Zorka Karanxha

Bio
My research agenda focuses on educational leadership policies that positively influence marginalized communities through continued investigation of two interwoven conceptual strands: 1) Social justice leadership praxis to reduce educational inequities; and, 2) Social justice leadership to reduce inequities in legal education policy and policy implementation. These two research strands are guided by an overarching ethical leadership framework pillared by conceptions of justice, care, critique, and equity. My intellectual inquiries and professional actions are designed to engage multiple paradigms of social justice with the understanding that educational leaders can be developed into individuals who contribute to the reduction of historical patterns of inequity. In other words, I view social justice leadership as an ethical role that guides the redress of oppression and injustice that occurs through cultural domination, disrespect, or non-recognition (e.g., lack of authority, communication, representation). Central to my understanding and operationalizing of social justice is the importance of recognitive justice (i.e., respectful relationships) that is responsive to expressions of contextual, cultural, and environmental knowledge. Accordingly, in my professional research efforts, I incorporate these types of increasingly complex understandings of social justice in order to enhance and expand educational leadership and education policy implementation research bases. I have presented my scholarly work at AERA, UCEA, ASHE, and ELA. My work appears in books, handbooks, and journals such as Educational Administration Quarterly, Race Ethnicity and Education, Journal of School Leadership, and Journal of Research in Leadership Education.