The enduring effects of colonialism on education: three praxes for decolonizing educational leadership

After the resurgence of recent movements such as Why is my curriculum so White, Rhodes must fall and Black lives matter, educational decolonization has been a focus of scholarly discussion, but it is not clear from where decolonization of education should start and who should start it. Since educational policies have largely ignored the history of colonialism and racism, educational leaders, who are at the forefront in implementing them, are confronted with public desire expressed through decolonization movements and workplace realities they face in day-to-day basis. In this conceptual paper, drawing on some of the original decolonial thinkers mainly Fanon, Said and Mignolo, I conceptualize that political-economy, racial and epistemic dimensions of colonialism have continuously guided education system of the global South, which refers not only the developing countries but also the marginalized communities of the developed countries. By presenting a conceptual model, I discuss that educational leaders can contribute to the decolonization movement by using three leadership praxes: critical, antiracist and cosmopolitan.