Instructional Supervision as Liberation: Culturally Responsive Mentorship Through National Board Facilitation

This qualitative study explored how National Board Certification (NBC) facilitators practice culturally responsive instructional supervision (CRIS) as an expression of justice-oriented leadership. Guided by the C.A.R.E. Framework—Culturally responsive, Accomplished teaching, Reflective educators, and Equity-centered practice—the study addressed two central questions: (1) How, if at all, do NBC facilitators engage in CRIS to reimagine pedagogy and leadership toward more equitable schooling? and (2) In what ways, if at all, do they enact supervisory mentorship that advances justice-oriented leadership? Findings revealed that participants moved beyond compliance-driven supervision toward reflective, justice-minded mentorship. Their leadership practices positioned the NBC standards as tools for collective reflection and pedagogical transformation. When rooted in mentors’ lived experiences, CRIS emerged through the NBC process as a catalyst for shifting instructional leadership, challenging deficit narratives, reframing teacher reflection, and cultivating culturally sustaining pedagogy. These insights extend existing scholarship on CRIS and Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) by illustrating how NBC facilitators operate as agents of instructional and institutional change. The study offers implications for reimagining professional learning, leadership preparation, and supervision models that foreground educational equity, critical reflection, and teacher agency as the foundation of liberatory leadership.