This study explored the ways in which the race-gendered identities and lived experiences of Black male K-12 public and independent school leaders inform their leadership in support of students, community, and village. The study draws from critical theories and perspectives, including a framework of Black Masculine Caring (BMC), critical race theory, culturally relevant and responsive leadership, leadership for social justice, and their relationship to and with a theory of Black male school leadership. The qualitative study used survey, phenomenological, and visual elicitation methods to examine the personal and professional experiences, philosophies, and praxis of 14 Black male school leaders. Study findings are presented as an intergenerational dialog with participants, based on their years of leadership experience. These leaders exhibit a liberatory care-based approach to leadership as an expression of social justice advocacy, civil rights activism, community and evidenced action-orientated commitment to a dismantling of structured and systemic forms of racism, anti-Black racism entrenched segregation, and other inequities that discriminate and disproportionately marginalize significant numbers of students and their communities. As captured through the narratives shared, this is evidenced through greater, and positively encouraged, levels of parental and other community member involvement in school activities, as a core aspect of the leadership and decision-making processes. The research expands understanding of paradigms of critical race leadership and disrupts the normative educational leadership that ill-serve significant sections of our student populations and communities.
AlemánE.Jr., (2009). Latcrit educational leadership and advocacy: Struggling over whiteness as property in Texas school finance. Equity and Excellence in Education, 42(2), 183–201.
2.
ArmstrongD., & MitchellC. (2017). Shifting identities: Negotiating intersections of race and gender in Canadian administrative contexts. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 45(5), 825–841.
3.
BassL. R. (2019). Black male leaders care too: An introduction to Black masculine caring in educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 1–43. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0013161X19840402
4.
BellD. (1980). Shades of Brown: New perspectives on school desegregation. Teachers College Press.
5.
BellD. (1992). Faces at the bottom of the well: The permanence of racism. Basic Books.
6.
BellD. (2004). Silent covenants:Brown v. Board of Education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. Oxford University Press.
7.
BogotchI. E. (2002). Educational leadership and social justice: Practice into theory. Journal of School Leadership, 12(2), 138–156.
8.
BogotchI. E. (2005). A history of public school leadership. In F. W. English (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of educational leadership: Advances in theory, research, and practice (pp. 7–33). SAGE Publications.
9.
BrownF. (2005). African Americans and school leadership: An introduction. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(4), 585–590. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04274270
10.
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/10.1177/001316X15607616
11.
CapperC. A., & GreenT. L. (2013). Organizational theories and the development of leadership capacity for integrated, socially just schools. In TillmanL. C., & ScheurichJ. J., (Eds.), Handbook of educational leadership for equity and diversity (pp. 80–100). Routledge.
12.
ColemanJ. S., & HofferT. (1987). Public and private high schools: The impact of communities. Basic Books.
13.
CrenshawK. (1988). Race, reform, and retrenchment: Transformation and legitimation in antidiscrimination law. Harvard Law Review, 101(7), 1331–1387.
14.
CrenshawK. W., GotandaN., PellerG., & ThomasK. (Eds.). (1995). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. The New Press.
15.
Dantley,M. E. (2010). Successful leadership in urban schools: Principals and critical spirituality, a new approach to reform. The Journal of Negro Education, 79(3), 214–219. www.jstor.org/stable/20798344
16.
Dantley,M. E., & Tillman,L. C. (2010). Social justice and moral transformative leadership. In MarshallC. & OlivaM. (Eds.), Leadership for social justice: Making revolutions in education (pp. 19–34). Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
17.
DeCuirJ., & DixsonA. (2004). “So when it comes out, they aren’t that surprised that it is there”: Using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 33(5), 26–31.
18.
DelgadoR., & StefancicJ. (2001). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York University Press.
19.
DriscollM. E., & GoldringE. B. (2005). How can school leaders incorporate communities as contexts for student learning? In FirestoneW. A. & RiehlC. (Eds.), A new agenda for research in educational leadership (pp. 61–80). Teachers College Press.
20.
