Leadership for Inclusion

Introduction to Topic

Central to this chapter is the belief that leadership is a skill that everyone can develop. From this standpoint, all members of a school community have influence as leaders. Both adults and students can become leaders for inclusion, by understanding they have the power to influence their environment. To do so, school community members need to see themselves as learners about inclusion, facilitators of inclusion and leaders for inclusion.

Building on this belief about leadership and the positions community members hold, this chapter outlines four possible pathways to make leadership for inclusion happen. The first pathway addresses the importance of co-constructing shared meaning about foundational concepts related to inclusion. With a shared understanding of inclusion, the second pathway explores how policies can be developed and operationalised to shape expectations, accountability and inclusive cultures. Thirdly, a culture of care that is underpinned with safeguarding diverse identities is described as essential for cultivating inclusion. Finally, the fourth pathway shows how shaping partnerships within and outside the school can strengthen inclusive practices.

Key aspects

Leadership in Inclusive Schools

Leadership in an educational setting serves the purpose of shaping the mission, vision, and values and how these aspirations will be achieved. When a clear and compelling vision of what inclusion looks like within a school is articulated, this can align efforts and guide initiatives toward a common goal. Inclusive leaders inspire and empower others to achieve shared goals by leveraging their influence to foster an inclusive learning culture. Leaders who are committed to cultivating an inclusive school take risks and are willing to challenge the inequitable status quo (Morrison, 2018). They are ethically driven to bring about change that shapes existing cultural norms towards more inclusive ones that serve all learners.

It is important to be clear that leadership is not limited to formal titles and roles; it is a set of capabilities and behaviours that all members of a school community can develop. Leadership in inclusive schools fosters an environment where everyone sees themselves as potential leaders, capable of developing the necessary skills and attributes to drive inclusion and contribute to collective growth and development (Dimmock, 2011). Therefore, leaders in a school need to see themselves as lifelong learners, as facilitators of learning, and as leaders of learning. For example, a school principal who values what they learn from the start, teachers will be able to make better decisions by gaining new perspectives. At times, a coordinator in a school may be facilitating meetings where educational practitioners are learning together about a strategic initiative and how they can contextualise theory into practice. Teachers are leaders when they reflect on the way they teach, listening to colleagues’ observations and students’ feedback. Children who articulate their learning preferences and interests to inform learning and teaching decisions are leaders who determine their own learning experiences. Everyone in a school contributes to building inclusive cultures by modelling key values and behaviours as learners, facilitators and leaders of learning.

Inclusive leaders play a crucial role in cultivating school culture and ensuring the safety of all community members. They nurture environments where individuals feel safe to express their authentic selves, thus creating the psychological safety that is necessary for fostering an inclusive school culture. Leaders can build trust through integrity, transparency, and consistency in their actions. These actions set the tone for inclusion through modelling behaviours that demonstrate genuine care, empathy, active listening, and respect for diverse people and perspectives. Open communication, where feedback is encouraged and valued, helps identify and address issues related to inclusion promptly. By promoting a collective growth mindset and demonstrating that intelligence and leadership capabilities can be developed through hard work and dedication, leaders set expectations and norms that inspire others. This holistic approach ensures that a school community thrives within an inclusive, supportive, and growth-oriented environment.

Students and Educational Practitioners as Leaders

When leadership is defined as a person’s role in shaping an inclusive learning environment, by default, all members of a school community are leaders as everyone has the potential to positively impact school transformation. In this section, we explain how both teachers and students can make important contributions in strengthening inclusion in educational settings.

First and foremost, educational practitioners serve the needs of students and as such, practitioners need to refocus students’ needs as leaders by elevating learner agency and involving students in decisions that affect them (Rodriguez and Villarreal, 2003). The concept of students as leaders should not be a performative and superficial notion. The same can be said about teacher agency, because there is no learner agency without teacher agency. When decisions have already been made without the input of student or educational practitioners, this can lead to trust being lost and demotivation. Rather, schools need to intentionally develop all community members’ leadership capabilities and strive to create meaningful ways for all to contribute to school decision-making (Quaglia and Corso, 2014).

A common misconception is when a school considers students as leaders resulting in students assuming executive decision-making power and responsibility. However, how students are viewed by teachers, and other members of the school community, is essential for the decision-making process. As highlighted above, by encouraging students to articulate their own learning interests and preferences and then incorporating this in pedagogy and curriculum, teachers are providing students with opportunities for shaping and leading their learning. While inclusive practices are about empowering all students, this does not mean that students have complete executive decision-making responsibilities. Students as leaders involves meaningful integration of student voices into decision-making around a broad range of experiences that they encounter at school. It is a co-constructive process that values diversity of perspectives and contributions from those who are experiencing the schooling system that educational practitioners create to serve them (Rudduck, 2007).

