Leadership for Social Transformation: Portraits of Three K-12 Black Male Education Leaders in Southern Dallas

Abstract

Twenty-first century K-12 education leaders are increasingly positioned as critical levers in transforming chronically underperforming schools and school systems. Efforts to enhance student and school performance however have narrowly centered around standardized test scores. Education leadership has similarly been reinterpreted as developing systems and structures optimized for improving students’ assessment performance. This narrow vision of education and model of leadership practice, while popular, is inconsistent with well-documented evidence that supports students’ cognitive and social-emotional development to increase positive life outcomes. This is a study of three K-12 black male education leaders in southern Dallas, a geographic area that is educationally and economically under-resourced, whom have chosen to advance a vision of education rooted in social change. Using portraiture as my research methodology, this study examined the following questions: how do three K-12 black male education leaders in southern Dallas conceptualize their role as leaders? How do the social, political, and historical contexts within which they reside inform the leaders’ professional and personal identities? Using semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and document analysis, the data derived from this study expands our understanding of how black education leaders translate their values into action. This study builds upon existing leadership theory and research on transformational leadership, black political leadership, and social justice leadership to explore how the leaders' lived experiences inform their leadership practice. Using semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and document analysis, the data derived from this study deepens our perception of the ways black education leaders advance their visions of social transformation. Upon examination of the leaders’ narratives, this study finds that the leaders prioritized their constituents’ well-being above their own advancement when responding to persistent social, political, and economic inequality in southern Dallas. This leadership choice aligns to historical models of servant leadership and black social movement leadership. Additionally, the leaders have created school environments shaped by a belief in supporting the whole child, not just improving test scores. Despite their commitment to social change and early indicators of success, the leaders were unable to fully reject the technocratic approach to education leadership underscoring the complexity of transformational education leadership. As policy makers and practitioners work to address persistent academic underperformance, this study helps us critically explore the convergence between transformational and technocratic leadership. Moreover, this study helps elevate black leaders’ voices whom have largely been absent from the dominant education discourse.