This timely book successfully combines theory and practice to intelligibly show how to prepare prospective school leaders for social justice, equity, and excellence.

This book shares the thoughts of mostly North American scholars on many interrelated topics that have not previously been linked in academic research. The focus of the book is the belief that the Ed.D. can prepare highly competent justice-oriented scholars who will be engaged with communities. Among these future leaders, the contributors envision educators who not only lead public schools, but also private foundations, not-for-profit organizations, and community centers. An outstanding feature of this volume is that each chapter highlights existing and emerging issues such as, but not limited to, candidate recruitment and admission policies; program funding, fees, and student expenses; academic support services; faculty recruitment, compensation, evaluation, and promotion models; on-site/on-line instruction, internship policy, opportunities for graduate student employment, publishing, and conference engagement; student supervision protocols; and dissertation and capstone project parameters. In addition, the book explores cultural and socio-political contexts, public/private sector relationships, and the kinds of legislation that frame Ed.D. theory, policy, and practice from a social justice perspective. “At its best, higher education is an indispensable space for spotlighting, challenging, and addressing injustice. This important volume offers us the conceptual, methodological, empirical, and pedagogical tools necessary for understanding the relationship between doctoral education and social justice work. Antonio Ellis has assembled an impressive array of scholars who help us understand the promise and possibility of Ed.D. programs.” – Marc Lamont Hill, Host for the Black Entertainment Network, Contributor for CNN, and Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Morehouse College “This volume helps to clarify what is meant by social justice in school leadership settings and provides both philosophical and theoretical perspectives as well as strategies and curricular content that can assist in developing a common sense understanding of social justice. The development of a mental frame of reference is critical to being able to transfer that understanding and curricular content into beliefs and practices. As a professor of educational leadership and a college administrator I am most pleased to find a volume that provides perspectives and strategies which can be employed by academicians teaching in leadership programs and practitioners as they lead and prepare others to become leaders.” – Zollie Stevenson, Jr., Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor, Philander Smith College

Social justice and leadership education are inextricably linked. In order to move social justice forward, we need to develop leaders with knowledge, skills, and values to engage effectively in the leadership process. We need socially just leaders now more than ever. At a time when our elected and appointed officials agree on very little, our communities are divided and distrustful of one another, and individual citizens struggle for fairness in the face of discrimination, society is at a crossroad. In one direction lies the reproduction of oppression and marginalization, continued distrust, and further fragmentation. In the other, a route toward healing, compassion, and fairness. How then do we prepare our leaders of tomorrow to walk the path of justice rather than take the road to ruin? Changing the dominant narratives in society involves preparing skilled social critics and knowledgeable advocates for positive and sustainable change through education. However, when leadership education fails to consider social justice issues, or when social justice education omits leadership learning, both fall short of their goals. This texts links issues of social justice, equity, and equality, to leadership knowledge, skills, and values, with the intent of offering theoretical, practical, and policy recommendations to improve the work of educators charged with preparing undergraduates for the complexities of leadership in all its forms. Collectively, the contributors inform much needed practices and pedagogies toward socially just leadership education. No single one of us can change the narrative alone, but together, we can amplify the voices of those leading toward justice. The perspectives offered here are but a sample of the work being done to make the future a brighter place for all. We invite you to be part of the conversation.

This reader on key issues in Social Justice is written by well-known experts in the area and edited by the leading authorities in the field. The book is divided into 3 distinct parts: Re-defining Leadership for Social Justice; Preparing Social Justice Leaders; and Next Steps, to mobilize to action as well as to make information accessible and useful. This book challenges leaders, educators and researchers to be effective advocates for social justice. It demonstrates how the current realities in educational leadership training and in school practices re-create inequities. It provides an array of ways of understanding the effects of exclusionary practices as well as constructive exercises and materials for those who will lead students and staffs to create equitable practices.

The Handbook of Social Justice Interventions in Education features interventions in social justice within education and leadership, from early years to higher education and in mainstream and alternative, formal and informal settings. Researchers from across academic disciplines and different countries describe implementable social justice work underway in learning environments—organizations, programs, classrooms, communities, etc. Robust, dynamic, and emergent theory-informed applications in real-world places make known the applied knowledge base in social justice, and its empirical, ideological, and advocacy orientations. A multiplicity of social justice-oriented lenses, policies, strategies, and tools is represented in this Handbook, along with qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Alternative and conventional approaches alike advance knowledge and educational and social utility. To cover the field comprehensively the subject (i.e., social justice education and leadership) is subdivided into four sections. Part 1 (background) provides a general background of current social justice literature. Part II (schools) addresses interventions and explorations in preK-12 schools. Part III (education) covers undergraduate and graduate education and preservice teacher programs, classrooms, and curricula, in addition to teacher and student leadership in schools. Part IV (leadership) features educational leadership and higher education leadership domains, from organizational change efforts to preservice leader preparation programs, classrooms, etc. Part V (comparative) offers interventions and explorations of societies, cultures, and nations. Assembling this unique material in one place by a leading cast will enable readers easy access to the latest research-informed interventionist practices on a timely topic. They can build on this work that takes the promise of social justice to the next level for changing global learning environments and workplaces.

Calling others in to lead for social justice has never been more important. In a world plagued by multiple and overlapping pandemics and other crises, the cost of leadership failures is constantly rising. Leadership education is responding to these challenges by centering cultural relevance, critical pedagogies, and important issues of identity, capacity, and efficacy in the preparation of emerging learners. Meeting the global demand for social justice requires thoughtful, innovative, and engaged praxes by all leadership educators. Alongside a cadre of diverse authors, we intend to shift the mindset of leadership education toward forward-thinking and holistic solutions, empowering our students to build a fairer and more equitable world for themselves and others. Shifting the Mindset: Socially Just Leadership Education widens and deepens the discourse begun in Changing the Narrative: Socially Just Leadership Education. Our contributors’ ideas occur into two parts: the first examines student social identities otherwise underrepresented in existing leadership education literature. The second portion illuminates key factors of leadership learning contexts frequently under– or unattended in both leadership education and social justice education. Every chapter includes critical considerations and practical guidance for educators striving to meet the leadership demands of an increasingly unjust world. Taken together, these thinking, planning, and acting tools augment the potential of educators who are preparing leaders under uncertain conditions. We envision this book as an essential element of the leadership learning toolkit of socially just leadership ducators at all levels, between contexts, and across varying amounts of education, influence, and experience. You are needed now more than ever before. We, once again, invite you to our ongoing fight for fairness, freedom, and a brighter future for all.