ABSTRACT
The perceptions of others play a major role in the way “Rick” provides leadership. He is the principal of alternative schools in a predominantly White middle-class suburb in inland Southern California. A recent graduate of a doctoral program in educational leadership, Rick feels the need to constantly convince his teachers, parents, and district leadership team he is qualified to provide effective leadership for the school and in the district. A handsome Black male of Jamaican descent, he feels pigeonholed, trapped, and typecast as the principal of alternative education, who is not “good” enough to be principal of a comprehensive high school. Rick also lives in daily fear of reinforcing negative stereotypes associated with African American men. Vividly recalling his own public school experiences, laced with humiliation and shame, including being silenced, isolated, and removed from whole class learning experiences on a regular basis, Rick makes strides to give marginalized students attending his schools “voice.” This case showcases Rick’s ability to overcome his own apprehensions as well as those he perceives others may have toward him, in order to provide effective leadership for change. The case is valuable to educational leaders who may struggle with similar issues and those educational leaders who work with peers experiencing similar leadership challenges as Rick. This case showcases the crux in applied critical leadership theory between critical pedagogy and critical race theory that may or may not materialize as the application of critical leadership.
