Co-Conspirators: The Journey of Two Educators to Engage JEDI Within Critical Leadership Education

Effectively engaging diversity is a top priority in higher education. In fact, research suggests that diversity in the classroom positively affects learning outcomes (Lee et al., Engaging diversity in undergraduate classrooms: A pedagogy for developing intercultural competence: ASHE higher education report, Volume 38, Number 2. John Wiley & Sons, 2012), contributes to anti-oppression (Gurung and Prieto, Getting culture: Incorporating diversity across the curriculum. Stylus Publishing, LLC, 2009) and has direct implications for organizations (Byrd and Scott, Diversity in the workforce: Current issues and emerging trends. Routledge, 2018). Undoubtedly, the need for a deeper understanding of how to effectively engage diversity in organizations has recently been highlighted by the significant (and continuous) critique of organizational responses to the current climate of racial injustice in the US. As such, the value of diversity in the classroom is particularly relevant for Leadership Studies programs due to the very explicit goal to prepare and develop workers to lead in diverse environments. Nevertheless, many faculty members seem uncertain and/or unwilling to integrate justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) into their curriculum--both content and pedagogy. To help more faculty learn about how this might be accomplished, this chapter describes how two leadership educators (one African-American and one White) used a course re-design to critically center JEDI. Their journey provides valuable insights into the benefits of engaging DEI as an opportunity to foster a more inclusive approach to leadership education, and radically shift educators’ personal mission for justice.