Multicultural Schools and New Demands on Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the Norwegian Government's expectations pertaining to new demands on leadership expressed in policy documents with regard to a multicultural society. Data from seven government’s white papers were thematically analyzed with regard to knowledge, skills and attitudes. The study is framed within a theoretical approach, deriving from a tradition, promoting emancipatory pedagogies that arise from political and social movements, feminist perspectives, and critical pedagogy. Results indicate that there is a lack of a transformative movement that may produce critically thinking socially active minority students, deriving from critically thinking socially active school leaders and teachers. It is argued that there is too little emphasis on what kind of leadership competencies i.e. knowledge, skills and attitudes the school leaders must possess as their school populations become more and more linguistically and culturally diverse. The article concludes with possible implications for school leadership preparation programs.