Leading for Linguistic Justice and Language Revitalization

Kiera Brant-Birioukov, PhD

Featured on the UnLeading Podcast (OISE, University of Toronto)

I was recently invited to join the UnLeading Podcast, hosted by the Centre for Leadership and Diversity at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). The episode, “Leading for Linguistic Justice and Language Revitalization,” explores how language, leadership, and justice intersect - and what it means to create learning spaces that honour the full range of voices and languages our communities hold.

In this conversation, we reflect on how “standard” language norms often carry colonial assumptions about what is intelligent, articulate, or professional. These norms can exclude or silence people whose ways of speaking, knowing, and being do not fit neatly into those boundaries. As we discussed on the episode, linguistic justice means recognizing that all languages and dialects carry knowledge, dignity, and relational meaning - and that revitalizing Indigenous and marginalized languages is essential to healing and equity.

For me, this conversation was an opportunity to speak to how language is inseparable from land, identity, and community. Revitalization is more than preservation, but demands a reclamation of the relationships and worldviews that language carries. When we speak our languages, we are also speaking our histories, values, and ways of relating to one another and to the natural world.

These ideas deeply connect to our work at Ridge Road, where we strive to build ethical and inclusive spaces for dialogue and learning. Whether we are developing curriculum, supporting community engagement, or facilitating workshops, we hold language as a living practice — one that shapes how we understand ourselves and others.

As you listen, I invite you to consider:

• How do language standards shape who is heard or valued in your spaces?

• What might it look like to support multiple languages or dialects as equal and vital forms of expression?

  
  

You can listen to the full episode here: UnLeading Podcast: S3 E2 — Leading for Linguistic Justice and Language Revitalization

I’m grateful to Dr. Vidya Shah, one of my former brilliant graduate students Sonia Martin, and the incredible UnLeading

team for this thoughtful conversation, and for creating space to reflect on how linguistic justice can guide us toward more equitable and relational ways of leading and learning.