Abstract:

What is diversity and how do educational leaders promote, cultivate, and sustain diverse cultures in school and organizational settings?

This oral presentation examines this question, as well as the following ones:
1) How can teachers better support women and minority students as they become more empowered as creative change leaders to create change and take action in their school systems?
2) What are the "warning signs" of apathy, with respect to creating an inclusive culture of diversity?
3) How can organizations develop frameworks for moving to and sustaining "action" by modeling diversity and inclusion -- pluralism -- at all levels?

In addressing these questions, this oral presentation draws from the coursework and discussions of a Leadership Development course. This Leadership Development course is taught as part of the Entrepreneurship Diploma (ED), launched in 2017 at The Village School in Houston, Texas. The ED promotes the Entrepreneur’s Mindset in high school students, which teaches self-actualization, adaptive leadership, systems thinking, creativity, and innovation skills.

The teachers of Leadership Development are the Head of School, Director of Student Internship Programs, and the Director of Entrepreneurship and Wellness Programs at Village Informed by the researcher’s current study on entrepreneurship education, this Leadership Development class introduces students the fundamentals adaptive, systems-thinking based leadership. Through numerous hands-on and problem based activities, the Leadership Development class, one of the core courses of the ED, helps students increase their own self-awareness to understand their own leadership styles, strengths, and growth areas.

At Village, we have over 1800 students, from over 60 countries. We are incredibly proud of our diversity of thought, action, and cultures. But, in our globalized society of complex, interwoven, and hyper connected systems, being diverse is not enough. Creating cultures of true diversity -- pluralism -- takes thoughtful action at all levels of the organization's system. This oral presentation offers purposeful, problem-solving, and systems-thinking based methodologies that create and enhance a culture of true diversity -- one founded in promoting pluralism, communication, and trust.

Keywords:

Diversity, self-actualization, mental models, adaptive leadership, systems thinking.