“Putting Herself on the Line”: African American Female Teacher Leaders as Exemplars of Social Justice Leadership

Abstract

Existing scholarship on teacher leadership fails to account for the perspectives of African American female teacher leaders. In this article, we profile 3 African American female teacher leaders located at different trajectories on historical and professional timelines. Our analysis is grounded in understandings from the intersection of social justice leadership, critical race theory in education, and narrative inquiry methodology. Examination of the experiences and practices of these teacher leaders provides an account of the sociohistorical context and challenges reflective of their lives and work as advocates for excellence and equity in education for marginalized students and their families.