| Educational leaders have a vital role to play in making schools more just. Among the challenges for women in-service educational leaders working for social justice is a lack of training opportunities. This qualitative study examines a professional development model for in-service Pk--12 educational leaders that uses artmaking as its central pedagogical strategy. The study builds on research in leadership for social justice, feminist poststructuralist theory and artmaking pedagogy.; The model consists of a series of three, multi-day retreats, which I co-facilitated over one year. I recruited a diverse group of twelve participants who self-identified as being concerned with social justice issues, and interested in artmaking. The artmaking activities were: creative non-fiction writing, visual journals, poetry, movement, mask making and Theatre of the Oppressed.; My central research question was: How might participation in collective artmaking professional development retreats impact a group of women public school educational leaders interested in addressing social justice issues in their school communities? Interviews of the participants, their art works, and videotapes of the retreats were analyzed.; As a consequence of their participation the women gained more courage to use their power to resist discrimination and inequity in their schools. The women felt healed and less isolated, affirmed their values as educational leaders, and re-examined their conceptions of themselves as artists and the role of artmaking in schools.; A synergy of design elements contributed to its impact: a selective and diverse group of like-minded women, extended time for artmaking and discussion, a beautiful setting, social justice content, and constructivist and holistic pedagogy focused on artmaking. The women reported that the artmaking facilitated a personal, authentic engagement with social justice issues and provided opportunities for non-linguistic meaning-making, which opened up emotions and ideas that could not easily be accessed in other ways.; The study recommends that (1) educational leadership preparation and in-service programs engage participants in arts-based inquiry; (2) the data emerging from the arts-based inquiries of women educational leaders be considered as equally important in educational policy and decision making; and (3) organizations for women in educational leadership include social justice perspectives and opportunities for artmaking. |
