The aim of this presentation and paper is to explore the traits of leadership for social justice, drawing on the work to date within the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN), and referring to James et al’s (2017) writings on Ego States. In doing so, an argument will develop about the implications of this thinking for leadership preparation and development for school leaders and how such contemplations need to be contextualised. The paper has 6 parts as follows: 1. Introduction to the leadership for equity, drawing on the ISLDN literature on Social Justice Leadership and my own thinking around conceptualising equity 2. Introduction to the lens of Ego States in understanding how the personal psychology of a leader impacts on their disposition and approach to leadership. 3. An acknowledgement and consideration of the contextual factors that need to be brought to bear on analysing leadership behaviours. This is in order to recognise diversity of situation across the globe and cultural sensitivities are required when evaluating practice. 4. An exploration of case studies in two countries, providing empirical evidence from England and the Netherlands, where leadership for inclusive practices are examined. These case studies are from the ISLDN. 5. The perspectives framed in parts 1 - 3 above will inform a discussion of the data presented in part 4. 6. Implications for leadership preparation and development will be extrapolated and concluding recommendations made. Contributions to knowledge include: ● An intersectionality of psychology and sociological perspectives ● Bringing the concepts of equity and inclusion to the fore when exploring the notion of social justice leadership ● Comparing and contrasting two ‘European’ case studies of policy and practice in schools, and in doing so illuminating the contextual sensitivities when discussing ‘effective’ school leadership ● Providing some evidence-informed theoretical advice for school leadership preparation and development.

James, C., James, J. S. & Potter, I., (2017). An exploration of the validity and potential of adult ego development for enhancing understanding of school leadership, School Leadership and Management, 37(4), 372-390.