DISRUPTIVE LEADERSHIP BY DESIGN: MOVING WHITE WOMEN SCHOOL LEADERS TOWARD A FREIRIAN DEFINITION OF PRAXIS IN ORDER TO DISRUPT WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE IN PK-12 WORKPLACES

White Supremacy Culture (WSC), which is codified into education systems and perpetuated by a disproportionately White and female PK-12 workforce, contributes to workplace conditions that are oppressive for all teachers, but especially teachers of color. As we face the urgent need to retain a teacher workforce that better represents the racial and ethnic backgrounds of our nation’s students, it is imperative to analyze the ways in which educational leaders intentionally and unintentionally uphold dominant ideologies. This qualitative study, grounded in critical race theory and critical whiteness studies, aimed to move White women school leaders towards the Freirian (1970) definition of praxis with the 7-step Disruptive Leadership by Design process. Through reflective exercises, structured dialogue and action-planning, leaders were supported in identifying and interrupting expressions of WSC in their workplace. Findings from this research support the use of racial caucusing to enhance White racial identity development, reveal how feelings of fear and inadequacy may undermine leaders’ social justice dispositions, and highlight how school leaders can make progress cultivating anti-oppressive workplaces. Recommendations for the field include embedding racial identity development within leadership preparation programs, evaluating how the Principal role can be both a tool and byproduct of WSC, and prioritizing the monitoring and evaluation of teachers’ workplace experiences by using antidotes to WSC as an aspirational framework.