Multiculturalism and Multilingualism at the Crossroads of School Leadership

Book excerpt: This volume builds upon emergent understandings about educational leadership and policy in hopes of continuing to refine our understanding of what effective leadership means in linguistically and culturally diverse school contexts. The volume seeks to entrench a deeper understanding of the broader leadership policies and practices that promote the success of linguistically and culturally diverse students, while also recognizing that effective leadership can be highly dependent on context. It offers original empirical research that enhances an understanding of the interdependencies between leadership, culture, language, and policy (i.e., the mechanisms that engender or hinder successful stewardship of linguistic and cultural plurality). The confluence of school leadership, linguistic diversity, and multiculturalism makes this volume unique, especially considering the pace at which global migration continues to accelerate, coupled with the need to accommodate an array of diverse learning needs in today’s schools.