Culturally Relevant Leadership for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Urban Schools

The issues and struggles facing school principals today seem daunting, especially for urban school principals. Educational leaders in the United States encounter serious challenges, much like their counterparts in other nations as they struggle to deal with greater external problems like overcrowding, grinding poverty, and problematic politics that impede the mission of their schools. We proffer in this chapter that a commitment to educational equity and excellence cannot occur without principals acknowledging and understanding the importance of culturally relevant leadership. Culturally relevant leadership involves a school leader: (1) understanding the importance of diversity and the recognition of different social identities (race, class, gender, ability status, religious orientation, etc.) (Harro B, The cycle of socialization. In Adams M, Blumenfield WJ, Castaneda R, Hackman HW, Peters ML, Zuniga X (eds) Readings for diversity and social justice: an anthology on racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and classism. Routledge, New York, pp. 79–82, 2000) and (2) utilizing such knowledge in every practice conflating this with notions of cultural collision and collusion (Beachum FD, McCray CR, Leadership in the eye of the storm: challenges at the intersection of urban schools, cultural collusion, and no child left behind. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 3(2), 2008, Available: http://www.mltonline.org/current-articles/mlt-3-2/beachum-mccray.pdf), while also (3) constantly reflecting on these practices for continuous improvement and enhancement.