The cultivation of a. ‘common vision’ of equity In their study of leadership practices within a secondary school in Australia, Xxxxxxx and Keddie (2011, p.66) describe how ‘a common vision about the significance of equity’ has been developed and sustained through the work of the school’s Equity and Action Group (EAG). This group was established in 1996 ‘in conjunction with a state government initiative encouraging schools to address issues of social justice’ (ibid, p. 69). The weekly EAG meetings are open to all staff members and attendance is voluntary. The meetings enable guidance officers, administrative staff, teachers and therapists to meet and share their ideas and concerns about social justice, and Xxxxxxx and Keddie praise the collaborative and flexible approach to responding to issues of equity that is fostered by the EAG. Members of the EAG describe it as: …the school’s ‘guardian of equity’; as a ‘powerful’ mechanism to ensure that ‘equity is never off the agenda’ (senior school head of curriculum); as ‘taking the pulse of the school’ in terms of equity (creative arts teacher 2); and as a way to ensure that the school ‘walks the talk’ in relation to equity (principal) (Xxxxxxx and Keddie, 2011, p. 70). The interventions that are developed by the EAG are ‘geared towards reducing the negative effects of the students’ specific material and cultural disadvantages’ (ibid, p. 69). They include the successful development of support groups for refugees and immigrants; extra language and mathematics support; music and art therapy; family services, and ‘acknowledgement of Indigenous heritage and issues through the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee week’ (ibid, p. 69). The variety and scope of the initiatives developed by the EAG appear to confirm that the EAG has enabled the school to develop ‘a “collective wisdom” on addressing the barriers to student learning’ (ibid, p. 72).
