From “Managing Diversity” to “Epistemic Justice”: A Conceptual Model for Decolonizing School Administrative Practices
Keywords:
epistemic justice, decoloniality, school management, educational leadership, managing diversity, conceptual frameworkAbstract
The language and practices used to describe and manage diversity in school administration are increasingly recognized as problematic, often resulting in superficial inclusion while leaving underlying administrative structures rooted in dominant, Western epistemologies. While "managing diversity" has been the prevailing paradigm in educational leadership, it frequently fails to address the systemic marginalization of non-dominant ways of knowing, being, and relating within school policies, disciplinary practices, and community engagement. In this conceptual work, we describe the cross-disciplinary meanings of epistemic justice and decoloniality, situating these concepts within school administration. Our work attempts to synthesize these theoretical constructs into a cohesive conceptual framework applicable across diverse educational contexts. The objective of providing this common conceptual language is to give school leaders, policymakers, and researchers a shared platform to discuss and collaborate on decolonizing school management without the boundaries created by siloed, discipline-specific understandings. The outcome of this paper is a conceptual model—comprising four core dimensions: Epistemic Recognition, Epistemic Participation, Epistemic Redistribution, and Administrative Reflexivity—constructed to guide the decolonization of school administrative practices. Furthermore, this model provides new directions for future study and the development of practical tools to aid educational leaders in transitioning from performative diversity management to substantive epistemic justice.
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