Leadership magazine Jan/Feb 2016 V45 No 3 | Page 16

meet their needs, moving beyond discussions
of how the system works to seeing the system
change and work is the goal. As such, the
matter of leadership and equity – or inequity
– is a systemic issue. Too often the thought
process among leaders is that if an organization begins by making small, quick changes
they are meeting the “legal” requirements of
leadership and equity, and fail to transform
their thinking and methods of operation.
As is noted by Bradley Scott in writing of
equitable learning, and which I have altered
to include equitable leadership, systemic equity is defined as: “…the transformed ways
in which systems and individuals habitually
operate to ensure that every learner (leader)
– in whatever learning environment that
learner (leader) is found – has the greatest
opportunity to learn enhanced by the resources and supports necessary to achieve
competence, excellence, independence, responsibility, and self-sufficiency for school
and for life.” This same definition, meant for
student learners, is just as important and applicable for leaders.
Just as diversity and equity have impor-

tant differences, so do equity and equality.
Quite often, there is a misunderstanding
that as long as all are treated equally, their
needs are being met. As is well known,
equality and equity have a considerable difference. Equality means everyone receives
the same thing; equity means that each person receives what he or she needs. Equality
without equity fails to address the individual
needs of leaders, students and communities
and simply mirrors what has, and continues
to occur in the educational system.

needs of all students, and all educational
leaders must understand the difference between diversity and equity. The time to take
action is past, there can be no excuses. No
matter the definition of social justice, equity
or diversity, the end result must be “praxis”
or “intentional activism” as defined by Paulo
Freire. It is time to be courageous in spite of
the obvious barriers and move forward. As
stated by organizational theorist Russell
Ackoff, “The only thing harder than starting
something new is stopping something old.”

Understanding the difference

Resources

Over the years there has been an ongoing
conversation at the state and school district
level that educators need to become more
aware of and celebrate the diversity of students. In the eyes of many, simply recognizing
student and community diversity is an appropriate and sufficient act. As previously stated,
the educational system must move “beyond
diversity” and reach the level of equity. Having “voice” is not only equitable, it is the right
thing to do. There is no one less than another.
Education leaders are meant to meet the

• Adams, M., Bell, L. & Griffin, P. (Eds.).
Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice (second edition) New York, N.Y.: Routledge
Publishing (2007).
• Gerstl-Pepin, C. & Aiken, J.A. (Eds.)
Social Justice Leadership for a Global World.
Information Age Publishing (2012).
• Freire, P. Pedagogy of the oppressed. New
York: Herder and Herder (1972).
• California Department of Education
DataQuest: http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest.
• Scott, B., Coming of age. IDRA Newsletter (online). Available at http://www.
idra.org/Newslttr/2001/Mar/Bradley.
html. San Antonio: Intercultural Development Research Association, March 2001.
• Brown, K., Benkovitz, J, Muttillo A.J.
& Urban, T. Leading Schools of Excellence and
Equity: Documenting Effective Strategies in
Closing Achievement Gaps. Teachers College
Record, Volume 113 Number 1, 2011, Accessed from http://www.tcrecord.org.
• West, C. (1994). Race matters. N.Y.: Vintage/Random House.
• University of Oregon Division of Equity and Inclusion. Definition of Diversity:
http://inclusion.uoregon.edu; http://
gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuomca/diversityinit/definition.html.
• Wise , T (2 013). Beyond diversity: Challenging racism is an age of backl a s h : h t t p s : // w w w.y o u t u b e . c o m /
watch?v=8RHxrV7u09w.

Kenneth Magdaleno is director of
the doctoral program in educational
leadership at Fresno State.
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