0.1 Beyond convention, beyond critique: toward a third way of  (Page 2/12)

A final point to be made before discussing the model’s specific components is that principal preparation programs, whether using the model proposed here or another, need to take a developmental approach to preparing leaders for equity and social justice. First, it is wrong to place applicants for principal preparation programs into one of two categories, culturally competent or incompetent, and reject all who are deemed incompetent. Adults, including principal preparation program applicants, all are located somewhere on a continuum of cultural competence (Cushner, McClelland,&Safford, 2003; National Center for Cultural Competence, 2004). Indeed, since there are many different types of cultures, everyone occupies different positions on many different continuums of cultural competence. It is simplistic to believe that we can predict from the typical application process who the “future oppressors” and “future emancipators” are, and deny admission to those labeled as the former.

Second, students already enrolled in principal preparation programs, of course, also are at different levels of cultural competence. This means that professors using the model presented in this paper need to adapt the model to the student’s developmental level.

• When it comes to teaching about issues of equity and diversity, the one-size-fits-all approach can no longer be the guiding principle for teaching in principal preparation programs. As faculty we must account for developmental differences to work with students at their developmental levels. (Hernandez&Marshall, 2009, p. 319)

The seven components of the proposed model, illustrated in Figure 2, include awareness, care, critique, expertise, relationship, community, and accountability, with relationship at the model’s center.

Figure 2. Equity and Social Justice in Principal Preparation

Awareness

Students in principal preparation programs need to develop an understanding of culture as a general concept, their own culture, and how their cultural background influences their interactions with other cultures. Pre-service principals also should develop an understanding that the larger culture has a tremendous effect on schools and that, consciously or unconsciously, schools tend to reflect the White, middle class culture and to transmit the dominant culture to all students.

The vast majority of students preparing to be principals know about achievement gaps among cultural groups; most of them are teachers and witness those gaps on at least some level. However, students need to better understand the extent of the gaps, reasons for the gaps, and the devastating effects on diverse groups. Students need to become aware of how a Eurocentric curriculum, deficit thinking, misunderstanding of different cultural norms, misinterpretation of student behaviors, different communication styles, and misdiagnoses of learning disabilities all contribute to achievement gaps. Additionally, students in principal preparation programs need to learn just how extensive gender inequity and discrimination against LGBT students are, and the terrible harm those types of inequity cause.