Abstract
In this poster, I address this question: How does a small group of women educators in a Central American country understand notions of authentic leadership and resilience? These concepts are essential in efforts to promote democratic practices and citizenship development in schools and the wider community. The role of authentic leadership (Avolio, Gardner, Walumbwa, Luthans, & May, 2004), for example, in cultivating and sustaining resilience in a group of followers, especially those dedicated to social justice in education, should not be underestimated. Resilience is an essential trait for “those who wish to shape a more just future by challenging and changing the status quo” (Lyman, Strachan, & Lazaridou, 2012, p. 125). The complexity of the participants’ interactions with each other over their long history of collaboration demands the application of multiple frameworks. I draw on the theories of psychological resilience (e.g., Fletcher & Sarker, 2013), Richardson’s (2002) metatheory of resiliency, the utilization of resiliency skills (Patterson, Goens, & Reed, 2009), authentic leadership (e.g., Garner, Cogliser, Davis, & Dickens, 2011), social justice leadership (e.g., Preskill & Brookfield, 2008; Theoharis, 2007), and women as social justice leaders (Lyman et al., 2012).