Abstract

Changing demographics and subsequent diversity among the clientele of school systems now mandate new ways of “doing” education. This includes a shift away from orthodox conceptions of educational leadership that seek to reinforce the status-quo in favour of more empowering approaches. This paper explores an emerging approach to educational leadership– Diversity-Oriented Leadership (DOL). Diversity-oriented educational leaders typically adopt educational practices that are premised on the idea of building a just society. As a consequence, they ask uncomfortable questions about taken-for-granted assumptions about administrative practices, power and knowledge with the ultimate goal of increasing the life chances of those they serve. Couched in the belief that critical action for changing unjust educational practices must begin with understanding and changing the “self” as a situated being, diversity-oriented leaders of necessity engage in critical self-analysis that not only illuminates their core beliefs about cultural, racial and linguistic differences among students but, also examines their everyday practices in learning organizations.