An abundance of research has addressed the cultural incompatibility of schools
from teachers’ and students’ perspectives, however, to my knowledge, the understandings
and perspectives of principals regarding this educational context have not been explicitly
examined by education researchers. While research on instructional leadership provides
certain insights into the principalship (see, e.g., Hallinger, 2005; Hallinger & Heck,
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1996), this body of literature tends to limit its exploration to the influence of leadership
on classroom instruction and teacher expectations, rarely addressing issues of teachers’
socialized biases and attitudes toward Black students that are often hidden but
nevertheless affect the instructional process (Riehl, 2000). The concept of culturally
responsive or relevant leadership (Davis, 2002; Farmer & Higham, 2007) holds promise
but currently remains theoretical and is mostly inferred from research on culturally
relevant teaching. Additionally, the research examining the intersection of race and the
school principalship explores principals’ understandings of race and racism in their
schools yet falls short of addressing the principal’s own contextual understandings of
these school settings and how these understandings influence their leadership, and more
specifically, their work with White teachers.