Social Justice Leadership in Education: A Suggested Questionnaire

Abstract

Thispaper reports on the development of the revised Social Justice Questionnaire(SJQ2), an instrument which permits the quantitative examination of sociallyjust school leadership. The SJQ2 is based on data drawn from an exploratoryprovince-wide study to determine to what extent, and how, school principals onPrince Edward Island understand and enact principles of social justice in theirwork. Although this was a ‘stand-alone’ project, the research also provides aCanadian contribution to the International School LeadershipDevelopment Network (ISLDN). Project design and implementation, including datacollection and analysis, took place in 2015–2017. Theresearchers utilized a mixed methods approach to glean both qualitative andquantitative data for analysis. The research findings indicated that there is astatistically significant correlation between socially just school leadershipand the community context. This research supports and enhances currentqualitative studies by adding a statistical perspective to show that effectivesocial justice leadership cannot be segregated from the political, economic,and cultural context of the community. Principals in high–need communitiesdevelop more context-responsive leadership in the effort of creating ademocratic and inclusive educational environment.