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Leadership and Policy in Schools

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Portelli, J. P., & Campbell-Stephens, R. (2009). Leading for Equity: The Investing in Diversity Approach. Toronto: Edphil Books.
Katina Pollocka a 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 Investing

in Diversity Approach. Toronto: Edphil Books.', Leadership and Policy in Schools, 10: 2, 243 245 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/15700763.2010.502611 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2010.502611

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Portelli, J. P., & Campbell-Stephens, R. (2009). Leading for Equity: The Investing in Diversity Approach. Toronto: Edphil Books. Leading for Equity: The Investing in Diversity Approach is a dialogue presented in a book format. The book is written to disseminate a conversation about diverse approaches to leading for social justice and equity issues in public education in the United Kingdom. It focuses on the UK principal preparation program, Investing in Diversity (IiD). The two participants use their discussion of this program as a way to interrogate what Black and Global-Majority people bring to leadership positions in terms of their culture, socialization, educational background and life experiences (p. 2). Ultimately, these conversations are for anyone concerned with educating all students within the public education system. But more specically, it is for teachers, organizers of principal preparation programs, policymakers, academics, and administrators who seek to promote more inclusive public education systems. The authors understand that inclusion needs to extend beyond classroom pedagogical practices and curriculum content to not only increase the numbers of Black and Global-Majority teachers and administrators, but also to ensure changes in the cultures of the organizations that theyre in (p. 14). In the eld of educational administration and leadership, conversations of this sort address the growing demand for educational leadership that is socially just and equitable. More specically, they challenge those who develop and deliver principal preparation programs to reect on program design and delivery from a more inclusive perspective and encourage policymakers to reconsider ways to support Black and Global-Majority educators in our public education systems. Captured within fewer than 75 pages, the conversations are divided into three sections: PART I, Context and History of the Investing in Diversity programme; PART II, Programme Content and Foundations; and PART III, Investing in Diversity: Substantive Professional Development and Leadership Preparation. In Part I, Campbell-Stephens describes the genesis of the Investing for Diversity program as the culmination of her own personal journey through the UK public education system, both as a student and an educator. The second part of the conversations, Part II, Programme Content and Foundations, provides the reader with an overview of the principal preparation program entitled Investing in Diversity (IiD). Portelli and Campbell-Stephens explore the moral purpose of a program that is informed by Black and Global-Majority perspectives, contest traditional conceptions of organizational leadership and teaching, interrogate different ways of learning and the aims of education, and challenge standardization processes and decit thinking. The last part of the conversation, Part III, Investing in Diversity: Substantive Professional Development and Leadership Preparation, illuminates the concept of servant leadership and illustrates how

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it might play out through various types of leadership styles. Lastly, the two authors address potential critiques of the program and its unique approach. In a clear and concise way, Portelli and Campbell-Stephens address many of the possible critiques that might challenge the design, philosophical underpinnings, and practices associated with the program. As a consequence, it is difcult to fault them for omissions or grand generalizations. This is in part due to the authors obvious sensitivity to the subject at hand. There were, however, three issues of curiosity. The rst is the idea of servant leadership. In describing her favored conception of leadership, Campbell-Stephens argues that the conception of leadership that aligns with many Black and Global-Majority aspiring leaders can be described as servant leadership. In this case, the notion of service is put before leadershipthe notion of service is prioritized (p. 47), and it is a whole different way of thinking about your position within that communityboth leader and servant at the same time (p. 47). According to Campbell-Stephens, the notion of the heroic leader has no place within the servant leadership model; servant leadership is more about collegial ways of working and building capacity. A school leader needs to be a leader of the community and not just of the school (p. 49). But what about the time, effort, and devotion to the job that being a servant requires? Can servant leadership also be interpreted as another form of neoliberal work intensication? While servant leadership can be viewed as an approach to achieving equitable and socially just goals within public education systems, it might also be seen as a from of job intensication. I am not arguing that leaders should not know their community, nor should they forgo a communal approach to their work. My concern is in nding a balance between the laudable goal of serving others and being subtly coerced into doing more that would normally be expected of a person in this position. What impact will a devotion to serving have in the long run? How can a servant leadership approach be sustained? At what cost? In the eld of labor and work, much attention has been placed on effective strategies for supporting Black women in obtaining senior executive positions in private corporations. A common nding and caution has emerged. Black women who enter work environments where there are very few of them are routinely expected to sit on additional committees, act as experts for an unlimited number of social issues and causes, and often nd themselves attached to many more initiatives than their colleagues. In some cases, many perform lower on traditional measures for job performance. This is because they are expected to engage in types of work that are not captured 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 serve others and avoid falling prey to neoliberal performity measures?

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Portelli and Campbell-Stephens also make the connection between servant leadership and a style of participatory leadership in which power is shared rather than exercised over others in hierarchical structures. In this type of arrangement leadership can come from a group of people, and these people do not necessarily have to occupy traditional positions of power. In order to participate in such an environment, however, individuals need to understand how this power can be shared and they need particular skills to put it into practice. Yet the conversations indicate that the program does not necessarily take a communal approach in its delivery. More specically, it appears that it concentrates on preparing individuals for formal positions of authority, such as headmaster, deputy schoolmaster, or even line manager, rather than helping educators foster more communal structures and cultures in their schools. Campbell-Stephens does acknowledge that the program attempts to help potential leaders acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to bring people together, but she also says that more needs to be done and that this is merely a starting point. But are these individuals being set up for failure or burnout? At one point some teacher education programs promoted teachers to be change agents, only to place them in schools where they had little support for their change agency. In order to survive, many coopted into the school culture in which they worked or they fell victim to burnout and left the profession because of disillusionment. Are these issues addressed through this program for Black and Global-Majority educators? Or are 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 and culture (pp. 5253) and that Black and Global-Majority are not a homogeneous group. However, I sense throughout the conversations that the default is that individuals must identify themselves as being either Black/Global Majority or White. This dyad seems overly simplistic when one considers what we know about identity. This way of thinking sets up an us vs. them approach that can prevent any movement towards a more socially just and equitable 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 within the IiD programme? Leading for Equity is a book worth reading. It probes issues that deserve to be explored in a frank and forthright way. More importantly, though, it provides a sensible strategy for making our increasingly diverse schools and communities more just places in which to work and live. Katina Pollock The University of Western Ontario, Canada

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