FurmanG. C., & ShieldsC. M. (2005). How can educational leaders promote and support social justice and democratic community in schools? In FirestoneW. A. & RiehlC. (Eds.), A new agenda for research in educational leadership (pp. 119–137). Teachers College Press.
21.
GayG. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.
22.
GoldfarbK. P., & GrinbergJ. (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.
23.
HarrisC. I. (1995). Whiteness as property. In CrenshawK., GotandaN., PellerG., & ThomasK., (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 276–291). New Press.
24.
HayesC., & JuárezB. G. (2009). You showed your whiteness: You don’t get a “good” white people’s medal. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(6), 729–744.
25.
HoganC. (2003). Practical facilitation: A toolkit of techniques. Kogan Page.
26.
HookerR. W. (1970). Displacement of black teachers in the eleven southern states (Special Report). Race Relations Information Center.
27.
HorsfordS. D. (2010). Mixed feelings about mixed schools: Superintendents on the complex legacy of school desegregation. Educational Administration Quarterly, 46(3), 287–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X10365825
28.
HorsfordS. D. (2011). Learning in a burning house: Educational inequality, ideology and (dis)integration. Teachers College Press.
29.
HorsfordS. D. (2014). When race enters the room: Improving leadership and learning through racial literacy. Theory into Practice, 53(2), 123–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841
30.
HowardT. C. (2003). Culturally relevant pedagogy: Ingredients for critical teacher reflection. Theory into Practice, 42(3), 195–202. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1477420
31.
Horsford,S. D., Alemán,E. A., & Smith,P. A. (2019). Our separate struggles are really one: Building political race coalitions for educational justice and community power. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 18(2), 226–236. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2019.1611868
32.
IngersollR., & MayH. (2011). Recruitment, retention and the minority teacher shortage. Consortium for Policy Research in Education (Research Report #RR-69). CPRE.
33.
KhalifaM. A. (2018). Culturally responsive school leadership. Harvard Education Press.
34.
KhalifaM. A., GoodenM. A., & DavisJ. E. (2016). Culturally responsive school leadership: A synthesis of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 1272–1311. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316630383
35.
KnausC. B. (2014). Seeing what they want to see: Racism and leadership development in urban schools. The Urban Review, 46(3), 420–444.
36.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491.
37.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1998). Teaching in dangerous times: Culturally relevant approaches to teacher assessment. Journal of Negro Education, 67(3), 255–267.
38.
Ladson-BillingsG. (2003). It’s your world, I’m just trying to explain it: Understanding our epistemological and methodological challenges. Qualitative Inquiry, 9(1), 5–12.
39.
Ladson-BillingsG. (2009a). Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education? In TaylorE.GillbornD. & Ladson-BillingsG. (Eds.), Foundations of critical race theory in education. Routledge.
40.
Ladson-BillingsG. (2009b). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children (2nd ed.). Jossey Bass.
Ladson-BillingsG., & TateW. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47–68.
43.
LapentaF. (2012). Some theoretical and methodological views on photo-elicitation. In MargolisE. & PauwelsL. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (pp. 201–213). SAGE Publications.
44.
LeithwoodK. A., & RiehlC. (2005). What do we already know about educational leadership? In FirestoneW. A. & RiehlC. (Eds.), A new agenda for research in educational leadership (pp. 12–27). Teachers College Press.
45.
LomoteyK. (1989). African-American principals: School leadership and success (No. 124). Greenwood Press.
LomoteyK., & LoweryK. (2014). Black students, urban schools, and Black principals: Leadership practices that reduce disenfranchisement. In MilnerH. R. & LomoteyK. (Eds.), Handbook of urban education (pp. 325–349). Routledge.
48.
LopezA. E. (2016). Culturally responsive and socially just leadership: From theory to action. Palgrave MacMillan.
49.
LynnM. (2006). Dancing between two worlds: A portrait of the life of a black male teacher in South Central LA. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(2), 221–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390600576111
50.
LynnM., & ParkerL. (2006). Critical race studies in education: Examining a decade of research in U.S. schools. The Urban Review, 38(4), 257–290.
51.
MabokelaR. O., & MadsenJ. A. (2005). “Color-blind” and “color-conscious” leadership: A case study of desegregated suburban schools in the USA. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 8(3), 187–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120500107313
52.
