Social Justice Leadership in Education: What Do School Principals Do for Social Justice?

Abstract

This study aims to explore school principals' perceptions of social justice in education and their social justice leadership behaviors at school. The data of the study, which was conducted with the phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research methods, were obtained through semi-structured interviews with nine school principals and then analyzed by thematic analysis. The results of this study reveal that school principals mostly have distributive and recognitional justice perceptions of social justice in education and participatory justice perceptions at a relatively lower level. It has been revealed that principals have perceptions of distributive justice with the phenomena of equality, equality of opportunity, and fairness; recognitory justice with the phenomena of awareness of disadvantaged groups, supporting disadvantaged groups, and respect for diversity; and participatory justice with the phenomenon of democracy. It was found that school principals mostly exhibited social justice leadership behaviors concerning the dimensions of critical consciousness and support, while their behaviors in relation to the dimension of inclusion were limited compared to the other two dimensions. In their schools, principals exhibited respect for diversity among students, awareness of social injustices, raising critical consciousness about social justice, providing financial support, supporting students' academic and social development, creating an inclusive educational environment, and participatory management behaviors. Some implications were made for school principals' leadership behaviors regarding the conduct of educational activities within the framework of the principle of social justice. It has been revealed that we need to rethink the duties of school principals on how they ensure justice in education services, how they protect disadvantaged groups, and how they distribute resources.