INTEGRATING CULTURALLY SUSTAINING PEDAGOGY TO DISRUPT OPPRESSIVE PRACTICE

I present a plan for addressing and remedying a history of institutionalized racism at a midsized elementary school in British Columbia. Mountainview Elementary was designed 25 years ago to serve a White, Christian demographic seeking an elite educational ethos. The school now finds itself serving a demographic that is 90% South Asian with a large proportion of English language learners. The conservative, Eurocentric approaches to education that made the school attractive historically are still deeply engrained in the organizational structure and pedagogy of the school and now support problematic and highly inequitable educational practices that marginalize the South Asian community. Implementing inclusive, equitable, and culturally relevant structures to support the needs of all learners will require identifying and mitigating bias among the staff, incorporating the voices of the South Asian parents, and mobilizing the knowledge of community stakeholders to integrate culturally relevant curriculum into daily practice. At the heart of my approach to solving the problem at Mountainview are notions of social constructivism and social justice theory which support the enhancement of students\u27 sense of self and the reflection of family values. My framework for leading change is based in authentic and distributed approaches to leadership that develop trust and employ shared decision-making. A hybrid model for change implementation, strategies for evaluating and monitoring change, and next steps for achieving lasting organizational change at Mountainview are discussed. Keywords: Eurocentric, Social Constructivism, Social Justice, Authentic Leadership, Distributed Leadership, Inclusive, Equitable, Culturally Responsive, Bias, Institutionalized Racism, South Asia