Social justice leadership internationally is gaining increased attention as issues of equity, equality, inclusion, and diversity inform policies (Torrance, Forde, King and Razzaq, 2021a).  This research is situated within the work of the International School Leadership Development Network’s (ISLDN) research project studying social justice school leadership. The network was formed in 2010 under the sponsorship of the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). There are representatives from over 20 countries collaborating in this area. The research developed to form two strands (a) preparing and developing leaders who advocate for social justice and (b) preparing and developing leaders for high-need, low-performing schools. This research resides within the first strand. The team developed a shared research protocol around two key issues: how school leaders “make sense” and “do” social justice (Torrance and Angelle, 2019).  Within the Irish context, these questions were situated within an adaptation of Bronfennbrenner’s ecological framework allowing exploration of leadership for social justice at the micro, meso, and macro levels with the principal at the centre (King and Travers, 2017). This paper reports on the Irish findings concerning conceptualisations of social justice leadership, whether school leaders identify as such and the factors that support or hinder such leadership in developing inclusive schools. 

Several researchers highlight the links between educational leadership and social justice. Chunoo, Beatty & Gruver (2019) argue that social justice is at the heart of leadership with a bias for action and advocacy. Meanwhile Sarid (2021) argues for connecting adaptive leadership and social justice educational leadership around four principles pertinent to each: being disruptive, dilemmatic, collaborative and context-emergent. Cochran-Smith (1999) also connects educational leadership and social justice in the context of the entrenched inequities in the social, economic, and educational systems. This necessitates a values and political orientation. 

Slater (2017) identified three concepts underpinning the understanding of social justice leadership among the ISLDN team of 33 researchers across 14 countries at the time. The first concept was around providing equitable treatment regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. This could also be seen as the absence of any discrimination. The second concept concerned critiquing policies, practices, roles, and relationships in relation to how they marginalise certain groups. This could be interpreted as being proactive in preventing exclusion occurring in the first place. The third concept entailed collective action to include those who have been excluded. This could be interpreted as positive discrimination in addressing barriers and challenges to inclusion in schools. 

Artiles et al. (2006) argue that an underlying assumption of inclusion is that it serves social justice goals. They map discourses of inclusion identified by Dyson (1999) onto different views of social justice. The discourse of justification is based on a distributive view of social justice emphasising individual access to additional resources and underpins special and compensatory education (Rawls, 1971). In contrast, they argue that the implementation discourse draws mostly from a communitarian model of social justice, with an emphasis on social cohesion and shared values and beliefs. Artiles et al (2006) argue that the process of increasing social justice for marginalised/ diverse groups will not occur unless the identity of the dominant group also changes. This requires a transformative change involving participation, deliberation and critique on local and wider forces leading to a more inclusive social community and a more just distribution of resources in which all can flourish.

The following research questions underpinned this study: How do Irish school leaders conceptualise social justice? What do social justice leaders perceive as the supports and barriers to social justice practices? An online questionnaire was constructed based on the themes identified in interviews with social justice-oriented leaders as part of the work of the International School Leadership Development Network. In analysis by network members Angelle and Flood (2021), ninety initial codes were identified as factors supporting social justice leadership in schools across 12 countries (Costa Rica, England (2), Ireland, Israel (2), Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Scotland, Sweden, Turkey (2), and the United States (4)) arising from 18 interviews with principals conducted according to an agreed protocol. These were then categorised to 21 variables which were further classified as seven themes: Principal Behaviours, School Culture, Teacher Characteristics, Community Involvement, Teacher Student Interface, Policy, and Resources. These themes formed the basis for the factors included in the questionnaire where participants were asked to rank their importance as supports to the work of social justice leaders in schools. A definition for each was given in the preamble to the question, for example: Teacher characteristics: Demographics such as experience, faculty degrees, university preparation programs, teacher beliefs, values, and behaviours; may also include teaching principals. Principal behaviours: The translation of principal's values and beliefs into their behaviours and practices. A similar grounded theory approach was adopted for the barriers resulting in six themes: Student’s Family Situation, Perceptions of the School, Lack of Resources, Policy, Politics, Staff Variables, and Organisational Culture. These formed the basis for the questions in the barriers section on the questionnaire where participants were also asked to rank their importance as barriers to the work of social justice leaders in schools. Definitions were also given for the themes. Biographical data relating to gender, leading in a disadvantaged context, or having a professional qualification in leadership was also collected. Conscious of the importance of local context and cultural factors influencing understanding of social justice (Angelle, 2017; King, Travers, and McGowan, 2021) we included qualitative questions on definitions of social justice leadership, words to describe social justice leadership and examples of social justice practice and whether the leaders identified themselves as social justice school leaders. The questionnaire was sent by email to all schools in the Republic of Ireland and promoted on social media accounts.

