Purpose: This article is a critical analysis of educational leadership and administration’s historically privileged Eurocentric epistemologies, research methodologies, and intellectual norms, shaping the field through conceptions of coloniality. The purpose of this article is toward decolonizing educational leadership. Problem: Dominant, Eurocentric knowledge systems are epistemically imposing. Racialized and ethnic critiques of Eurocentric epistemologies and educational leadership norms are relatively new in dominant knowledge production institutions such as University Council of Educational Administration and peer-review journals such as Education Administration Quarterly. Questions: Why are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) epistemologies a critical issue in educational leadership, research, practice, and leadership preparation? In what ways have educational leadership research, practice, and training represented BIPOC epistemologies? Conceptual Framework: This article refines and advances theories of coloniality by a concept that I coined Coloniality Racial-Capitalism and Modernity. Coloniality, the darker side of modernity, is highlighted in educational leadership practices and reform for perpetuating epistemicide in the service of racial capitalism. Contributions to the Field: This article reconnects the struggles of Blackamericans to a global struggle, such as the progenitors in the Blackamerican struggle understood. Furthermore, placing coloniality in conversation with other critical work in educational leadership around coloniality’s articulations of racism and inequity is useful for BIPOC and their allies in fights for educational justice for BIPOC children.
AlstonJ. A. (2005). Tempered radicals and servant leaders: Black females persevering in the superintendency. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(4), 675–688. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04274275
2.
AndersonC. (2016). White rage: The unspoken truth of our racial divide. Bloomsbury.
3.
AndersonJ. (1988). The education of Blacks in the South, 1860–1935. University of North Carolina Press.
4.
BassL. R. (2019). Black male leaders care too: An introduction to Black masculine caring in educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(3), 353–395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X19840402
5.
BattisteM. (2013). Decolonizing education: Nourishing the learning spirit. Purich Publishing.
6.
BellD. (2005). Silent covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. Oxford University Press.
7.
BrooksJ. (2020). Mormonism and White supremacy: American religion and the problem of racial innocence. Oxford University Press.
8.
BrownF. (2005). African Americans and school leadership: An introduction. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(4), 585–590. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04274270
9.
CampbellR. F. (1979). A critique of the Educational Administration Quarterly. Educational Administration Quarterly, 15(3), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013131X7901500303
10.
CampbellR. F. (1981). The professorship in educational administration—A personal view. Educational Administration Quarterly, 17(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X8101700102
11.
CapperC. A. (2015). The 20th-year anniversary of critical race theory in education: Implications for leading to eliminate racism. Educational Administration Quarterly, 51(5), 791–833. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X15607616
12.
CooperC. W. (2009). Performing cultural work in demographically changing schools: Implications for expanding transformative leadership frameworks. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(5), 694–724. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X09341639
13.
CoxO. C. (2018). Caste, class, and race: A study in social dynamics. Forgotten Books.
14.
CurryT. J. (2017). The man-not: Race, class, genre, and the dilemmas of black manhood. Temple University Press.
15.
DantleyM. E. (2005). African American spirituality and Cornel West’s notions of prophetic pragmatism: Restructuring educational leadership in American urban schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(4), 651–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04274274
16.
de Sousa SantosB. (2014). Epistemologies of the South: Justice against epistemicide. Routledge.
17.
DelgadoR.StefancicJ. (2012). Critical race theory: An introduction (2nd ed.). New York University Press.
18.
DillardC. B. (1995). Leading with her life: An African American feminist (re)interpretation of leadership for an urban high school principal. Educational Administration Quarterly, 31(4), 539–563. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X9503100403
Du BoisW. E. B. (1935). Inter-racial implications of the Ethiopian crisis: A Negro view. Foreign Affairs, 14(1), 82–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/20030704
Figueroa HellandL. E.LindgrenT. (2016). What goes around comes around: From the coloniality of power to the crisis of civilization (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3358065). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3358065
26.
FloresN.RosaJ. (2015). Undoing appropriateness: Raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. Harvard Educational Review, 85(2), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.85.2.149
27.
FosterL.TillmanL. C. (Eds.). (2009). African American perspectives on leadership in schools: Building a culture of empowerment. Rowman & Littlefield.
28.
GallowayM. K.IshimaruA. M. (2015). Radical recentering: Equity in educational leadership standards. Educational Administration Quarterly, 51(3), 372–408. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X15590658
29.
GatesS. M.BairdM. D.MasterB. K.Chavez-HerreriasE. (2019). Principal pipelines: A feasible, affordable, and effective way for districts to improve schools. Rand.
30.
GreenT. L. (2017). Community-based equity audits: A practical approach for educational leaders to support equitable community-school improvements. Educational Administration Quarterly, 53(1), 3–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X16672513
31.
