Purpose and backgrounds: Uncovering understandings of how successful leaders navigate the complex ecology in which they lead schools is the focus of research by the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). This paper focuses on a case study of a successful school in a disadvantaged context in Spain that strives for social justice. The question underpinning this research is how, why, and in what circumstances leaders build, achieve and sustain success. To do so the research analyzes the totality of the leadership phenomenon in terms of the underlying systems and the emergent, uncertain, adaptive, and co-evolving relationships among them (Patton, 2015). Conceptualization and theoretical framework: The research is framed within a human systems ecological theory perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), which itself relates to a complexity view of the world in which the actions and interactions of individuals and organisations influence and are influenced by a multi-layered environment consisting of micro, meso, exo, macro and chrono systems. Methods: A mixed methodology was applied, based on multi-perspective case studies framed in complexity theory, specifically Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory proposed by the ISSPP project (Author, 2022), and the methodological principles established by grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1999). Findings: The results show how leaders use a combination of leadership approaches that focus on community collaboration, an ethic of care, and innovative instructional practice, within a broadly humanistic, agential framework of beliefs and actions as they navigate interconnected layers of the internal and external environments Scientific significance: The validity of this case study is based on a naturalistic extrapolation, allowing for insights that broaden the understanding of successful school leadership for social justice. In doing so, the research, in common with that of successful principals in other cultures and jurisdictions engaged in ISSPP research, reinforces the need for leadership research to move beyond the limitations of single lens typologies of school leaders.

Author (2022). Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of Human Development. Harvard University Press. Patton, Q. (2015). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Sage. Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1998) Basic of qualitative research. Sage.