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I was the first in my family to graduate a four-year university and a graduate school. I grew up low-income. I speak Spanish and English. I was enrolled in both bilingual education in my early years and was enrolled in the gifted program from 2nd grade to senior year of high school. I am a first-generation Mexican-American. I am a heterosexual female.

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An educational leader for social justice has a moral obligation to ensure culturally-inclusive and representative curriculum, staff, and overall mindset/ambiance of their buildings by "invest[ing] time to effectively communicate a vision for [ongoing] change, build[ing] relationships and trust, and empowering the people who in the end will be doing the lion's share of the work necessary to see the change through" (Welton et al., 2018).

This can be done by investing in being a scholar of social justice issues within one's building and community, seeking out community partnerships and connections, and being active in social justice issues even if it means being courageous and having difficult conversations. Tupac discusses this idea in the following video, how just because you won't be the ultimate driver of change does not mean that we shouldn't strive for social justice. Sometimes, our actions against resistance can spark the want for change within others.

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On March 27th, 2019, I had the privilege of visiting the National Civil Rights Museum located at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. It is a powerful hands-on museum that provides visitors with the ability to be part of history.

I, along with other visitors, left wondering how to create change in schools, society, and politically so ALL people feel as if they matter.

My personal definition of Leadership for Social Justice is leading with love in a manner that strives towards fair and equitable treatment of ALL students - physically, emotionally, and academically.

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Dantley & Tillman (2010) define leadership for social justice as interrogating the policies and procedures that shape schools and at the same time perpetuates social inequality and marginalization due to race, class, gender, and other markers of difference. Koschorek & Slattery (2010) add to this definition by saying that educational leaders for social justice should be adamantly providing building-specific moral training in "empathy, respect, and inclusion,  for all school students."

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Dantley & Tillman (2010) call for educational leaders for social justice to practice moral outrage at the persistence... of homelessness, hunger, poverty..." (p.23). Dr. West embodies this and takes his advocacy to the forefront, fearlessly. I believe an educational leader for social justice calls out injustices, is genuinely interested in serving its constituents, acknowledges others' feelings, knows when to follow and when to lead, and builds up students and staff alike to be agents of change.

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Dr. Cornel West @ 2014 Leadership & Social Justice Conference

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An educational leader for social justice is continuously learning and acting upon perceived injustices within his school building and community. They advocate for and strive to empower all students, even if they themselves do not benefit.

So many people tend to have a blind eye on injustices within schools if the issue does not directly impact them. There is a perceived fear of talking about controversial subjects like homosexuality and the entrenched homophobia that drives our educational systems (Koschoreck & Tooms, 2009). Other topics that people are afraid to speak about within the education world, in my experience, have been of implicit and explicit biases regarding immigration status, racism, language attainment, political party alignment and views, and living in poverty. These issues are kept "hush hush," having the social worker or psychologist "deal" with the students' issue.

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I believe an educational leader for social justice must be aware of, critiquing, and working on creating change in ALL aspects of their school. They are also committed to empowering all aspects of the school: social, cultural, and political.

Scanlan & Theoharis (2015) discuss the idea of leaders playing "a role in creating and maintaining schools that are inclusive of multiple areas of differences and aspects of diversity at the same time." It is not enough to lead from one's office. One must get out into the classrooms, ensuring that the curri Schools that support and empower ALL students have higher academic achievement (Kelsey et. al, 2015).

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"...we put in more money into the wars than education" (Gooden, 2012).

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"...we put in more money into the wars than education" (Gooden, 2012).

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An educational leader for social justice focuses on ALL students within their school building, and allows the issues of the building's minority to take over the majority when those issues require more attention, love, and commitment in order for ALL students to thrive.

How to address these issues may be a challenge for educators, but the National Education Association (NEA) has created a website with videos and tools to assist with advocating for all students. Join the NEA's EdJustice League!

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EdJustice League: Building Power in Our Communities - NEA EdJustice

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The NEA EdJustice League is a rapid response text program where we organize to win on the issues we care about.

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Equity = Everyone gets what they need based on their own situation.

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The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has identified that at the front and center of education is the need to address in a meaningful way the issues of race, privilege, prejudice, and power.

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National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

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Across the country, communities are coping with the consequences of social injustice: poverty, racism, inequity, violence, isolation, and economic segregation. These challenges undermine the capacity and well-being of our nation's most precious resource, our children. Indeed, there is no more important endeavor than helping our children and youth become positive, productive, valued citizens. We start by making their well-being and opportunity to grow an unequivocal priority no matter where they learn, play, and live. We must be advocates for the systems and services that lower barriers and create genuine, sustained equity and opportunity.

As parents, caregivers, and educators, we also have a critical responsibility to help children and youth see adults as keeping them safe, understand the challenges at hand within a problem-solving context, and see themselves as active participants in our collective national commitment to liberty and justice for all.

Front and center is the need to address in a meaningful way the issues of race, privilege, prejudice, and power. NASP has developed and/or identified these resources to help schools and families engage in constructive dialogue about these issues and the ways that all of us can work together to shift the conversation from hate and violence toward understanding and respect to ultimately bring about positive change and unity to our communities. We will be adding to these resources over time.

Social Justice Definition

Social justice is both a process and a goal that requires action. School psychologists work to ensure the protection of the educational rights, opportunities, and well-being of all children, especially those whose voices have been muted, identities obscured, or needs ignored. Social justice requires promoting non-discriminatory practices and the empowerment of families and communities. School psychologists enact social justice through culturally-responsive professional practice and advocacy to create schools, communities, and systems that ensure equity and fairness for all children and youth.

Adopted by the NASP Board of Directors, April 2017.

Social Justice and the NASP Practice Model

NASP recently created infographics to introduce key issues to stakeholders and advocate for the work of school psychologists. This infographic shows key points about social justice as it relates to children and youth, the role of school psychologists in changing these statistics, and the NASP Practice Model domains represented by this work.

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Across the country, communities are coping with the consequences of social injustice: poverty, racism, inequity, violence, isolation, and economic segregation. These challenges undermine the capacity and well-being of our nation's most precious resource, our children. Indeed, there is no more important endeavor than helping our children and youth become positive, productive, valued citizens.

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"Leaders must be decisive. Leaders must be forceful. Leaders must have vision. Leaders must successfully manipulate events and people, so that vision becomes reality. Leaders, in other words, must lead" (Sergiovanni, 2000).