Global demographics are being shaped the migration trends and especially since the 1990s there has been a significant upturn in migration flows (Nortvedt et al., 2020). As a consequence, one-quarter of children in the US (Urban Institute, 2019) and one in five children in Europe have at least one immigrant parent (OECD, 2015). This engenders an immense challenge for various stakeholding groups such as school principals and teachers to put in place mechanisms and supports to ensure that migrant background students receive an equitable education akin to their native-born peers (Dimmock & Walker, 2005; Shah, 2006, 2008). Indeed, Dimmock and Walker (2005) maintain that school leaders need to develop culturally responsive practices that embrace diversity and by association contributes to solving the macro problems of society (Brown et al. 2019). Khalifa (2020) further argues that culturally responsive leadership comprises three basic premises. Firstly, cultural responsivity is an essential component of effective leadership. Secondly, culturally responsive practices can be sustainable in schools’ only if school leaders consistently promote cultural responsivity and lastly, culturally responsive school leaders possess a core set of certain unique leadership behaviours. These behavioural characteristics include critical self-reflection, the ability to develop and sustain culturally responsive teachers and curricula, and to promote inclusive, equitable school environments by engaging with the wider school community, namely parents, and the community at large. In other words, culturally responsive leadership provides a way for educational leaders to theorize their work, develop agency, take action, and build school-wide capacity on issues such as equity, diversity, and social justice (Lopez, 2015, p.173). However, to develop such practices poses an immense challenge on school leaders. They may not have enough trained teachers to support the learning of diverse groups of students. Other staff, namely teachers, may not have the necessary skills or knowledge required of culturally responsive teaching. Finally, schools may not have the necessary regulatory supports or mechanisms in place to deal with the multiple demands of cultural responsivity. Surprisingly, given the fact that the majority of schools have now become culturally diverse, there is limited research relating to how school leaders in Europe are embracing culturally diversity in comparison to other aspects of cultural responsivity such as culturally responsive assessment (Herzog-Punzenberger, 2020). To fill the lacuna of research in this area, this paper is based on an analysis of responses derived from school principals’ survey data conducted in four European Countries Austria, Ireland, Russia and Spain that formed part an Erasmus+ funded project entitled ‘Culturally Responsive Leadership and Evaluation in Schools.’ The survey focused on three main areas: the benefits and challenges that schools experience with increasing cultural diversity, school practices in response to increasing cultural diversity; the supports available and required to ensure improved learning outcomes for all students. The overarching research questions were:
• To what extent can school leaders contribute or are contributing to a climate and practice of cultural responsivity in their schools?
• What are the common policies and practices for cultural and linguistic diversity implemented in schools?
• What supports do the school leaders have and require to ensure equitable participation of students from migration backgrounds in their schools?
• What challenges do school leaders face /what are the barriers that hinder and facilitate the provision of culturally and linguistically responsive instruction in schools?

The first phase of the research consisted of a review of the literature on cultural responsivity to develop a conceptual framework and by association, identify themes that would be used in the survey. As a result, the following eight themes were identified: School leaders’ beliefs and readiness for culturally responsive practices in schools; School leaders’ professional development needs and professional development and training received; culturally responsive practices in schools; participation of parents (of migration background students) in school activities; challenges and barriers to culturally responsive leadership practices; stakeholders’ acknowledgement for school’s culturally responsive practices; the supports required to create culturally responsive environments in schools. The survey instrument underwent several iterations in response to deliberations among partners and from this was translated into the national languages of the participating countries (German, Russian & Spanish). Following on from this, the survey was distributed to: all post-primary schools in Ireland (n=735); about 450 lower secondary schools in Austria; all post-primary schools in the Moscow region (n = 800). Finally, the survey link was shared with all post-primary schools in Catalonia region (n= 300). The response rate – in pandemic times ranges between 10 – 25% across the partner countries. Leading on from this, the data set was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques to explore variations in responses across the four partner countries and to provide an overall interpretation of the study.

Preliminary results derived from the Irish data of the study (which will be complemented by data from the other participating countries) suggest that School principals are cognisant of the benefits and challenges for cultural diversity in their schools. They consider schools as the first step towards the integration of migrant background students in society as schools have a greater potential to be a platform where children at an early age get the opportunity to learn about other cultures in the words of one school principal, ‘an unbiased way’. They also acknowledge a general acceptance of multicultural educational practices in the immediate school community that includes students, parents, teachers, other staff and the school board. However, the linguistic and academic achievement of migration background students emerges as a major challenge and most of the principals are of the view that their efforts to meet this challenge are to a significant extent thwarted due to inadequacy of financial, human, and material resources. Indeed, the majority of school principals were of the belief that there was a need for extra funding to employ middle leaders who are competent in leading and supporting classes to build migrant students’ proficiency in the language of instruction and support the subject learning through bilingual (mother tongue and mainstream language of instruction) teaching. Another outcome of the survey responses related to the limited involvement of parents of migrant background students in school activities which is contrary to Khalifa’s (2020) notion of community-centric leadership (as opposed to the traditional school-centric leadership) that sees the role of parents and community in the positions of power in school policymaking. Finally, and with no surprise, only a minority of principals were of the view that they have received training to manage the learning of linguistically and culturally diverse learners.

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