Education for All
Asynchronous Session
Using Transformative Leadership and Anti-Racist Theoretical Frameworks to Build an Inclusive School Culture
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ayodeji Osiname
This paper examines how Canadian K-12 schools, amidst growing diversity, have historically marginalized certain student groups, perpetuating inequities. It explores the roles of school principals in reversing these trends and creating inclusive, equitable, and safe environments for all. The paper uses two theoretical frameworks—Transformative Leadership theory and Anti-Racist theory—to guide principals in fostering inclusive school cultures. The synergies and distinctions between these frameworks are analyzed to advocate for an integrated approach. The integration of Transformative Leadership and Anti-Racist theory equips principals with the strategies needed to challenge inequities and foster inclusive environments. This paper contributes to the discourse on educational leadership by offering a dual-theoretical perspective, demonstrating how these frameworks can complement each other to advance equity and inclusion in diverse school settings.
How Students Perceive Diversity View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nfn Diksha
Many factors facilitate greater learning and understanding in a diverse setting. These factors include various cultural backgrounds and ethnicities. Cultural differences include different sets of values, point of views, and sets of rules. A classroom can be a successful medium in bringing all these factors together. When there are different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, bringing these differences together can pose a challenge. This study explored how students of color (SOC, n = 72) and non-students of color (NSOC, n = 56) perceive classroom diversity by examining trustworthiness, equity, sense of belonging, and facilitating relationships through sharing values and morals. Contrary to predictions, no differences were found in rates of these variables. However, when an analysis of variance was performed to examine differences between all of the racial groups presented, it was found that Asian American students (n = 32) reported a significantly greater sense of belonging than did Black students (n = 20). Correlational analyses showed all variables: trust, sense of belonging, shared values and morals, equity, and facilitating relationships were positively significantly related to each other for the NSOC; however equity and sense of belonging were not significantly correlated for SOC. Overall SOC and NSOC seem to have a similar experience in the classroom; however, differences between Asian American and Black students may be explained by model minority myth.
