Ordinary Theologies: Religio-spirituality and the Leadership of Black Female Principals

Description

Through narrative analysis, Ordinary Theologies highlights the intersectionality of gender, race, and religio-spirituality. It examines the relationship of past and current religio-spiritual leadership understandings that contest the status quo in U.S. schools. The historicity and analysis of gender and race contributes to reconceptualizing educational and leadership by emphasizing the voices of Black female leaders, voices that provide alternative understandings of schooling, stressing the importance of gendered and raced voices in administration, and questioning formulaic models of leadership and the research that reifies them. Cover Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Black, Female, Spiritual: Leadership in the Margins Narrating Leadership and Spirituality Womanism/Womanist Theology Religio-spirituality Social Justice Methodology Overview of Chapters Chapter 1: Contextual Constructs Ain’t I a Womanist? Womanist Theology Radical Subjectivity Traditional Communalism Redemptive Self-Love Critical Engagement Appropriation and Reciprocity Love of Spirit Black Women’s Spiritual Narratives The Case for Black Women’s Contemporary Spiritual Narratives The Black Church The National Baptist Convention, USA What’s Educational Leadership Got to Do with It? Educational Leadership and Spirituality Educational Leadership: Moral Imperative or Technocratic Ideal? Spirituality: Why Does It Matter? Ontology and Epistemology Challenging Traditional Educational Leadership: Religio-Spiritual Leadership Black Female Principals and Religio-Spirituality Summary Chapter 2: Womanist Theology as Methodology and Method A “New” Narrative: From Life History to Spiritual Narrative Spiritual Narratives Radical Subjectivity: The Need for Narrative Traditional Communalism: Data Collection Methods and Researcher Self in Story Redemptive Self-Love: The Aesthetic and the Authentic Critical Engagement: A “Nitty-Gritty Hermeneutic” of Categorizing, Collecting, and Presenting Stories Appropriation and Reciprocity: Lives and Literature in Action Spirit-Love: Spiritual Historians and Religio-Spirituality Womanist Theology in Analysis: A Hermeneutic of Suspicion The Nitty-Gritty of a Womanist Theology: The Womanist Way of Interpretation Meditations Chapter 3: Testimony: Presentation of Narratives Bobbie the Jeremiad Getting Churched Family Passing It On Protest The Church The Supernatural Warfare Being Schooled Community The State of Church and School Paths and Callings Obstacles and Obstructions The Principle/al of the Thing: What Would Jesus Do? Legacy Warfare Getting Churched and Being Schooled: Bobbie and Womanist Theology Meditations Avery Testimony Strong Black Woman Mothering as Ministry The New Normal: Avery in Womanist Theology Meditations Toni Mourning Story Violence, Tragedy Shields Reaping Daily Bread Suffering Servant Meditations Pattie Psalm “Don’t Mess with God’s Children” Whom Shall I Fear? Children of God: Pattie in Womanist Theology Meditations Chapter 4: Exegesis Cross-Talk: Religio-Spirituality and Cross-Narrative Analysis Religio-Spirituality Religio-Spirituality as Church/Denominational Identity Religio-Spirituality as Conversion Religio-Spirituality as Wilderness and Warfare Religio-Spirituality as Culture Principal/les Worldview: Educational Philosophy Mission Pastoral Care Ransom Stumbling Blocks: Organizational Issues Hierarchy and District Concerns No Child Left Behind Act The Spiritual vs. the Secular Works: Educational Practice as Social Justice W.E.A.P.O.N.S Meditations Chapter 5: Spirit-led: The Dialogic of Womanist Theology and Educational Leadership Synthesis and Implications of Findings Gender-Racing Religio-Spirituality and Social Justice Beyond Standards: Principal Preparation, Practice, and Research Ordinary Theologies: Spiritual Narratives of Black Female Principals Confessions and Prophesies: Limitations and Future Research Conclusion: Meditations and Musings References Index The Author