., & Rincones, R. (2016). Social justice leadership and family engagement: A successful case From Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52(5), 754-792. DeMatthews D. E., Izquierdo E. (2016). School leadership for dual language education: A social justice approach. The Educational Forum, 80(3), 278-293. DeMatthews, D. E., & Izquierdo, E. (2017). Authentic and Social Justice Leadership. Journal of School Leadership, 27(3), 333-360. DeMatthews, D. E., & Mawhinney, H. (2014). Social justice leadership and inclusion: Exploring challenges in an urban district struggling to address inequities. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(5), 844-881. Donohoe, H., Stellefson, M., & Tennant, B. (2012). Advantages and limitations of the e-Delphi technique: Implications for health education researchers. American Journal of Health Education, 43(1), 38-46. Evans, J. D. (1996). Straightforward statistics for the behavioral sciences. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing. Flood, L. D., & Oldham, A. N. The community-leadership interface (2016). In P. S. Angelle (Ed.), A global perspective of social justice leadership for school principals. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Franklin, K. K., & Hart, J. K. (2007). Idea generation and exploration: Benefits and limitations of the policy Delphi research method. Innovative Higher Education, 31(4), 237-246. Furman, G. (2012). Social justice leadership as praxis: Developing capacities through preparation programs. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(2), 191-229. Goldfarb, K. P., & Grinberg, J. (2002). Leadership for social justice: Authentic participation in the case of a community center in Caracas, Venezuela. Journal of School Leadership, 12(2), 157-173. Guadagnoli, E., & Velicer, W. F. (1988). Relation of sample size to the stability of component patterns. Psychological bulletin, 103(2), 265-275. Harris, E. L. (2014). A grid and group explanation of social justice: An example of why frameworks are helpful in social justice discourse. In I. Bogotch & C. Shields (Eds.), Social justice and educational leadership handbook (pp. 97–115). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Hayek, F.A. (1976). The mirage of social justice. London: Routledge. Hill, J., Ottem, R., & DeRoche, J. (2016). Trends in Public and Private School Principal Demographics and Qualifications: 1987-88 to 2011-12. Stats in Brief. NCES 2016-189. National Center for Education Statistics. Hsu, C. C., & Sandford, B. A. (2007). The Delphi technique: Making sense of consensus. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 12(10), 1-8. Holton III, E. F., Bates, R. A., Bookter, A. I., & Yamkovenko, V. B. (2007). Convergent and divergent validity of the learning transfer system inventory. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 18(3), 385-419. Jean-Marie, G. (2008). Leadership for social justice: An agenda for 21st century schools. The Educational Forum, 72(4), 340-354. Jean-Marie, G., Normore, A. H., & Brooks, J. S. (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. Larson, C., & Murtadha, K. (2002). Leadership for social justice. In J. Murphy (Ed.), The educational leadership challenge: Redefining leadership for the 21st century (pp. 134-161). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lipkus, I. (1991). The construction and preliminary validation of a global belief in a just world scale and the exploratory analysis of the multidimensional belief in a just world scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 12(11), 1171-1178. Kose, B. W. (2009). The principal’s role in professional development for social justice: An empirically-based transformative framework. Urban Education, 44(6), 628-663. Mansfield, K. (2014). “Creating smooth spaces in striated places”: Toward a global theory for examining social justice leadership in schools. In I. Bogotch & C. M. Shields (Eds.). International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Social (In)Justice, Volume 1. Doredrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Marshall, C. (2004). Social justice challenges to educational administration: Introduction to a special issue. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(1), 5-15. Marshall, C., & Olivia, M. (2006). Leadership for social justice: Making revolutions in education. Old Tappan, NJ: Allyn & Bacon. Nilsson, J. E., Marszalek, J. M., Linnemeyer, R. M., Bahner, A. D., & Misialek, L. H. (2011). Development and assessment of the social issues advocacy scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 71(1), 258-275. Norberg, K., Arlestig, H., & Angelle, P. S. (2014). Global conversations about social justice: The Swedish− US example. Management in Education, 28(3), 101-105. Oplatka, I., & Arar, K. H. (2016). Leadership for social justice and the characteristics of traditional societies: Ponderings on the application of western-grounded models. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 19(3), 352-369. Otunga, R. N. (2009). A response to leadership for social justice: A transnational dialogue. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 4(1), 1-5. Place, A. W., Ballenger, J., Wasonga, T. A., Piveral, J., & Edmonds, C. (2010). Principals' perspectives of social justice in public schools. International Journal of Educational Management, 24(6), 531-543. Rivera-McCutchen, R. L. (2014). The moral imperative of social justice leadership: A critical component of effective practice. The Urban Review, 46(4), 747-763. Robinson, K. K. (2017). Retracing the steps of the journey: A literature review of social justice leadership from a global context. In P. Angelle (Ed.), A Global Perspective of Social Justice Leadership for School Principals. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Saldaña, J. (2013). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Scanlan, M. (2012). The role of an epistemology of inclusivity on the pursuit of social justice: A case study. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25(8), 1067-1086. Shields, C. M. (2004). Dialogic leadership for social justice: Overcoming pathologies of silence. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(1), 111-134. Shields, C. M. (2010). Transformative leadership: Working for equity in diverse contexts. Educational Administration Quarterly, 46(4), 558-589. Shoho, A. R., Merchant, B. M. & Lugg, C. A. (2005). Social justice: Seeking a common language. In F. W. English (Ed.), The Sage Handbook of Educational Leadership: Advances In Theory, Research, and Practice (pp. 47-67). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Slater, C., Potter, I., Torres, N., & Briceno, F. (2014). Understanding social justice leadership: An international exploration of the perspectives of two school leaders in Costa Rica and England. Management in Education, 28(3), 110-115. Steinmetz, H., Knappstein, M., Ajzen, I., Schmidt, P., & Kabst, R. (2016). How effective are behavior change interventions based on the theory of planned behavior? Zeitschrift für Psychologie. 224, 216-233. Stevens, J. P. (2002). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Routledge: Mahwah, NJ. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Taysum, A., & Gunter, H. (2008). A critical approach to researching social justice and school leadership in England. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 3(2), 183-199. Theoharis, G. (2007). Social justice educational leaders and resistance: Toward a theory of social justice leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(2), 221-258. Theoharis, G. (2008). Woven in deeply: Identity and leadership of urban social justice principals. Education and Urban Society, 41(1), 3-25. Theoharis, G. (2009). The School Leaders Our Children Deserve: Seven Keys to Equity, Social Justice, and School Reform. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Theoharis, G. (2010). Disrupting injustice: Principals narrate the strategies they use to improve their schools and advance social justice. Teachers College Record, 112(1), 331-373. Theoharis, G., & O’Toole, J. (2011). Leading inclusive ELL: Social justice leadership for English language learners. Educational Administration Quarterly, 47(4), 646-688. Torres-Harding, S. R., Siers, B., & Olson, B. D. (2012). Development and psychometric evaluation of the social justice scale (SJS). American Journal of Community Psychology, 50, 77-88. Wasonga, T. A. (2010). Leadership practices for social justice, democratic community, and learning: School principals’ perspectives. Journal of School Leadership, 19(2), 200-224. Zembylas, M. (2010). The emotional aspects of leadership for social justice: Implications for leadership preparation programs. Journal of Educational Administration, 48(5), 611-625. Zembylas, M., & Iasonos, S. (2014). Toward a framework of research and practice for social justice leadership: The case of Cyprus. In I. Bogotch & C. Shields (Eds.), Social Justice and Educational Leadership Handbook (pp. 381–396). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.