Education leaders can catalyse social change by igniting minds, empowering teams and striking collaborations across stakeholders in the education ecosystem.
With education emerging as an important tool for social change, the need for a new kind of education leadership couldn’t be overemphasised. The next-gen leaders heading educational institutions need to imbibe special social skills that will help them create a culture of partnership, collaboration and inclusivity in educational practices. Here are key lessons that leaders in the educational domain can implement to make campuses a catalyst for community empowerment and social justice:
Recognise needs: With the world today distressed by societal issues, some challenges are unique to specific regions, people, cultures, and nations. Education leaders must recognise this urgency and select issues that need immediate redressal for the larger benefit of society. Be it the problem of unsustainable consumption or income inequality, leaders in the education domain should prioritise solving the pressing issues in their neighbourhoods. Further, university head needs to align their focus areas with societal issues so that impactful results can be obtained to reform the lives of communities.
Adopt EID: Equity, Inclusion and Diversity (EID) are fundamental for bringing social change and by adopting the approach as an operating philosophy, leaders can help societies on fundamental parameters of progress. Conducting training programs on equality, gender sensitisation, and human rights can be a good starting point for inculcating EID. Education leaders can also opt to establish Equity Departments (ED) on their campuses to develop, analyse, and implement policies through the lens of EID.
Listen to empower: While active listening has always been a fundamental aspect of great leaders, creating social impacts mandates leaders in the education domain to empower their teams. Providing departmental heads with space, freedom and decision-making autonomy is also crucial for creating a wider impact on society. Leaders should encourage their team heads to conduct impact assessments on social issues, community problems and sustainability challenges. This attitude, in turn, will have a rub-off impact, prompting departmental heads to empower student communities to bring change to society.
Be approachable: Although rated underdog, approachable education leaders can induce social change by enhancing coordination and collaboration among partners. Both direct and virtual interactions are important, and by exchanging views with departmental heads, faculties, students and community representatives, valuable insights can be gained into what needs to be done for the larger welfare of society. The benefit of being open also helps uncover many dragging factors that would have never come to light otherwise.
Redesign pedagogy: To create caring communities, leaders must focus on developing responsive pedagogy that is strongly based on the socially relevant curriculum. There is a need to include diverse perspectives, and by integrating culturally responsive courses into the curricula, university leadership can contribute to uprooting social ills. Education leaders should ensure that department heads adopt a comprehensive approach to develop academic structure and focus on sensitizing students on issues like poverty, inequality, healthcare, child labour, etc. Student leadership forums can also be formed, and making community service a part of the internship programs can also help in addressing community issues in the long term. Generating social awareness among students is critical for achieving social justice and can help universities catalyse change in the way societies exist around the world.
(The author, Kalpesh Banker, is a managing partner at EduShine Search Partners.)
