Ann E. Lopez

Collaborative Mentorship: A Mentoring Approach to Support and Sustain Teachers for Equity and Diversity

In this article, I propose collaborative mentorship (CM) as a mentoring approach to support and sustain teachers in diversity and equity education. CM is theorized as a mentoring relationship grounded in critical dialog between mentor and mentee. Drawing on research conducted in a culturally, racially, linguistically, and socially diverse secondary school in Southern Ontario, Canada, this article examines tensions teachers experience with equity and diversity and the knowledge base necessary for such a mentoring approach. As the schools become more diverse, it is vital that teachers seek out new approaches that respond to the changing social contexts. The findings of my research have implications for teacher professional development and teacher training in discovering new ways to support in diverse classrooms.

Navigating cultural borders in diverse contexts: building capacity through culturally responsive leadership and critical praxis

Demographic shift and increasing diversity in the student population demand urgency and attention from educational leaders. Those who argue for greater attention to equity and diversity suggest that all students regardless of their gender, social class, ethnic or racial characteristics must have equal opportunities to learn and be engaged. These realities call for socially just and culturally responsive educational leaders to act and engage in ways that transform school environments into spaces where all students can succeed. This article explores the leadership practices of six school leaders in a large school board in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada, their tensions and possibilities faced with the challenges of increasing diversity in their schools and school board. By examining the work of these school leaders (administrators and teacher leaders), we gain deeper insights into culturally responsive leadership. These school leaders could be described as critical, reflective, purposeful, and fearless.

Disrupting Myths of Poverty in the Face of Resistance

This case disrupts some of the prevalent myths about families from low-income and poor households held by educators. Recognizing the inherent tensions, this case demonstrates the importance of creating equitable and inclusive learning environments. We presented some of the challenges faced by Marcus, a progressive principal, as he attempts to challenge the myths about low-income and poor families held by his teaching staff to create a positive and inclusive learning environment where all students can learn.

Voices from the Field: What Can We Learn from Leaders of Diverse Schools in Ontario Canada, Tensions and Possibilities?

The twenty-first century is well underway, people are on the move across the globe, and societies are becoming more diverse. This diversity is reflected in schools and classrooms all across the globe. Canada remains one of the most diverse Western countries in the world receiving 2.5 million newcomers between 2003 and 2012; and where large metropolitan areas such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are projected to have a visible minority population above 50 % by 2031 (Statistics Canada, 2015). These shifting demographics in Western countries, and the increasing diversity in the student population, have created new urgencies for school leaders. In Ontario Canada, the Ontario Equity and Inclusive Strategy calls on educators to see diversity as an asset, move beyond tolerance and celebration to inclusivity and respect, to making Ontario’s education system the most equitable in the world. This chapter describes the critical work of school leaders in Ontario schools. Within a framework of culturally responsive and transcultural leadership, this chapter brings to the fore voices of school leaders who are practitioners in very diverse schools. It examines ways that they enact culturally responsive leadership, the possibilities that this approach offers and the inherent tensions. Diversity is a reality that cannot be ignored by educators. There is much for educators to learn from school leaders and their experiences in diverse contexts about the tensions and possibilities of school leadership in changing times and contexts.

Educational Leadership Among Women of Colour in United States, Canada, New Zealand

A two-layered examination of cross-cultural women of color as enacting leadership for social justice is observed in this chapter. Having experienced the challenge of being students of color and later academicians, the authors reflect on their research agenda focusing on the knowledge, wisdom, and potential of women of color in educational leadership. Connections with their research relate to the improvement of children, families, and communities. In their academic life, they ask: Is it possible that the limited number of women scholars of color in academia restricts the significant knowledge of women school leaders of color? Leadership for social justice is perceived here for its generative power, emanating from the women leaders of color who can break patterns of inequities.

Is It Time for a Sixth Dimension of Multicultural Education?: Resistance and Praxis in Challenging Times

Abstract The impact of the election of a new U.S. president and his far right ideology and agenda has reverberated across the entire world. This new reality calls for all critical equity-seeking educators; multicultural, social justice, culturally responsive, and others to be reflective and engage in deep thinking on ways to respond. Within a framework of advocacy and resistance, drawing on lessons of the past, my own experiences and research, this article offers some practical suggestions that others hopefully can build on. It seeks to connect a critical multicultural education framework to identifiable practices in schools and communities that challenges neoliberal approaches to education; xenophobia, racism, and other forms of structural oppression; argues that the actions and practices of multicultural educators must be explicit and generative in ways that make theory usable.

Navigating the Path of Critical Leadership: Tensions and Possibilities of the Leadership Journey

Abstract This chapter examines our leadership journey as Black female social justice leaders and culturally responsive leaders from the Caribbean Diaspora in Canada. Borrowing from Mullen, Fenwick, and Kealy (2014) and Campbell’s (2008) notion of leadership as a journey, we critically examine what it means to navigate educational leadership contexts. Through our lived experiences as racialized leaders, border crossing spaces and cultures, and with a deep sense and agency to resolve social inequities and injustice we critically gaze at our leadership contexts. This chapter examines ways we, as critical leaders, challenge inequities, issues of power and marginalization, and find transformative actions and purpose by critically reflecting on our leadership journey. This work will add to the educational leadership discourse by positing ways that leaders can develop agency and engage in leadership that is transformative – bringing theory into action.