There were 89 completed questionnaires. Responses indicate a lack of ethnic and cultural diversity in school leadership in Ireland. Only one of the respondents was other than White Irish but was still from another White background. While 46% of schools had an almost distinct White Irish student enrolment, the remainder had a more diverse enrolment with almost 25% having a minority of white Irish students. Defining Social Justice When asked to list up to five key words they would include in any definition of social justice, 68.5% of respondents included equality, while 65.1% included fairness, inclusion, opportunity, justice, respect, rights, diversity and being open-minded were frequently listed. These words feature in several macro policy documents. On the other hand, gender, ethnicity, race, and advocacy were each listed once, while religion, social class and disability were not included. When considering their key influences 30% of respondents credited their own parents and upbringing as the main influence on their social justice leadership: “values instilled in me by my parents” or “reared in a family where social justice was spoken about and emulated.” Twenty per cent of participants said that their own education had inculcated social justice values in their perspectives, while 36% said that their experience since they commenced a teaching career had influenced their social justice awareness. While 75% of participants identified as a social justice leader, a small minority of three said they were not. The 19 respondents, who stated they were unsure whether they identified as social justice leaders, seem to question the leadership aspect rather than the social justice aspect. Respondents ranked principal behaviours, school culture, teacher characteristics and student-teacher communication highest in providing support to the work of social justice leaders in schools. Discussion and implications for leadership professional learning are outlined.

Angelle, Pamela S., and Lee D. Flood. "Measuring the Barriers and Supports to Socially Just Leadership." International Studies in Educational Administration (Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration & Management (CCEAM)) 49, no. 3 (2021). Angelle, Pamela S., ed. A global perspective of social justice leadership for school principals. IAP, 2017. Artiles, A. J., N., Harris-Murri, and D. Rostenberg. “Inclusion as social justice: Critical notes on discourses, assumptions, and the road ahead.” Theory into Practice, (2006) 45, 260-268. Bowe, Richard, Stephen J. Ball, and Anne Gold. Reforming education and changing schools: Case studies in policy sociology. Vol. 10. Routledge, 2017. Cochran-Smith, Marilyn. "Section Two: Practices in Teacher Education: Learning to Teach for Social Justice." Teachers College Record 100, no. 5 (1999): 114-144. Dyson, Alan. "Inclusion and inclusions: Theories and discourses in inclusive education." In World yearbook of education 1999, pp. 36-53. Routledge, 2013. Edwards, Graeme, and Juliet Peruma. "Enacting social justice in education through spiritual leadership." Koers 82, no. 3 (2017): 1-14. Forde, Christine, and Deirdre Torrance. “Social justice and leadership development”, Professional Development in Education (2017) 43:1, 106-120. Harford, Judith, Brian Fleming, and Áine Hyland. "100 years of inequality?: Irish educational policy since the foundation of the state." Paedagogica Historica (2022): 1-16. Kavanagh, Anne Marie. "A whole school approach to social justice education." Teaching for social justice and sustainable development across the primary curriculum. London: Routledge, 2021. King, Fiona, and Joe Travers. "Social justice leadership through the lens of ecological systems theory." A Global Perspective of Social Justice Leadership for School Principals. Information Age Publishing (2017): 147-165. Rawls, A. "Theories of social justice." (1971). Slater, Charles L. "Social justice beliefs and the positionality of researchers." A global perspective of social justice leadership for school principals (2017): 3-20. in P.S. Angelle, A Global Perspective of Social Justice Leadership for School Principals. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc. Theoharis, George. "Social justice educational leaders and resistance: Toward a theory of social justice leadership." Educational administration quarterly 43, no. 2 (2007): 221-258. Torrance, Deirdre, and Pamela S. Angelle. "The influence of global contexts in the enactment of social justice." Cultures of social justice leadership: An intercultural context of schools (2019): 1-19. Torrance, Deirdre, Christine Forde, Fiona King & Jamila Razzaq. “What is the problem? A critical review of social justice leadership preparation and development,” Professional Development in Education, 47, no.1 (2021a): 22-35.DOI: 10.1080/19415257.2020.1787198 Young, Iris Marion. "Justice and the Politics of Difference." (1990).