MaltbiaT. E., GhoshR., & MarsickV. J. (2010, February 24–28). Learning from experience through the executive coaching competencies of listening and questioning: Reviewing literature to inform practice and future research [Paper Presentation]. 2010 Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference, Knoxville, TN.
53.
MatsudaM. (1995). Looking to the bottom: Critical legal studies and reparations. In CrenshawK.GotandaN.PellerG. & ThomasK. (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 63–79). New Press.
54.
McCrayC., WrightJ., & BeachumF. (2007). Beyond Brown: Examining the perplexing plight of African American principals. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 34(4), 247–255.
55.
NevilleH. A., AwadG. H., BrooksJ. E., FloresM. P., & BluemelJ. (2013). Color-blind racial ideology: Theory, training, and measurement implications in psychology. American Psychologist, 68(6), 455–466. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033282
56.
Oduaran,C., & Oduaran,A. (2004). Transformations over time in generational relationships in Africa. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 2(3–4), 171–185. https://doi.org/10.1300/j194v02n03_12
57.
ParisD., & WinnM. T.(Eds.). (2014). Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities. SAGE Publications.
58.
ParkerL., & VillalpandoO. (2007). A race(cialized) perspective on education leadership: Critical race theory in educational administration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(5), 519–514.
59.
PattonL., & CatchingC. (2009). “Teaching while Black”: Narratives of African American student affairs faculty. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(6), 713–728.
60.
PinkettR., RobinsonJ., & PattersonP. (2011). Black faces in White places: 10 game-changing strategies to achieve success and find greatness. AMACOM, Division of American Management Association.
61.
PolkinghorneD. E. (1989). Phenomenological research methods. In ValleR. S. & HallingS. (Eds.), Existential-phenomenological perspectives in psychology (pp. 41–60). Springer Science and Business Media.
62.
ReyesP., & WagstaffL. (2005). How does leadership promote successful teaching and learning for diverse students? In FirestoneW. A. & RiehlC. (Eds.), A new agenda for research in educational leadership (pp. 101–118). Teachers College Press.
63.
SmithP. A. (2019). Leading while Black and male: A phenomenology of Black male school leadership [Doctoral Dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University]. https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-kc0x-w079
64.
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
65.
SolórzanoD. (1997). Images and words that wound: Critical race theory, racial stereotyping and teacher education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 24(3), 5–19.
66.
SolórzanoD. G. (1998). Critical race theory, racial and gender microaggressions, and the experiences of Chicana and Chicano scholars. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 121–136.
67.
SolórzanoD., & YossoT. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8, 23–43. http://qix.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8.1.23
68.
SoméS. (2002). The spirit of intimacy: Ancient African teachings in the ways of relationships. William Morrow Paperbacks.
69.
SpencerL. (1989). Winning through participation. Kendall Hunt.
70.
Stanton-SalazarR. D. (1997). A social capital framework for understanding the socialization of racial minority children and youths. Harvard Educational Review, 67(1), 1–40.
71.
SteinM. K., & SpillaneJ. (2005). What can researchers on educational leadership learn from research on teaching? Building a bridge. In FirestoneW. A. & RiehlC. (Eds.), A new agenda for research in educational leadership (pp. 28–45). Teachers College Press.
72.
TateW. F. (1997). Critical race theory and education: History, theory, and implications. Review of Research in Education, 22, 195–247.
73.
TheoharisG. (2007). Social justice educational leaders and resistance: Toward a theory of social justice leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(2), 221–258. https://doi.org/10.1177.0013161X06293717
74.
TheoharisG. (2009). The school leaders our children deserve: Seven keys to equity, social justice, and school reform. Teachers College Press.
75.
WitherspoonN., & MitchellR. W. (2009). Critical race theory as ordinary theology of African American principals. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(6), 655–670. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390903333871
76.
YoonI. H. (2018). Critical research perspectives in school leadership: Putting dignity and humanity at the center. In LochmillerC. R. (Ed.), Complementary research methods for educational leadership and policy studies (pp. 99–120). Palgrave Macmillan.
