The growing attention for diversity and inclusive education (Erten and Savage, 2012; Messiou 2017), has witnessed a parallel interest in evidence-informed practices (Nelson and Campbell 2017) that are supported by ongoing professional learning to optimise team-based efforts (collaborations between teachers). Recent development in community-based education is seeking for wider forms of collaborations between student, teachers, school leaders and the wider community (Corson 1998; Knippenberg and Ginkel 2022). This shift from a centralized orientation of education to a more community-based orientation where community member’s knowledge and expertise are needed to inform the school’s core business of learning and teaching creates new opportunities and challenges for school principals, particularly on how they go about incorporating the voices of those who were once unsolicited. Inspired by the need for ongoing professional development for school principals in Cameroon (Lyonga, 2022), this paper draws on data from the Teach Connect LeadUP project, which anchors on the cultivation of professional learning communities (PLC) as a school-wide improvement strategy. Crafted to build leadership capacity, the project begins by exploring how school principals think about leadership, and their capacity in developing inclusive learning cultures using action research strategies to develop their epistemic cognition and capabilities for inclusive leadership. The project relies on the leader’s emic perspectives in creating conducive and inclusive learning environments where every student, staff and member of the school community feels included, empowered and safe to contribute towards achieving the collective goal of the school. I draw on the findings of the first reconnaissance phase of the project, leveraging on the reflections of principals and their understanding of inclusive leadership processes and the knowledge base and competences required for the development of a PLC in a resource-constraint context. Overall, the findings from all the phases of the project will cumulatively inform the design of an inclusive leadership framework that plots the ideological and theoretical considerations foregrounding the development of leadership capacity for inclusive learning system and communities

Corson., D. (1998). Community-based Education for Indigenous Cultures, Language Culture and Curriculum, 11(3), 238-249 Erten., O. and Savage., R., S. (2012). Moving forward in inclusive education research, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(2), 221-233 Knippenberg., V. D. and Ginkel., V., P., W. (2022). A Diversity Mindset Perspective on Inclusive Leadership, Group and Organisation Management, 47(4), 779-797 Lyonga., N.A.N. (2022). Principals’ Leadership Needs for Effective Management of Secondary Schools in Meme and Fako Divisions of Cameroon. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership 18(1), 35-48 Messiou., K. (2017). Research in the field of inclusive education: time for a rethink?, International Journal of inclusive Education, 21(2), 146-159 Nelson., J. and Campbell., C. (2017). Evidence-informed practice in education: meanings and applications, Educational Research, 59(2), 127-135