Looking for Social Justice: Competing Perspectives as Methodological Instrument in a Study of School Leaders for Social Justice

Abstract

This article describes research dilemmas recorded and analyzed while I studied school leaders for social justice. Data consist of (1) my observations, reflections, and memos from interviews with school leaders and social justice experts (as dissertation research), (2) my observations from national and international research conferences, and (3) observations from my practice of school leadership. These data challenged and disrupted my Marxist perspective because they revealed evolving and conflicting definitions and understandings of social justice in the scholarly lexicon and in practitioner discourse and action. As a result, Deweyan thought provided an analytical and interpretive frame with which to consider alternative interpretations of the data. As a methodological reflection, this article describes the limits of a monolithic theoretical orientation in research and practice; it then advocates for examining centers of familiarity with competing notions to improve the ethical and pragmatic outcomes of school eadership for social justice.

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