Moral Leadership Discourses in Urban School Settings: The Multiple Influences of Social Context

This collaborative research project began with two assumptions: (a) that the contradictions and differences within urban contexts create an environment in which moral practices are neither self-evident nor frequently actualized and (b) that leadership as primarily relational allows for the ongoing social construction of moral practices among urban educators. Thus, the study sought not only to understand constraints on moral practices within urban contexts, but also to identify real possibilities for moral practices to emerge within these contexts. Using both discourse analysis and Maxcy's theory of critical pragmatism, we sought to creatively unite critical methods of data analysis with participants' relationships, needs, and values to expand the moral center of urban school systems.