Abstract
This chapter aims to define and describe CHEERleadership, a style of leadership inspired by the sport of cheerleading. CHEERleadership is a model that stands for Culturally Competent, Holistic, Equity-Minded, Empathetic, and Responsive leadership. Precision, poise, drive, enthusiasm, and stamina are only a few of the qualities and characteristics that are expected from a champion cheerleading team, or a team of educational leaders. With the role and goal of cheerleaders in mind, the authors link the acronym for CHEER to be a relevant, repetitive mantra for a type of school and district leadership for transformational change, based on current educational research. It is applicable in all 21st century K-12 schools, and its roots are grounded in practitioner research. The chapter is organized in a manner that highlights the background theories, the tenets of CHEERleadership, and how it can look in practice through literacy to improve student outcomes. It concludes with a discussion about how to further CHEERleadership to support teachers and staff who interface with students.
TopNarrative Learning Theory
Narrative learning theory speaks to how students learn and is critical for leaders to understand and apply. Narrative Learning Theory refers to “the processing of knowledge through a narrative lens. Essentially, when a story is told, the recipient uses an internal schema, or cognitive framework of her own memories and experiences, in order to relate to the story’s concepts” (Using Literature to Appreciate Diversity, 2016). The common literary elements of character, plot, imagery, and setting in narration make stories about all types of experiences accessible to a wide audience. Clark (2010) argued that a narrative theory of learning connects experiential learning and the notion of narrative as a sense-making medium. “Experience itself is prelinguistic; it exists prior to and apart from language. We access it, reflect on it, make sense of it through languaging it, which is to say, through narrating it. In short, we learn narratively” (Clark, 2010, p. 5).
When readers are exposed to new ideas, their schematic framework is expanded and strengthened. Marunda-Piki (2018) supported this by explaining that “by focusing on narrative and story-centered learning, we can foster learning environments that elevate the power of culture, connection-forming, and meaning-making” (p. 107). Reading multicultural literature not only teaches new and diverse ways of thinking but promotes an appreciation of social diversity and builds cultural empathy. In practice, Clark (2010) explained that narrative learning means learning through stories, specifically from hearing stories, telling stories, and recognizing ourselves in narratives. If diverse students are only hearing stories that are told by other cultures and not finding the ability to recognize themselves in stories, they are only privy to one-third of this learning process.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Holistic Education: A comprehensive approach to teaching where educators seek to address the emotional, social, ethical, and academic needs of students in an integrated learning format.
Equity Mindset: One that focuses on anything that results in an inequitable educational experience for students.
Cultural Competence: Providing equitable learning opportunities to all students through the inclusion of instructional materials and practices that respect and represent all races, genders, sexual orientations, religious and other cultural traits or beliefs.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL): The process in which one acquires and applies the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions; the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success.
DEI: The acronym referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Responsive Teaching: Sets clear goals and plans learning accordingly based on the needs and current levels of understanding of each individual student.
Empathy: The ability to sense other people’s emotions along with incorporating the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.
Emotional Intelligence: The capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously, and to be empathetic.