2.2 How different is difference?
Another central challenge is that all these models and theories are in many ways value free. They can talk about particular values but they will mean different things to different people. For example, in a study exploring understandings of social justice, amongst educators concerned with social justice (Thomas et al, 2019), conflicting and contradictory understandings emerged. There was not a single unified goal. Some practitioners didn’t want to support activism, some wanted to create agents of change. Some saw social justice as being about changing learners and some saw it as being about changing institutions. Some felt social justice was constrained by assessment, some feared a checklist approach to difference, and some thought that the simple act of focussing upon the idea of social justice would alienate people from the outset. In seeking social justice they were all seeking something slightly different. Consequently, as these differences emerged, the practitioners recognised that they needed to explore concepts and language, as well as who was served by practices and why, and what the practices might look like. Thomas et al suggested that these diverse perspectives and views could be seen as being in tension, requiring deeper understanding. For them, a way forward involved ‘embracing the questions’ (p31) posed by the tensions.
The next reading will help you to consider this a bit more.
Activity 4 How different is difference?
Read this article by Van Knippenberg, D., (2022) ‘You may need to change how you manage Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] ’, California Management Review Insights.
As you are reading make notes about the following questions:
- What difficulties can emerge from a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion?
- How do you understand the notion of synergy as it is used in this article?
- Can you think of any examples of challenges and opportunities that arise from seeking synergy within an educational context?
- How do you think that an issue such as this might impact upon the models discussed above?
- Is this an issue which can be utilised as part of the inclusive leadership model produced by Óskarsdóttir et al (2020)?
Discussion
It is evident that when an organisation focuses upon the diversity of its stakeholders and balanced representation, it can fail to build meaningful working relationships between them. You may well have experienced being in meetings where you do not feel you can say something because you know it will be going against the flow or would be an unpopular view. You may feel you do not know as much about an issue, or doubt people would be interested in what you have to say or feel it would be too complicated to explain. It might simply be that you want to get the meeting over so you can move on with your day. Whatever the reasons, it has long been recognised that professional discussions in school settings can be selective, partial and highly contextualised (e.g. Warren Little, 2003). The notion of synergy is useful when reflecting on this. Having a clear strategy and goal which specifically seeks to confront the constraints of professional discussions means you are looking for things that go against the flow or might be unpopular to hear. Naïve or complex questions are ones that can be embraced.
The need to build trusting relationships and encourage reflective practice, based around a common vision is something which is evident in all the models discussed above. The challenge of enabling synergy is one which should be embraced in all the models. Of course, where the responsibility for that challenge lies would vary depending upon the theory of leadership and on the context in which it was being operationalised. Regardless of the theory underpinning the approach there seem to be a couple of key challenges for developing synergy, both of which are evident in the previous readings. Firstly, there is the challenge of people being open to each other and their perspectives. This is often something which people need support with. This feeds into the second challenge too. It will take time for synergy to emerge. This will be a slow process, particularly in a culturally rich school environment. As such it is not an approach which can be dipped into and out of; it needs to be a fundamental component of practice. It is a mindset. As Óskarsdóttir et al identify, it is a commitment to the ethic of everybody.
So let us spend a little more time thinking about the challenges and practicalities of developing this mindset and leading in inclusive ways.