Social Justice Leadership of Educational Leaders in Appalachia Kentucky - Why Context Matters

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca

Critical consciousness is positioned as a crucial component of social justice leadership in educational settings. This quantitative research examines principals’ and assistant principals’ perceptions of social justice leadership in Central Appalachia using the Social Justice Leadership Questionnaire (SJQ2). The study evaluates whether personal factors (administrative experience, years in Appalachia, current role) and school predictors (Title 1 status, grade level) relate to social justice leadership propensity, using multiple regression analysis. Findings emphasize the need for more inclusive quantitative instruments that reflect diverse populations and contextual factors.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

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Literature Review

Critical Consciousness and the Importance of Context

Context of Social Justice Leadership

Social Justice Leadership of Educational Leaders in Appalachia Kentucky: Why Context Matters Amber Tackett The Art of Education University Critical consciousness is a crucial component of social justice leadership. This quantitative research focused on the perceptions of social justice leadership of principals and assistant principals in Central Appalachia as measured by the Social Justice Leadership Questionnaire (SJQ2). The research was inspired by the theoretical framework of the International School Leadership Development Network to examine if personal (years of experience as an administrator, years living in Appalachia, and current position) and school predictor variables (Title 1 status and grade-level) affect the social justice leadership propensity of school administrators. Multiple regression analysis was utilized determine if personal and school predictor variables had any effect on the perceptions of assistant principals and principals in Appalachian counties of Kentucky. The results suggest the critical needfor quantitative instruments that are more inclusive of diverse populations and contextual factors. Keywords: Critical Consciousness, Social Justice Educational Leadership, Appalachian Education, Principals and Assistant Principals Education Leadership Review of Doctoral Research, Vol. 9. Fall 2021 ISSN: 1532-0723 © 2021 International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership. This manuscript may not be used commercially or edited. When quoting portions of this text, full attribution to the author/s is required. The International School Leadership Development Network developed a conceptual framework of social justice leadership, which reveals the complexity of the context in which social justice leadership is occurring (Zhang, et al., 2018) . The context of social justice leadership includes a sociocultural dimension, the school community, school specific context, socio-political discourse and the school leader’s lived experience and identity (Oldham et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2018) . The extant research reveals that an educational leaders’ critical consciousness of students’sociocultural and socio-political background is vital for socially just leadership (Thompson, & Catapono, 2017; Zembylas & Iasonos, 2017 ; Zhang, et al., 2018) . According to Radd and Groslans (2018) the critical consciousness of a leader is “as an active and persistent state of awareness that consistently seeks to unearth the taken-for-granted, and examine it for the ways that it masks institutionalized inequality, privilege, and oppression”(p. 414) . The extant literature emphasizes the influence of the school’s context on an administrator’s decisions (Li, et al., 2018; Oldham et al., 2020; Roegman, 2017). Additionally, leaders should also be introspective about their own identity and experiences and the biases and prejudices they possess (Thompson & Catapono, 2017; Zembylas & Iasonos, 2017) and how that can influence their leadership praxis (Liu et al., 2018; Oldham, et al., 2020; Roegman, 2017) . According to Klaret al. (2020) context-responsive leaders “leaders demonstrated an acute sense of contextual literacy, which they utilized to both react to and proactively shape their contexts”(p. 66) . This study involves principals and assistant principals of Kentucky schools in Appalachian1 counties. Appalachian people have been stereotyped as “uneducated hillbillies and mountain people” (Chavira-Prado, 2018, p. 9) and have experienced a great deal of poverty throughout the region’s history. Appalachia’s long history of economic woes (ARC, 2019b), deficit stereotypes (Chavira-Prado, 2018), and higher than the average rate of children living in poverty (Wright et al., 2016) constitutes it as a context that could create insight into how the personal experiences of school leaders and the school context affect the perceptions of social justice leadership of school administrators. Literature Review Since the Grea

FAQs

What does the study focus on regarding social justice leadership in Appalachia?

It examines how principals and assistant principals in Central Appalachia perceive social justice leadership, emphasizing why context matters for understanding leadership in that region.

How is social justice leadership measured in this research?

Social justice leadership perceptions are measured using the Social Justice Leadership Questionnaire (SJQ2).

Which factors does the study test for their relationship to social justice leadership propensity?

The study tests personal predictors (years of administrative experience, years living in Appalachia, and current position) and school predictors (Title 1 status and grade level) using multiple regression analysis.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca