Culturally Responsive Leadership for Community Empowerment

Culturally responsive leadership, derived from the concept of culturally responsive pedagogy, incorporates those leadership philosophies, practices, and policies that create inclusive schooling environments for students and families from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. In this essay I extend the tenets of culturally responsive leadership beyond the school site to encompass community-based educational leadership that advocates for cultural recognition, revitalization, and community development. I provide historical examples of educational leaders from three global cities –New York City, London, and Toronto–and discuss how their actions as public intellectuals, “boundary spanners,” and advocacy leaders linked community activism with culture-based curriculum in three national contexts. In the end, I discuss the implications of this framework for leadership preparation.