Narratives of school managers on leading digital transformation and social justice in education
A sudden shift in teaching and learning modalities since the pandemic has confronted many issues and challenges. This happened in both well-developed and developing countries. Understanding how education remains an equalizer in terms of social justice is a key factor in its concept. Conversely, research on the concept of education for social justice, in the time of digital transformation, especially during and post-pandemic, becomes limited or scarce. This research is intended for the educational managers in the Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) that were considered the top-performing schools in the 2022 Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). The Narrative Inquiry is used as the tradition of inquiry through the topical stories of seven (7) school managers during the pandemic, focused on digital transformation and social justice in education. These stories were analysed and presented using Elliot Mishler’s Model of Narrative Analysis. The theoretical basis of this work is Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Perspective. From the narratives of the participants, teacher training and skill development, availability of ICT infrastructures and equipment, and a new culture among teacher education institutions must be established. Further, the significant role of the HEIs and the government in ensuring that education is accessible, equitable, and of high quality was highlighted. The results suggest that a proactive and responsive strategic and action plan must be designed and implemented based on the context of each educational institution to ensure that all concerns are appropriately addressed, mitigations are in place with urgency, and an improvement or enhancement of policies about quality and equity of education across all levels and geographic locations. Further, this will empower the school managers to design and implement action plans based on what is required by the situation and the problem they are experiencing.