Abstract
This chapter aims to explore how successful leadership for diversity is defined, negotiated, and addressed in selected policy documents and culturally diverse schools in Norway , the USA, and Cyprus . The reanalysis of leadership practice is based on data from the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) case studies. We will discuss how leadership for diversity is enacted in the ISSPP schools and explore how principals negotiate the balance between honouring student cultures and emphasizing student learning and achievement. These practices are analysed through the theoretical frameworks of culturally responsive leadership (Ladson-Billings 1995a, b; Johnson 2006, 2007) and leadership for democratic education (Møller 2006; Vedøy and Møller 2007). We argue that establishing a dichotomy between an emphasis on social justice and academics is inappropriate, but a narrow conception of student achievement may privilege certain social and cultural groups and marginalize others. Therefore, self-reflexivity is demanded, and in particular in terms of foregrounding notions of power. Finding a balance between honouring student home cultures and emphasizing student learning outcomes does not easily lend itself to quick fixes.
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Notes
- 1.
The structure of the Norwegian school system is 10 years of compulsory primary and lower secondary education and three years of optional upper secondary education. School starts at age six and 90% of the students stay in school until at least age eighteen.
- 2.
Statistics Norway , the official Norwegian statistics agency, defines the immigrant population as first generation immigrants and their children.
- 3.
This definition also excludes the indigenous population of Norway , the Sámi and national minorities such as the Artic Finns (an older West Finnish immigrant group) and the Roma. For the Sámi there is an adapted Sámi Curriculum, and both the Sámi and the Artic Finns have the right to tuition in the Sámi language or in Finnish. The Roma people have no such rights. The Norwegian schools in this chapter are both located in southeastern Norway , which means the Sámi, Artic Finns, and the Roma people are not represented in the student population in the study.
- 4.
This reference to Christianity in the Education Act is heavily debated.
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Johnson, L., Møller, J., Pashiardis, P., Vedøy, G., Savvides, V. (2011). Culturally Responsive Practices. In: Ylimaki, R., Jacobson, S. (eds) US and Cross-National Policies, Practices, and Preparation. Studies in Educational Leadership, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0542-5_5
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