Guest editorial: Mentoring and coaching as pathways to social justice in education

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Guest editorial: Mentoring and coaching as pathways to social justice in educationAt this time, as our collective efforts to fix social systems face backlash and, in some cases, aggressive attacks, we must develop new strategies to sustain our work over the years and across generations.We face resistance to socially just systemic changes in our daily conversations with neighbors and other community members, in communities geographically distant from our own that nonetheless shape our daily lives, and among our political leaders who leverage their power to dismantle our collective efforts.For instance, in the United States, attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and on critical race theory specifically have shifted from commentary to legal mandates that prohibit educators in many states from addressing diversity and equity issues, such as gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity and language-based marginalization (Hoyos Ensuncho, 2025;Schultz, 2025;Woo et al., 2024).Further, both higher education and primary through secondary education are grappling with funding cuts, student health crises, rapidly changing workforce demands and ongoing social and political unrest (Berrett, 2026; Bipartisan Policy Center, 2026;Bryant et al., 2025;Kiley et al., 2026;Langreo, 2024; National Center for Education Statistics, 2024).New strategies and coalitions are needed to overcome these policy strongholds and social upheavals.We need more scholars to partner with local educators, policymakers and other reformers to continue driving socially just change in primary through secondary education.While we work to alleviate inequities for primary and secondary students, we also strive to amplify the voices of those who are least represented in higher education, both as current and future primary and secondary education leaders and as future scholars.We need to mentor and coach the next generation of social justice leaders, welcoming and supporting their innovative ideas for change.Effective mentors and coaches shepherd mentees and coachees into education spaces with the message "Come right on in.You're going to do great things here.I'll walk with you."They share with their mentees and coachees how to navigate academia, which is often a hostile space for minoritized scholars (Contreras Aguirre, 2024;Maguire et al., 2025;Sanczyk et al., 2021).They guide mentees and coachees in using their unique voices to challenge the dominant body of knowledge and increase social justice advocates' awareness of self-care practices to sustain themselves and their work.Simultaneously and importantly, mentees and coachees support their mentors' and coaches' learning and development as they walk together (Freire, 1993).Adding to the burgeoning literature on mentoring and coaching for and as and for social justice (Ekpo et al., 2025;Volpe et al., 2025;Wilkerson and James, 2026), this special issue of the International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, shepherded by the Leadership for Social Justice (LSJ) Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association, aims to offer guidance for mentors, mentees, coaches and coachees as they walk their unique educational journeys together.Our SIG has been assessing the evolution of social justice theory and the presence of social justice practices in teaching, mentoring, coaching and hiring in primary through secondary schools and higher education.While the definition and inclusion of social justice have expanded dramatically in academia (e.g.Sonu et al., 2012;Theoharis, 2007), challenges persist with implementation in primary through secondary schools and school systems (Diamond and Lewis, 2019;Horsford et al., 2019) and in higher education (National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity and Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education, 2025;Patton et al., 2010).The collection of articles in this special issue serves as examples of mentoring and coaching for and International

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