Activist Leadership for Inclusive Schools explores courageous methods for educational leadership and principalship in Canada to move beyond additive discourses of diversity to dismantling systems of oppression for thriving schools and communities. It is a timely collection rooted in diverse approaches to activism that names, disrupts, and challenges dominant leadership discourses and practices that perpetuate harm to underserved communities.
Throughout Canada, educational policies and mandates are often implemented without meaningful collaboration with the students, families, and communities they are intended to serve, thereby exacerbating systemic, structural, and institutional barriers. The collection’s social justice approach to activism and leadership bridges gaps between policies, institutions, and communities. It calls for a more just education system that carves out spaces of belonging by honouring the lived experiences, identities, and intersectionalities of all students.
This book is an invaluable resource for Canadian university education programs with courses focusing on educational leadership, diversity, social justice, or inclusive education. It also serves educational administration, existing teachers, principals, higher education instructors and researchers, policy makers, and activists.
FEATURES
Centres non-dominant perspectives and frameworks of leadership such as critical race theory, critical disability studies, Indigenizing leadership, and queering leadership
Includes contributions from across Canada, highlighting minoritized voices and identities
Pedagogical features include learning objectives, end-of-chapter glossaries, and critical thinking questions that accompany each chapter
Introduction: Activist Leadership for Inclusive Schools: An Overview
Ardavan Eizadirad, Stephanie Tuters, Andrew Campbell, and Zuhra Abawi
Chapter 1: Activist Leadership for Equitable and Inclusive School-Community Ecosystems
Ardavan Eizadirad, Stephanie Tuters, Andrew Campbell, and Zuhra Abawi
Chapter 2: More than Leading by Caring: Female Leadership in the Private Education Sector in Quebec
Alain Huot, Marie-Pier Boucher, and Mireille Lalancette
Chapter 3: Addressing White Supremacy within Principalship
Ken MacKinnon and Erin Keith
Chapter 4: Enacting Transformative Leadership at the System Level: Leader Narratives from a Small District School Board in Ontario
Allison Segeren, Jason Burt, Kate Creery, & Laura Marotta
Chapter 5: Indigenous Métissage as Educational Leadership Praxis for Reconciliation
Linda Doyle
Chapter 6: Creating Tomorrow’s Institutional Change through Cultural Leadership Today: Three Collaborative Programs Addressing the Shortage of Indigenous Teachers in Manitoba
Derek Stovin
Chapter 7: Métis Settlements Net Teachings: Ethics of Indigenous Educational Leadership Bundles
Laurie Thompson and Debra Hoven
Chapter 8: Transforming Leadership Through Emancipatory Gender and Sexuality Alliances
Fab Antonelli and Hannah Crouse
Chapter 9: Re-imagining Schooling with the Principles of Disability Justice
Jessica Vorstermans and Gillian Parekh
Chapter 10: The Personal, the Professional, and the Political: Ontario Health Education and Queer Activist Leadership
Hubert Brard
Chapter 11: The Activist Leadership Role of the Islamic Schools’ Association of Canada in Enriching the Experience of Canadian Islamic Schools
Asma Ahmed and Asad Choudhary
Chapter 12: Queer Mad Leadership and Disrupting Neoliberal Professionalism in Schools: Queer Mad Ruptures in Education
Adam Davies
Chapter 13: Inclusive Leadership: Cultivating and Sustaining an Equitable School Culture and Climate for Marginalized Students in Ontario Schools
Kaschka Watson and Andrew B. Campbell
Conclusion: A Poem for Scholar Activists, School Leaders, and Community Practitioners
Ardavan Eizadirad
Editor Biographies
Contributor Biographies
Biography
Dr. Zuhra Abawi is an Assistant Professor at York University's Faculty of Education. Prior to her faculty appointment, she was an elementary teacher and early childhood educator. She holds a doctorate in social justice education from the University of Toronto. Her teaching experience spans K–12 to higher education. She is the author of The Effectiveness of Educational Policy for Bias-Free Hiring: Critical Insights to Enhance Diversity in the Canadian Teacher Workforce (2021) and co-editor of Equity as Praxis in Early Childhood Education and Care (2021) and Enacting Anti-Racist and Activist Pedagogies in Education: Canadian Perspectives (2023) and Activist Leadership for Inclusive Schools: Canadian Perspectives (2025). Her work focuses on how discourses of race, equity, and identity are negotiated, mediated, and socialized in education.
Dr. Ardavan Eizadirad is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University, community activist, and Executive Director of the non-profit organization Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE) in Toronto.
Dr. Stephanie Tuters is sessional lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Andrew B. Campbell is an Assistant Professor in Leadership in Racial Justice in Teacher Education, Coordinator for the Black Future Educators’ Pathway (BFEP), and the Director for the Centre for Black Studies in Education (CBSE) at the University of Toronto.
“In this pivotal volume, the essence of school leadership is reimagined with a fervent call to activism at its heart. Through a blend of scholarly insight and practical examples, the contributors shine a bright light on the systemic inequities that pervade settler colonial educational landscapes here in Canada and beyond. Its chapters challenge the very notions of conformity and colourblindness. In turn, this book is a clarion call for those who dare to think differently about their leadership and school communities. It equips educators, policymakers, and activists with the different pragmatic responsive and relational responses needed to forge a more inclusive and equitable socially just future. This book should be on the bookshelves for anyone committed to creating, sustaining, supporting, and leading the transformation and care of their school communities.”
—Nicholas Ng-A-Fook, PhD, (He/Him/il/lui), Professor of Curriculum Studies and Vice-Dean of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa
eBooks cannot be downloaded to your device/desktop outside of the RedShelf e-Reader App, and cannot be printed in full.
All purchases of digital products are non-refundable.
To learn more about our digital products please view our Customer Support page.
What is a Reflowable ebook?
Reflowable eTextbooks respond to the size of the device they are viewed on, much like a typical website. This causes them to look different from a traditional book. They may also contain embedded audio, video, or interactive components in addition to the RedShelf Reader’s standard study tools.
What is a Fixed Layout eBook?
A fixed layout eTextbook maintains the look and the feel of a printed textbook. The text is fixed, and the screen size determines the size of the text. These eTextbooks work best on large-screen devices and do not contain any embedded media or interactive content.
Auto Renew
Auto renew allows e-book rentals to be automatically renewed after the initial rental duration.
If enabled, you will automatically be charged and your rental will renew for the same duration as purchased. Auto renew is set to off by default. If auto renew is off, you lose access to the e-book after the rental duration.
Hi there!
The digital eBook you have selected is a Rental and may expire when the selected duration runs out. If you would like to purchase lifetime access to this eBook, please select a Purchase option instead.
eBooks cannot be downloaded to your device/desktop outside of the RedShelf e-Reader App, and cannot be printed in full.
All purchases of digital products are non-refundable.
To learn more about our digital products please view our Customer Support page.
