“It’s nonstop”: the ongoing school leadership work to develop a culturally responsive team of educators

This study addresses the collaborative work of school leaders to develop a team to serve at a diverse Hong Kong secondary school. The study draws from culturally responsive leadership theory to understand how school leaders supported educators in a diverse student-serving institution while facing contextual challenges such as limited citywide training in diversity and teacher attrition, a high-stakes environment, and public stigmatization. The study was developed from a dataset from a greater in-depth case study. The findings shed light on collaborative strategies leaders developed to create a pipeline at their school to shape a teaching team that can support diverse students. At the same time, the findings present the greater mechanisms that complicate such work. The study has implications for how leaders can be supported through policy in postcolonial and high-stakes contexts where educators need competencies to support localized conditions for diversity. Theoretically, the implications highlight the relevance of learning from global perspectives and collaborative practices to deepen our understanding of culturally responsive leadership and similar equity approaches.