Examining Leadership in Connection to Welcoming and Belonging in Schools

Dear Colleagues,

Global commitments to protect every student’s right to inclusion are long-standing (e.g., UNESCO, 1994; United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2006). Because education is compulsory in most societies, educational leadership is central to shaping their futures and ensuring inclusion. This Special Issue examines the role of educational leadership in advancing inclusive education.

Inclusive education is an ideal that welcomes students as valued community members and supports their learning and development. It aligns with equity by confronting its barriers, which are often rooted in identity and social position (e.g., disability, religion, immigration). Although research highlights the academic and social benefits of inclusive pedagogy, leadership in shaping inclusive PreK–20 systems remains underexamined.

We invite studies that examine educational leadership and inclusion across micro, meso, and macro-level forces—sociopolitical, cultural, economic, militaristic, ideological, and religious. These studies should illustrate how power shapes decisions and values within diverse contexts and how leadership mediates deliberations about what education provides, to whom, by what criteria, and under what conditions.

Suggested Themes:

• Leading students and adults affected by marginalization, exploitation, violence, or cultural imperialism;
• Leading in politically divided educational contexts;
• Leading within geopolitical curricular negotiations;
• Leading with or in legal perspectives;
• Leading partnerships, communities, or collectives;
• Leading core activities such as budgeting, hiring, training, and adopting materials.

Prof. Dr. Vonzell Agosto
Prof. Dr. Martin Scanlan
Guest Editors

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