GrosfoguelR. (2013). The structure of knowledge in Westernized universities: Epistemic racism/sexism and the four genocides. Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, 11(1), 23–46. https://scholarworks.umb.edu/humanarchitecture/vol11/iss1/8
HaasE.WilsonG. Y.CobbC. D.HyleA. E.JordanK.KearneyK. S. (2007). Assessing influence on the field: An analysis of citations to Educational Administration Quarterly, 1979–2003. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(4), 494–512. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X07299437
35.
HorneG. (2018). The apocalypse of settler colonialism: The roots of slavery, White supremacy, and capitalism in 17th century North America and the Caribbean. Monthly Review Press.
36.
HorsfordS. D. (2016). Social justice for the advantaged: Freedom from racial equality post-”Milliken.”Teachers College Record, 118(3), 1–18.
37.
HubbardL. C. (2009). When and where I enter: Anna Julia Cooper, Afrocentric theory, and Africana studies. Journal of Black Studies, 40(2), 283–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934707311939
38.
IrbyD. J. (2018). Mo’ data, mo’ problems: Making sense of racial discipline disparities in a large diversifying suburban high school. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(5), 693–722. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18769051
39.
IronsP. (2004). Jim Crow’s children: The broken promise of the Brown decision (Reprint ed.). Penguin Books.
40.
IshimaruA. (2013). From heroes to organizers: Principals and education organizing in urban school reform. Educational Administration Quarterly, 49(1), 3–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X12448250
41.
IversonS. V. (2007). Camouflaging power and privilege: A critical race analysis of university diversity policies. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(5), 586–611. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X07307794
42.
JacksonS. A. (2005). Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking toward the third resurrection. Oxford University Press.
KhalifaM. A.KhalilD.MarshT. E. J.HalloranC. (2018). Toward an indigenous, decolonizing school leadership: A literature review. Educational Administration Quarterly, 55(4), 571–614. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18809348
48.
KlugerR. (2004). Simple justice: The history of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s struggle for equality. Vintage.
49.
Ladson-BillingsG.TateW. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47–68.
50.
LeithwoodK.Seashore LouisK.AndersonS.WahlstromK. (2004). Review of research how leadership influences student learning. The Wallace Foundation.
LomoteyK. (1995). Social and cultural influences on schooling: A commentary on the UCEA Knowledge Base Project, Domain I. Educational Administration Quarterly, 31(2), 294–303. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X95031002007
53.
LópezG. R. (2003). The (racially neutral) politics of education: A critical race theory perspective. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(1), 68–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X02239761
54.
LópezG. R.BurciagaR. (2014). The troublesome legacy ofBrown v. Board of Education. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(5), 796–811. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X14551410
55.
MackeyH. J. (2017). The ESSA in Indian country: Problematizing self-determination through the relationships between federal, state, and tribal governments. Educational Administration Quarterly, 53(5), 782–808. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X17735870
MarableM. (2015). How capitalism underdeveloped Black America: Problems in race, political economy, and society. Haymarket Books.
58.
MartinW. E. (1998). Brown v. Board of Education: A brief history with documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
59.
Méndez-MorseS. (2004). Constructing mentors: Latina educational leaders’ role models and mentors. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(4), 561–590. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04267112
60.
MensahF. M. (2019). Finding voice and passion: Critical race theory methodology in science Teacher education. American Educational Research Journal, 56(4), 1412–1456. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218818093
61.
MerchantB. (1995). A reaction to Lomotey’s article: “Social and cultural influences on schooling: A commentary on the UCEA Knowledge Base Project, Domain I.”Educational Administration Quarterly, 31(2), 304–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X95031002008
62.
MignoloW. (2011). The darker side of western modernity: Global futures, decolonial options. Duke University Press.
63.
MilnerH. R. (2007). Race, culture, and researcher positionality: Working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36(7), 388–400. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X07309471
64.
MorelD. (2018). Takeover: Race, education, and American democracy. Oxford University Press.
65.
MorrisA. (2015). The scholar denied: W.E.B. Du Bois and the birth of modern sociology. University of California Press.
66.
MurphyJ.VriesengaM.StoreyV. (2007). Educational Administration Quarterly, 1979–2003: An analysis of types of work, methods of investigation, and influences. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(5), 612–628. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X07307796
67.
MurtadhaK.WattsD. M. (2005). Linking the struggle for education and social justice: Historical perspectives of African American leadership in schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(4), 591–608. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04274271
68.
OrtizF. I. (2001). Using social capital in interpreting the careers of three Latina superintendents. Educational Administration Quarterly, 37(1), 58–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131610121969244
69.
ParkerL.VillalpandoO. (2007). A race(cialized) perspective on education leadership: Critical race theory in educational administration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(5), 519–524. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X07307795
70.
PatelL. (2015). Decolonizing educational research: From ownership to answerability. Routledge.
