Deborah Brooks Lawrence – författare

Be the leader you want to see in the world.

Educators committed to social justice enter into the work in markedly different ways. Drawing from research with 50 educational leaders from across the United States, Growing for Justice explores how leaders committed to social justice support the growth of others while also developing their own capacities to engage, connect, and lead for change. This groundbreaking book, informed by adult developmental theory and based on a first-of-its-kind study, helps school leaders assess their own strengths and areas for growth—and then take concrete steps toward improvement. Features include:

Exploration of meaning-making systems and how they affect leaders’ understandings of diversity, equity, and social justiceA research-based, developmental model of justice-centering educational leadership capacities and practicesLeaders’ personal stories of growth and development as advocatesPlanning activities and reflective exercises to drive decision-making, action, and internal capacity-building

Wherever you are in your social justice journey, wanting to do better is the first step toward actually doing better. With this book’s help, you’ll outline the supports, stretches, and scaffoldings you need to continually grow for justice.

Inherited Wisdom: Drawing on the Lessons of Formerly Enslaved Ancestors to Lift Up Black Youth underscores how practitioners and lay people alike can highlight the strength, fortitude, resilience, and community found in the narratives of enslaved forebears to help young people recover hope for the future. Readers learn how the resilient and resourceful actions of enslaved Africans many years ago can serve as a blueprint for the healing and survival of their progeny in contemporary society. The opening chapter identifies the significant domains of internal and external connection that allowed formerly enslaved people to live into the 20th century: individual, familial, in-group, and out-group connection. Additional chapters explore the protective factors that promote resilience in each domain. The authors then link those lessons of ancestral wisdom with their lived experiences as a social worker and educator. The final chapter distills the hard lessons learned throughout the text and proposes transformational short-term and long-term strategies.Emphasizing agency and allyhood, Inherited Wisdom serves as a healing balm for those who continue to struggle to overcome the traumas born of centuries of oppression. It is ideal for courses and programs in social work, education, and other helping professions in which individuals work with and support marginalized youth, families, and communities.