Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand how superintendents leading large, high-profile and politically complex urban districts make sense of their district–community context and advocate for issues of equity.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative multi-case study took place over the 2017–18 school year and involved superintendents leading large urban districts in the United States, with data derived from semi-structured interviews, observations of school board and other public meetings and document collection.

Findings

This article describes how superintendents' sensemaking around equity was situated within the context of interactions with district board members and other stakeholder groups within their communities and influenced by their sense of professional vulnerability of public advocacy. Leaders often felt the need to attenuate their personal sense of equity and act strategically when framing related policies or practices. This study highlights examples by which superintendents were forced to confront instances when community support and prioritization of equity issues did not match their own and subsequently struggled to make sense of how to frame issues that were not in alignment.

Originality/value

Despite their positional authority, relatively little attention has been paid to the experience of school district superintendents in fostering equity. This study provides practical examples of superintendents making sense of complex leadership scenarios and taking strategic action to promote equity in authentic circumstances and has important implications for research and practice.

中文翻译：

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了解您的受众：了解城市管理者构建公平变革的过程

目的

本研究的目的是了解领导大型、引人注目和政治复杂的市区的管理者如何理解其地区社区环境并倡导公平问题。

设计/方法/方法

这项定性多案例研究发生在 2017-18 学年，涉及美国主要城市地区的管理者，数据来自半结构化访谈、对学校董事会和其他公开会议的观察以及文件收集。

发现

本文描述了管理者在与区议会成员和社区内其他利益相关者团体互动的背景下如何围绕公平进行意义构建，并受到他们对公共宣传的专业脆弱性意识的影响。领导者在制定相关政策或做法时，常常觉得需要减弱他们的个人公平感并采取战略性行动。本研究强调了一些例子，当社区支持和公平问题的优先级与他们自己的不匹配时，管理者被迫面对这样的例子，随后努力弄清楚如何构建不一致的问题。

原创性/价值

尽管他们拥有职位权威，但相对较少关注学区负责人在促进公平方面的经验。本研究提供了管理者理解复杂领导情景并采取战略行动在真实环境中促进公平的实际例子，对研究和实践具有重要意义。