This course is grounded in the notion that school leadership is best understood within the context within which it is practiced. Leadership praxis of school leaders will be explored — challenges and everyday realities they face, and the strategies they employ as they navigate the complexities within which they work. Colonialism has left lasting legacies in spaces and on education.

While there is a substantial body of research in educational leadership, the majority is primarily grounded in Western conceptions of leadership and contexts. Loomba (2015) describes post-colonialism as a body of theory and a field of study that seeks to critically examine the legacy of Western colonialism in non-Western contexts.

In this course, students will examine the work of school leaders primarily in the Global South, the impact of colonization on local educational leadership practices and policies, and wrestle with understandings and tensions of the post-colonial. School leadership connections to curriculum, pedagogy, and student success grounded within local Indigenous contexts will be examined.