The Correlation between Social Justice Leadership and Student Alienation

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the correlation between social justice leadership levels of school principals and school alienation levels of students in Turkey. Furthermore, it investigated the students’ perceptions about social justice leadership and alienation from school and whether there were significant differences based on gender, socioeconomic status and student grade levels. Research Methods The study sample included 493 high school students assigned with the cluster sampling method. The “Social Justice Leadership Scale” and “Student Alienation Scale” were used in the study to collect the data. Descriptive statistical analysis, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were conducted to analyze the data. Findings It was determined that there were significant differences between student perceptions on school alienation and social justice leadership of school principals based on the school's socioeconomic level, and the student's gender and grade level. There was a significant negative correlation between school alienation and social justice leadership. It was found that social justice leadership was a significant predictor of alienation from school and explained about 23% of the total variance in alienation from school. Implications Based on the study findings, it was concluded that exhibition of social justice leadership behavior by school principals decreased school alienation levels among the students. The level of school alienation of the students attending schools where principals exhibit social justice leadership behavior is expected to be lower.