libro leading for equity

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Leadership and Policy in SchoolsPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713734379

Portelli, J. P., & Campbell-Stephens, R. (2009). Leading for Equity: TheInvesting in Diversity Approach . Toronto: Edphil Books.Katina Pollockaa University of Western Ontario, Canada

Online publication date: 29 April 2011

To cite this Article Pollock, Katina(2011) 'Portelli, J. P., & Campbell-Stephens, R. (2009). Leading for Equity: The Investingin Diversity Approach. Toronto: Edphil Books.', Leadership and Policy in Schools, 10: 2, 243 245

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Book Reviews 243

Portelli, J. P., & Campbell-Stephens, R. (2009). Leading for Equity: TheInvesting in Diversity Approach. Toronto: Edphil Books.

Leading for Equity: The Investing in Diversity Approach is a dialogue pre-sented in a book format. The book is written to disseminate a conversationabout diverse approaches to leading for social justice and equity issuesin public education in the United Kingdom. It focuses on the UK princi-pal preparation program, Investing in Diversity (IiD). The two participantsuse their discussion of this program as a way to interrogate what Blackand Global-Majority people bring to leadership positions in terms of theirculture, socialization, educational background and life experiences (p. 2).

Ultimately, these conversations are for anyone concerned with educat-ing all students within the public education system. But more specifically, itis for teachers, organizers of principal preparation programs, policymakers,

academics, and administrators who seek to promote more inclusive publiceducation systems. The authors understand that inclusion needs to extendbeyond classroom pedagogical practices and curriculum content to not onlyincrease the numbers of Black and Global-Majority teachers and administra-tors, but also to ensure changes in the cultures of the organizations thattheyre in (p. 14).

In the field of educational administration and leadership, conversationsof this sort address the growing demand for educational leadership thatis socially just and equitable. More specifically, they challenge those whodevelop and deliver principal preparation programs to reflect on program

design and delivery from a more inclusive perspective and encourage poli-cymakers to reconsider ways to support Black and Global-Majority educatorsin our public education systems.

Captured within fewer than 75 pages, the conversations are dividedinto three sections: PART I, Context and History of the Investing in Diversityprogramme; PART II, Programme Content and Foundations; and PART III,Investing in Diversity: Substantive Professional Development and LeadershipPreparation. In Part I, Campbell-Stephens describes the genesis of theInvesting for Diversity program as the culmination of her own personaljourney through the UK public education system, both as a student and

an educator. The second part of the conversations, Part II, ProgrammeContent and Foundations, provides the reader with an overview of theprincipal preparation program entitled Investing in Diversity (IiD). Portelliand Campbell-Stephens explore the moral purpose of a program that isinformed by Black and Global-Majority perspectives, contest traditional con-ceptions of organizational leadership and teaching, interrogate different

ways of learning and the aims of education, and challenge standardizationprocesses and deficit thinking. The last part of the conversation, Part III,Investing in Diversity: Substantive Professional Development and LeadershipPreparation, illuminates the concept of servant leadership and illustrates how


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244 Book Reviews

it might play out through various types of leadership styles. Lastly, the twoauthors address potential critiques of the program and its unique approach.

In a clear and concise way, Portelli and Campbell-Stephens addressmany of the possible critiques that might challenge the design, philo-

sophical underpinnings, and practices associated with the program. As aconsequence, it is difficult to fault them for omissions or grand generaliza-tions. This is in part due to the authors obvious sensitivity to the subject athand. There were, however, three issues of curiosity. The first is the ideaof servant leadership. In describing her favored conception of leadership,Campbell-Stephens argues that the conception of leadership that aligns withmany Black and Global-Majority aspiring leaders can be described as servantleadership. In this case, the notion of service is put before leadershipthenotion of service is prioritized (p. 47), and it is a whole different way ofthinking about your position within that communityboth leader and ser-

vant at the same time (p. 47). According to Campbell-Stephens, the notionof the heroic leader has no place within the servant leadership model;servant leadership is more about collegial ways of working and buildingcapacity. A school leader needs to be a leader of the community and notjust of the school (p. 49). But what about the time, effort, and devotionto the job that being a servant requires? Can servant leadership also beinterpreted as another form of neoliberal work intensification? While servantleadership can be viewed as an approach to achieving equitable and sociallyjust goals within public education systems, it might also be seen as a fromof job intensification. I am not arguing that leaders should not know their

community, nor should they forgo a communal approach to their work. Myconcern is in finding a balance between the laudable goal of serving othersand being subtly coerced into doing more that would normally be expectedof a person in this position. What impact will a devotion to serving havein the long run? How can a servant leadership approach be sustained? At

what cost?In the field of labor and work, much attention has been placed on

effective strategies for supporting Black women in obtaining senior execu-tive positions in private corporations. A common finding and caution has

emerged. Black women who enter work environments where there are veryfew of them are routinely expected to sit on additional committees, act asexperts for an unlimited number of social issues and causes, and often findthemselves attached to many more initiatives than their colleagues. In somecases, many perform lower on traditional measures for job performance.This is because they are expected to engage in types of work that are notcaptured by these traditional performance measures. Given these realities,how does one approach servant leadership in a way that does not leave one

vulnerable to exploitation? How do Black and Global-Majority leaders serveothers and avoid falling prey to neoliberal performity measures?


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Book Reviews 245

Portelli and Campbell-Stephens also make the connection between servant leadership and a style of participatory leadership in which power isshared rather than exercised over others in hierarchical structures. In thistype of arrangement leadership can come from a group of people, and these

people do not necessarily have to occupy traditional positions of power. Inorder to participate in such an environment, however, individuals need tounderstand how this power can be shared and they need particular skills toput it into practice. Yet the conversations indicate that the program does notnecessarily take a communal approach in its delivery. More specifically, itappears that it concentrates on preparing individuals for formal positions ofauthority, such as headmaster, deputy schoolmaster, or even line manager,rather than helping educators foster more communal structures and culturesin their schools. Campbell-Stephens does acknowledge that the programattempts to help potential leaders acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes

required to bring people together, but she also says that more needs to bedone and that this is merely a starting point. But are these individuals beingset up for failure or burnout? At one point some teacher education programspromoted teachers to be change agents, only to place them in schools wherethey had little support for their change agency. In order to survive, manycoopted into the school culture in which they worked or they fell victim toburnout and left the profession because of disillusionment. Are these issuesaddressed through this program for Black and Global-Majority educators? Orare these future leaders being set up for unrealistic assignments?

Lastly, at one point Campbell-Stephens acknowledges that community

is complex. She observes that difference is not based exclusively on race andculture (pp. 5253) and that Black and Global-Majority are not a homoge-neous group. However, I sense throughout the conversations that the defaultis that individuals must identify themselves as being either Black/GlobalMajority or White. This dyad seems overly simplistic when one considers

what we know about identity. This way of thinking sets up an us vs. themapproach that can prevent any movement towards a more socially just andequitable public education system for all. Where does this leave individuals

who straddle the suggested boundary of both groups? Or those who straddle

multiple boundaries? Is there a space to interrogate this phenomenon withinthe IiD programme?Leading for Equityis a book worth reading. It probes issues that deserve

to be explored in a frank and forthright way. More importantly, though, itprovides a sensible strategy for making our increasingly diverse schools andcommunities more just places in which to work and live.

Katina PollockThe University of Western Ontario,

Canada

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