Educational Leadership for Social Justice: A Study of Secondary Schools of Sindh, Pakistan
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the leadership practices of educational leaders with reference to social justice. A constructivist qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was used to collect the data. All public sector secondary schools of Sindh and all heads of the institutes are included in the population. Thirty-five heads of the institute and thirty-five public secondary schools (N=35) are the sample size were selected through purposive sampling techniques. The data was collected through an in-depth interview schedule. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis. This study is limited to public secondary schools in Sindh, Pakistan. This study also limited the stakeholders, such as heads of educational institutes in Sindh, Pakistan. Major findings of the study inform that
educational leaders know and understand the concept of social justice in the school and classroom. According to them, social justice promotes fairness and equity across many aspects of society with the safety and security of individuals and communities. Furthermore, it is found that admissions in schools are given based on merit without discrimination of race, religion, gender, or socio-economic status. Mostly, heads maintain discipline in schools by somewhat following and implementing the rules and regulations for all students. It is ensured in schools that all students should get respect and a conducive classroom learning environment. School heads ensure fair assessment of learning at all levels. Heads deliver a high-quality curriculum, teaching, and learning experience in schools. Heads of institutes provide facilities like pure drinking water, stationery items, books, and school uniforms, safe and secure environment. It is also found that heads of the institutes provide information and resources to all students on an equality and equity basis. Therefore, it recommended that the Education and Literacy Department Government of Sindh should arrange professional development opportunities for the heads of the institutes in the area of social
justice. This study can guide the heads of the institutes to improve their practices according to the need of students.
References
Planning and Management, Ministry of Education, Pakistan.
Bajpai, R. (2011). Debating difference: Group rights and liberal democracy in India. Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press.
Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice
researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(4), 544 - 559.
Berg, J. H., & Gleason, S. C. (2018). Come together for equity. The Learning Professional, 39(5), 24-27.
Capper, C. A., & Young, M. D. (2014). Ironies and limitations of educational leadership for social justice: A call to
social justice educators. Theory into Practice, 53(2), 158-164.
Charis, E. K., & Ronald, W. (2017). New directions in social disorganization theory. In S. Henry (Ed.), Recent
developments in criminological theory (pp. 265-294). Routledge.
Creswell, J. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Mapping the field of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 3(2), 95-
108. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689808330883
Dahal, T., Topping, T. & Levy, S. (2019). Educational factors are influencing female students to drop out of high
schools in Nepal. International Journal of Educational Research. 98, 67-76.
Dantley, M. E., & Tillman, L. C. (2006). Social justice and transformative moral leadership. Leadership for Social
Justice: Making revolutions in education, 16-30.
Dover, A. G. (2013). Teaching for social justice: From conceptual frameworks to classroom practices. Multicultural
perspectives, 15(1), 3-11.
Fisher-Borne, M., Cain, J. M., & Martin, S. L. (2015). From mastery to accountability: Cultural humility as an
alternative to cultural competence. Social Work Education, 34(2), 165-181.
Fleurbaey, M. (2018). A manifesto for social progress. Cambridge University Press
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108344128
Haider, Z., & Sultan, S. (2008). Challenges in higher education: Special reference to Pakistan and South Asian
developing countries. Nonpartisan Educational Review, 4, 1–12.
Hassan, L., Kiani, Y., & Mohammad, E. (2015). The relationship between transformative leadership styles with
organizational justice. Advanced Social Humanities and Management, 2(2), 64-70.
Iqbal, A. (2010). A comparative study of the impact of principals’ leadership styles on the job satisfaction of teachers.
Institute of education and research University of the Punjab Lahore.
Jean-Marie, G., Normore, A. H., & Brooks, J. S. (2009). Leadership for social justice: Preparing 21st century school
leaders for a new social order. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 4(1), 1-31.
John, B., Koppal, S., & Jain, E. (2019, June). Eye VEIL: degrading iris authentication in eye tracking headsets.
In Proceedings of the 11th ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications (pp. 1-5).
Joubish, M. F., & Khurram, M. A. (2011). Outlook on some concepts in the curriculum of social studies. World
Applied Sciences Journal, 12(9), 1374-1377.
Juarez, J. A., Marvel, K., Brezinski, K. L., Glazner, C., Towbin, M. M., & Lawton, S. (2006). Bridging the gap: A
curriculum to teach residents cultural humility. FAMILY MEDICINE-KANSAS CITY, 38(2), 97.
Khan, M. (2020). Justice for everyone in the school. International Journal of Teacher Education, 2(3), 108-110.
Kumar, D. (2013). Social inclusion, human development and nation building in Nepal. Kathmandu. Nepal: Vajra.
Lerman, A. E., & Weaver, V.M. (2014). Arresting citizenship: The democratic consequences of American crime
control. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mahmood, T. (2011). Impact of the administrative style of secondary school heads on teachers’ performance in NWFP
(doctoral thesis). Preston University. http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2017/2/1581S.pdf
McCann, E., & Ward, K. (2012). Policy assemblages, mobilities, and mutations: Toward a multidisciplinary
conversation. Political studies review, 10(3), 325-332.
Mosher, D. K., Hook, J. N., Captari, L. E., Davis, D. E., DeBlaere, C., & Owen, J. (2017). Cultural humility: A
therapeutic framework for engaging diverse clients. Practice Innovations, 2(4), 221.
Naz, S. (2019). Effectiveness of leadership models in special schools of Pakistan for raising quality impact on child
performance. Department of Special Education, University of Karachi.
Nieuwenhuis, J. (2011). Social justice in education revisited. Education Inquiry, 1(4), 269-287.
Opotow, S. (2012). Social injustice. The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology.
Prendergast, A. J., & Humphrey, J. H. (2014). The stunting syndrome in developing countries. Paediatrics and
international child health, 34(4), 250-265.
Rasheed, N., Awais, M., Laber, M. F. & Khursheed, A. (2016). Impact of financial literacy and investment experience
on risk tolerance and investment decisions: Empirical evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Economics
and Financial Issues, 6(1), 73-79.
Riaz, M., Mehmood, R., & Does, R. J. (2011). On the performance of different control charting rules. Quality and
Reliability Engineering International, 27(8), 1059-1067.
Richardson, J. W., & Sauers, N. J. (2014). Social justice in India: Perspectives from school leaders in diverse contexts.
Management in Education, 28(3), 106-109.
Rodas, C. R., & Osborn, A. (2016). Social justice and language acquisition for English language learners. In Social
Justice Instruction (pp. 325-337). Springer, Cham.
Tedla, B. A. (2012). Instructional leadership and school climate a case study of a secondary school in Eritrea. Literacy
Information and Computer Education Journal, 1(1), 755-764.
Theoharis, G. (2008). Woven in deeply: Identity and leadership of urban social justice principals. Education and urban
society, 41(1), 3-25.
Witziers, B., Bosker, R. J., & Krüger, M. L. (2019). Educational leadership and student achievement: The elusive
search for an association. Educational administration quarterly, 39(3), 398-425
