Culturally Responsive Leadership: Bridging Equity and Excellence

Abstract

Culturally responsive leadership (CRL), rooted in culturally responsive pedagogy, encompasses leadership ideas, methods, and policies that foster inclusive educational settings for children and families from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. School and district-level organizational structures that empower students and parents from diverse racial and ethnic communities are common practices. Other common practices include having high expectations for student achievement, incorporating students' home communities' history, values, and cultural knowledge into the school curriculum, and working to develop a critical consciousness among both students and faculty to challenge societal inequities. This chapter elucidates the concept of CRL outlining its roots and theoretical underpinnings, while affirming its significance in modern educational settings.