Abstract
The author defines culturally responsive leadership as "essentially a process" by which communities create systems that support democratic education. The author explores relevant education scholarship and literary texts to better define "democratic freedom," and the essay examines issues related to democratic education and the role of educators and community members in creating democratic schools. The author argues that humanistic, child-centered, democratic schools are not only essential for the development of the sense of self that enables one to experience true freedom, but democratic schools are also necessary to the goal of changing the conditions that create inequities. Davis outlines barriers to the development of culturally responsive leadership. These include education administration priorities; faculty-driven not student-driven curricula in departments of education; K-12 curricula which fail to see the students themselves as important educational resources and which fail to respond to and support student culture; and political agendas surrounding the creation and flow of curriculum and knowledge.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Donna M.
(2002)
"Toward Democratic Education: The Importance of Culturally Responsive Leadership in 21st Century Schools,"
Trotter Review: Vol. 14:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/trotter_review/vol14/iss1/3
