Voices from the field: What can we learn from leaders of diverse schools in Ontario Canada, tensions and possibilities?

Abstract

The twenty-first century is well underway, people are on the move across the globe, and societies are becoming more diverse. This diversity is reflected in schools and classrooms all across the globe. Canada remains one of the most diverse Western countries in the world receiving 2.5 million newcomers between 2003 and 2012; and where large metropolitan areas such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are projected to have a visible minority population above 50 % by 2031 (Statistics Canada, 2015). These shifting demographics in Western countries, and the increasing diversity in the student population, have created new urgencies for school leaders. In Ontario Canada, the Ontario Equity and Inclusive Strategy calls on educators to see diversity as an asset, move beyond tolerance and celebration to inclusivity and respect, to making Ontario’s education system the most equitable in the world. This chapter describes the critical work of school leaders in Ontario schools. Within a framework of culturally responsive and transcultural leadership, this chapter brings to the fore voices of school leaders who are practitioners in very diverse schools. It examines ways that they enact culturally responsive leadership, the possibilities that this approach offers and the inherent tensions. Diversity is a reality that cannot be ignored by educators. There is much for educators to learn from school leaders and their experiences in diverse contexts about the tensions and possibilities of school leadership in changing times and contexts.