School Leadership for a Diverse Society

Abstract

Given the increase of language minority students in school districts across Pennsylvania, school leaders are faced with the demand to address the unique needs of students learning English. Previous research suggests that state initiatives to simply assimilate students may not have been successful in meeting their needs. Furthermore, research and theory also suggest that leaders demonstrating cultural proficiency may be more effective in meeting the needs of English learners who are also ethnic minorities. The approach leaders take may be a function of the ethical paradigm that informs their decision-making. In order to understand the extent to which elementary school principals in one school district display cultural proficiency and to investigate the ethical paradigms that inform their decision-making, I conducted interviews with five principals in one large diverse school district in Pennsylvania. Drawing on a framework of Cultural Proficiency, I found in general there to be an over-appreciation of diversity and under-appreciation of cultural proficiency at the conclusion of this study. Additionally, there was an observed tendency for these school principals to view their leadership role as one that functions primarily within the confines of executing district policies at the building-level. Though each participant expressed the importance of advocacy for their students, they did not pursue policy creation or change within a broader political context. Despite the similarities among participants, my analysis suggested variations in the participants’ concepts of their role as school leaders to support English Language Learners and language minority students.