ABSTRACT
The two vignettes with which this chapter opens remind us that although much has changed in the educational landscape in recent years, too many inequities have not been overturned. Despite the rapidly changing nature of our VUCA world, some kinds of change are diffi cult. In particular, it seems very diffi cult to effect lasting educational change because of the deeply entrenched social, cultural, and economic nature of inequity and injustice. In this book, I have posited that it is unlikely that real change will occur unless transformative educational leaders engage courageously with structures, cultures, pedagogies, and policies that inhibit equity and deny all children equal opportunities for success. Moral courage that enables leaders not only to critique inequity but also to move forward, ensuring the promise of a better future for all, undergirds this entire book. As we saw in Chapter 1, the fi nal two tenets of transformative leadership which cannot be separated from the previous discussions include the need for moral courage and an activist approach that does more than simply critique and complain but that offers hope and promise for the future. It is easy to critique the current state of education-even easier to grumble and complain, but effecting deep and signifi cant change that leads to the promise of a better future for all students requires courageous action and engagement. Social justice, democratic community, and global awareness do not and cannot happen from a distance.