71.
PayneE. C.SmithM. J. (2018). Refusing relevance: School administrator resistance to offering professional development addressing LGBTQ issues in schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(2), 183–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X17723426
72.
PounderD. G.JohnsonB. L. (2007). Reflections on EAQ’s past, present, and future. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(2), 259–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X06298593
Rivera-McCutchenR. L. (2021). “We don’t got time for grumbling”: Toward an ethic of radical care in urban school leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 57(2), 257–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X20925892
75.
RobertsB. R.FoulcherK. (Eds.). (2016). Indonesian notebook: A sourcebook on Richard Wright and the Bandung Conference. Duke University Press.
76.
RobinsonC. J. (2000). Black Marxism: The making of the Black radical tradition (2nd ed.). University of North Carolina Press.
77.
RodelaK. C.Rodriguez-MojicaC. (2019). Equity leadership informed by community cultural wealth: Counterstories of Latinx school administrators. Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(2), 289–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X19847513
78.
RodneyW. (1981). How Europe underdeveloped Africa (Revised ed.). Howard University Press.
79.
SampsonC. (2018). (Im)possibilities of Latinx school board members’ educational leadership toward equity. Educational Administration Quarterly, 55(2), 296–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18799482
80.
SantamaríaL. J. (2014). Critical change for the greater good: Multicultural perceptions in educational leadership toward social justice and equity. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(3), 347–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X13505287
ScheurichJ. J.YoungM. D. (1997). Coloring epistemologies: Are our research epistemologies racially biased?Educational Researcher, 26(4), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X026004004
83.
SmithW. A.YossoT. J.SolórzanoD. G. (2007). Racial primes and Black misandry on historically White campuses: Toward critical race accountability in educational administration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(5), 559–585. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X07307793
84.
SteinK. C.WrightJ.GilE.MinessA.GinantoD. (2018). Examining Latina/o students’ experiences of injustice: LatCrit insights from a Texas high school. Journal of Latinos and Education, 17(2), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2017.1282367
85.
SteinS. J. (2004). The culture of education policy. Teachers College Press.
86.
TateW. F. (1995). School mathematics and African American students: Thinking seriously about opportunity-to-learn standards. Educational Administration Quarterly, 31(3), 424–448. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X95031003006
87.
TillmanL. C. (2002). Culturally sensitive research approaches: An African-American perspective. Educational Researcher, 31(9), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X031009003
TillmanL. C. (2005). Mentoring new teachers: Implications for leadership practice in an urban school. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(4), 609–629. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04274272
90.
TillmanL. C.ScheurichJ. J. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of research on educational leadership for equity and diversity. Routledge.
91.
TrujilloT. M.HernándezL. E.JarrellT.KissellR. (2014). Community schools as urban district reform: Analyzing Oakland’s policy landscape through oral histories. Urban Education, 49(8), 895–929. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085914557644
92.
TureK.HamiltonC. V. (2011). Black power: Politics of liberation in America. Vintage.
93.
ValenciaR. R. (Ed.). (2002). Chicano school failure and success: Past, present, and future. Psychology Press.
94.
ValenciaR. R. (2010). Dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice. Routledge.
95.
WalkerV. S. (1996). Their highest potential: An African American school community in the segregated South. The University of North Carolina Press.
96.
WalkerV. S. (2009). Hello professor: A Black principal and professional leadership in the segregated South. The University of North Carolina Press.
97.
WangE. L.GatesS.HermanR.MeanM.PereraR.TsaiT.WhipkeyK.AndrewA. (2018). Launching a redesign of university principal preparation programs: Partners collaborate for change. Rand.
98.
WilliamsE. (1994). Capitalism and slavery (1st ed.). University of North Carolina Press.
WoodsonC. G. (1933). The mis-education of the Negro. Tribeca Books.
101.
WrightJ.WhitakerR. W.KhalifaM.BriscoeF. (2018). The color of neoliberal reform: A critical race policy analysis of school district takeovers in Michigan. Urban Education, 55(3), 424–447. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918806943
102.
WrightJ. S.KimT. (2020). Reframing community (dis)engagement: The discursive connection between undemocratic policy enactment, minoritized communities and resistance. Journal of Education Policy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2020.1777467
103.
WrightR. (2008). Black power: Three books from exile: Black power; The color curtain; and White man, listen!Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
104.
YoungM. D.WinnK. M.ReedyM. A. (2017). The Every Student Succeeds Act: Strengthening the focus on educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 53(5), 705–726. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X17735871
105.
ZirkelS.CantorN. (2004). 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education: The promise and challenge of multicultural education. Journal of Social Issues, 60(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00096.x
106.
ZuberiT.Bonilla-SilvaE. (Eds.). (2008). White logic, white methods: Racism and methodology. Rowman & Littlefield.
