The Praxis of Gandhi's "Satyagraha": The Scholar-Practitioner Educational Leader as Moral "Truth Holder"

Through contemplation of a drastic divergence in thought from a paradigm of physical discipline and retaliation in learning environments to one of a peaceful demonstration of reflection and respect the authors construct a framework of spiritual leadership. From this framework a metaphor of satyagraha emerges as a means of leading schools and modeling meditative behavior for all--students, staff, and stakeholders. This alternative metaphor of educational leadership is based on the truthful speech of Gandhi, MLK, and Nelson Mandela--each with their own radical take on creating counternarratives to violence through non-violence and peaceful resistance. These counternarratives form four principal themes that require some degree of contemplation: truthful speech and teaching, authenticity of leadership, reality of experience as education, and goodness as advocacy and activism for social justice, equity and care. In conclusion, the authors explore how this connects the scholar-practitioner to the Satyagrahi-practitioners of "truth-holding."