Abstract: This paper considers the difficulties inherent in providing leadership for democratic education in the context of public schooling in the U.S. The paper is developed from the perspective that leadership to support democratic education is possible, necessary, and demands conceptual and practical work that is distinctly different from mainstream leadership practice and leadership preparation programs. Drawing on that perspective, the paper proposes a model, termed democratic space, which describes the intellectual, positional, and relational requirements for enacting the kind of leadership that democratic education demands. Following descriptions of salient concepts and contexts (e.g., democratic education, the neoliberal political ideologies shaping public schooling), the paper presents a conceptual framework for the model itself accompanied by descriptions of leadership efforts that illustrate and elaborate upon key components of the model. A concluding section discusses leader dispositions within the context of considering implications for leadership practice and leadership preparation programs.
AVAILABLE AT: http://cnx.org/content/m34193/latest/
Keywords: leadership, democratic education , neoliberal political ideologies
 Full Text | [ ] | 177 kB |