SCHOOL LEADERSHIP FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND STEM: Findings from a High Need Secondary School in Belize

This chapter reports the efforts of two school leaders to establish a secondary school on a small island off the coast of Belize, a developing nation in Central America. This case study uses a theoretical framework synthesizing research on social justice school leadership and student achievement and the methodology and interview protocol developed by the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN). This case study tracked the social justice impetus that led to the school’s establishment by two women from North America, as well as their attempts to implement a curriculum that would address the environmental and ecological future of the island. Their intent was for this Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) orientation to create career opportunities for students in the island’s emerging eco-tourism industry. We focused on the leaders’ efforts to promote social justice by ensuring that every child on the island has access to a secondary education, regardless of prior academic performance or financial circumstances, in a country where secondary education is not compulsory and less than half of the nation’s youth are enrolled. From our findings, we draw tentative conclusions for policy, practice and future research that can inform similar efforts in other developing nations attempting to broaden access to secondary education and implement STEM curricula that can support both the academic needs of students and the future needs of the local economy.