Ordinary Theologies: Religio-spirituality And The Leadership Of Black Female Principals (black Studies And Critical Thinking)

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. (Publisher) Cover 1 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction 15 Black, Female, Spiritual: Leadership in the Margins 17 Narrating Leadership and Spirituality 17 Womanism/Womanist Theology 19 Religio-spirituality 23 Social Justice 24 Methodology 25 Overview of Chapters 26 Chapter 1: Contextual Constructs 29 Ain’t I a Womanist? 29 Womanist Theology 30 Radical Subjectivity 32 Traditional Communalism 33 Redemptive Self-Love 33 Critical Engagement 34 Appropriation and Reciprocity 35 Love of Spirit 36 Black Women’s Spiritual Narratives 38 The Case for Black Women’s Contemporary Spiritual Narratives 39 The Black Church 41 The National Baptist Convention, USA 42 What’s Educational Leadership Got to Do with It? 44 Educational Leadership and Spirituality 45 Educational Leadership: Moral Imperative or Technocratic Ideal? 46 Spirituality: Why Does It Matter? Ontology and Epistemology 48 Challenging Traditional Educational Leadership: Religio-Spiritual Leadership 50 Black Female Principals and Religio-Spirituality 53 Summary 54 Chapter 2: Womanist Theology as Methodology and Method 55 A “New” Narrative: From Life History to Spiritual Narrative 57 Spiritual Narratives 59 Radical Subjectivity: The Need for Narrative 62 Traditional Communalism: Data Collection Methods and Researcher Self in Story 65 Redemptive Self-Love: The Aesthetic and the Authentic 68 Critical Engagement: A “Nitty-Gritty Hermeneutic” of Categorizing, Collecting, and Presenting Stories 71 Appropriation and Reciprocity: Lives and Literature in Action 74 Spirit-Love: Spiritual Historians and Religio-Spirituality 77 Womanist Theology in Analysis: A Hermeneutic of Suspicion 80 The Nitty-Gritty of a Womanist Theology: The Womanist Way of Interpretation 81 Meditations 87 Chapter 3: Testimony: Presentation of Narratives 93 Bobbie the Jeremiad 94 Getting Churched 95 Family 95 Passing It On 96 Protest 98 The Church 100 The Supernatural 101 Warfare 103 Being Schooled 104 Community 104 The State of Church and School 104 Paths and Callings 106 Obstacles and Obstructions 108 The Principle/al of the Thing: What Would Jesus Do? 109 Legacy 112 Warfare 117 Getting Churched and Being Schooled: Bobbie and Womanist Theology 120 Meditations 123 Avery Testimony 123 Strong Black Woman 127 Mothering as Ministry 133 The New Normal: Avery in Womanist Theology 137 Meditations 140 Toni Mourning Story 141 Violence, Tragedy 143 Shields 144 Reaping 145 Daily Bread 148 Suffering Servant 151 Meditations 154 Pattie Psalm 155 “Don’t Mess with God’s Children” 157 Whom Shall I Fear? 162 Children of God: Pattie in Womanist Theology 164 Meditations 166 Chapter 4: Exegesis 169 Cross-Talk: Religio-Spirituality and Cross-Narrative Analysis 170 Religio-Spirituality 171 Religio-Spirituality as Church/Denominational Identity 171 Religio-Spirituality as Conversion 175 Religio-Spirituality as Wilderness and Warfare 178 Religio-Spirituality as Culture 179 Principal/les 181 Worldview: Educational Philosophy 181 Mission 182 Pastoral Care 187 Ransom 188 Stumbling Blocks: Organizational Issues 191 Hierarchy and District Concerns 192 No Child Left Behind Act 194 The Spiritual vs. the Secular 197 Works: Educational Practice as Social Justice 201 W.E.A.P.O.N.S 203 Meditations 222 Chapter 5: Spirit-led: The Dialogic of Womanist Theology and Educational Leadership 225 Synthesis and Implications of Findings 227 Gender-Racing 228 Religio-Spirituality and Social Justice 231 Beyond Standards: Principal Preparation, Practice, and Research 234 Ordinary Theologies: Spiritual Narratives of Black Female Principals 237 Confessions and Prophesies: Limitations and Future Research 242 Conclusion: Meditations and Musings 247 References 251 Index 273 The Author 281 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. Book jacket