Culturally Relevant, Socially and Emotionally Intelligent Leadership for Diverse School Communities

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Education published a report entitled Guiding Principles for Creating Safe, Inclusive, Supportive, and Fair School Climates that addressed harsh and unfair exclusionary discipline practices pertaining to children of color, LGBTQ students, and children with disabilities. This research aligns the five guiding principles provided by the DOE with emotional intelligence (EI) competencies, and culturally competent leadership (CC/R) behaviors. Each is grounded in continuous critical self-reflective practices. Social and emotional intelligence is explored through the presentation of information, ideas, and assumptions originating from varied perspectives in research. In addition, leadership for diverse school communities is shown to encompass leadership abilities aligned with intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence skill development. The alignment indicates a need for further leadership growth centering on leadership cultural competence and social and emotional intelligence continuous professional development.