Problematizing Notions of Leadership for Social Justice: Reclaiming Social Justice through a Discourse of Accountability and a Radical, Prophetic, and Historical Imagination

In the field of educational leadership, there has been a proliferation of empirical and theoretical research on social justice leadership. However, a diluted and homogenized rendition of social justice has seeped into the discourse and practice, thus positioning social justice leadership to be reradicalized. As such, the purpose of this article is twofold. First, we explore notions of more radicalized social justice leadership within the discourse of accountability. Second, we offer a four- part framework that holds educational leaders and educational leadership preparation programs accountable to the project of grounding their work in a substantive social justice/civil rights agenda. Our framework for accountability to social justice includes the following: anger for social justice, the historical and prophetic imagination, graduates of educational leadership preparation programs, and the local neighborhood communities where preparation programs are located and where leaders who have been equipped to lead through a social justice agenda serve as school administrators. We conclude with six practical strategies for achieving accountability to graduates of educational leadership programs and four strategies for accomplishing accountability to the local community.