SOCIAL JUSTICE: THE MISSING LINK - IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHER INDUCTION

Oct 15, 2026

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Critical scholars frame schooling as part of a broader democratic and social justice struggle. This paper investigates 41 Ontario school administrators’ perceptions of equity, diversity, and social justice in new teacher induction. Interview findings show principals value shaping induction locally, yet routinely privilege technical concerns such as classroom management and pedagogy over systemic equity issues. When asked about equity, they emphasize learning styles and special needs while overlooking new teachers’ capacity to counter racism, sexism, and classism.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Theoretical Stance: Critical Democracy Requiring Social Justice

SOCIAL JUSTICE: THE MISSING LINK IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHER INDUCTION1 Laura Elizabeth Pinto, Niagara University, John P. Portelli, OISE, University of Toronto, Cindy Rottmann, University of Manitoba, Karen Pashby, OISE, University of Toronto, Sarah Elizabeth Barrett, York University, and Donatille Mujuwamariya, University of Ottawa Critical scholars view schooling as one piece of a larger struggle for democracy and social justice. We investigated 41 school administrators‟ perceptions about the role and importance of equity, diversity and social justice in new teacher induction in the province of Ontario. Interviews reveal that principals were interested in shaping teacher induction programming in their schools and school districts, but that they regularly prioritized technical issues like classroom management and pedagogy over systemic issues like equity and social justice. When asked directly about equity, principals spoke about learning styles, special needs and differentiated instruction, but they regularly ignored new teachers‟ abilities to counter systemic oppression—racism, sexism, and classism. Our findings suggest that without an explicit focus on equity and social justice in provincial policy documents, teacher induction programming runs the risk of reproducing a transmission model of new teacher education. Introduction Critical scholars view schooling as one piece of a larger struggle for democracy and social justice (Freire, 1998; Kincheloe & McLaren, 1998; Portelli & Solomon, 2001) . In line with a critical-democratic perspective, we believe that attention to equity within the classroom, while laudable, is only part of the work that needs to be done. Equity and social justice must be 1 Many thanks to the research assistants and associates who contributed to this project: Nathalie Di Francesco, Jordan Singer, Christine Cho, Fang Duan, Aparna Mishra Tarc, and Laura Lindo. We also thank the participants in this research who so generously offered their time. We acknowledge the financial support we received from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and we thank the individual institutions, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, York University and University of Ottawa, that supported the research team in a variety of ways. prominent in all aspects of education policy, including teacher induction and evaluation, and conceived of as a priority by educational leaders if we hope to make progress towards a truly democratic ideal. This paper investigates how forty-one Ontario school administrators perceive social justice, diversity and equity with respect to the induction of new teachers in the school system. Their perceptions about social justice are crucial, since, if we are to view education as democratic and not simply technical, administrator support of the inclusion of social justice as a priority is imperative. Their silence on these issues when prompted speaks volumes about the equity deficit operating in both policy and praxis. Theoretical Stance: Critical Democracy Requiring Social Justice This research is situated within a theoretical stance of critical democracy, which strives to establish a mode of living that “should show us how to transform our form of life in an emancipatory manner”(O‟Neill, 2000, p. 503-504). To that end it is rooted in social justice: …critical democratic theorists seek to explore how contentious issues of moral and cultural pluralism might be dealt with in a way that minimizes the potential for oppression, alienation and violence. This means that incommensurability must not be taken as a given, or as something to be celebrated. Nor should it be brushed aside as something that will inevitably be overcome. (O‟Neill, 2000, p. 505) As this passage illustrates, critical democracy necessarily leads to requirements of inclusion and empowerment, with particular attention to those who are often marginalized.

FAQs

What does the study examine about teacher induction in Ontario?

It examines how 41 Ontario school administrators perceive social justice, diversity, and equity in the induction of new teachers.

How do administrators prioritize issues during teacher induction?

Principals often prioritize technical issues like classroom management and pedagogy over systemic issues related to equity and social justice.

According to the findings, what risk exists if equity and social justice are not emphasized in policy?

Without explicit focus in provincial policy documents, teacher induction programming may reproduce a transmission model of new teacher education.

Oct 15, 2026

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