An example of meaningful student leadership comes from a German secondary school where a student-driven “Schule Ohne Rassismus” (School Without Racism) project was initiated and implemented by student activists. Student leaders interviewed peers and found that acts of racism were prevalent across the community. This highlighted the need to shift cultural norms, hence teachers collaborated with students to successfully lead the secondary school towards gaining a Schule Ohne Rassismus status. As a part of this initiative, students led staff training sessions, were invited to contribute to strengthening the school’s safeguarding policy, and the secondary students also shared their initiative with the primary school’s student council and primary teachers.

By valuing students as leaders, educational practitioners hear their needs, maintain relevance and are able to evolve their practices to serve the children and youth under their care (Diamond and Spillane, 2016). Schools that are responsive to student input, are underpinned by democratic values that respect student voice and can lead to academic performance benefits and reduced rates of absenteeism (Kahne, Bowyer, Marshall and Hodgin, 2022). An example of how this can be systematically established is by adopting a ‘reverse mentoring’ concept. This is when the traditional mentor-mentee role is flipped, for example, when students become the mentor to an educational practitioner or when a newly qualified teacher or teacher new to a school is a mentor to a principal or head of school. Reverse mentoring can offer fresh perspectives and fill in understanding gaps to help leaders enhance how they serve those under their care (Israni, 2022).

Table 1 provides an overview of who may be referred to when using the term educational practitioners. These are all roles and responsibilities in a school that influence inclusion practices and that impact student learning. All of the roles mentioned may have alternate names in various school contexts. It is not an exhaustive list, and should be used as a guide to exemplify the concept of how all roles can be embodied with a leadership perspective.

Table 1: List of Educational Practitioners

Principles Underpinning Inclusive Leadership

Extensive research and literature have been written about leadership styles and the characteristics or dispositions leaders should possess. When considering leadership for inclusion, a combination of these capabilities is put into action by leaders who are hoping for maximum impact. A flexible and responsive approach to leadership is essential as success is grounded in, and responsive to, the unique contexts that leaders are operating in. Schools are shaped and driven by specific policies or initiatives that leaders operationalise and put into practice. For example, implementing safeguarding policies may involve directive leadership, while developing policies for engaging with community service providers and leaders requires dialogue and responsiveness. Meanwhile, when striving to transform learning and teaching with a school-wide adoption of universal design for learning, a leader would achieve more sustainable practices if adopting a relational and transformational leadership approach.

It is crucial that leaders have, at the heart of their adaptable leadership approaches, key principles that positively promote inclusion. Leadership for inclusion is not merely about enacting policy and practice; it is about embodying inclusive values. Guiding principles support leaders with ‘living’ inclusion, as they serve as foundational factors that underpin the inclusive behaviours that are modelled. Without a majority of these key principles, a leader may stray away from values that drive inclusion. For example, a leader can be democratic and take on a distributive leadership approach to implement segregating learners from one ethnic background, or who are perceived to have deficits with literacy or numeracy that results in greater othering and marginalisation . On the other hand, a leader with ethical principles driven by inclusive leadership would design for greater equity with initiatives that break down barriers for learning as opposed to creating more division.

The following guiding principles are organised around two components: inclusive leader characteristics and inclusive leadership styles. The principles chosen are based on leaders’ experiences and leadership in schools’ research.

Inclusive Leader Characteristics

Caring

Care is a specific activity that includes everything that we do to maintain, continue, and repair our world so that we can live in it as well as possible. That world includes our bodies, ourselves, and our environment, all of which we seek to interweave in a complex, life-sustaining web. (Fisher & Tronto, 1990, p. 40).

Inclusive leaders care deeply about their work and interactions with others. ‘Leadership’ in educational settings is not regularly associated with ‘care’, but ‘ethics of care’ are increasingly recognised as critical for leaders who seek to strengthen inclusive practice (Myende, 2023). The social change that is needed for genuine inclusion requires leaders who care about equity and social justice and how they interact with and influence people. For example, a school leader that is given space to care deeply about their work will be able to prioritise building relationships with the people they interact with.

Genuine care that leads to positive social transformation is an important aspect of how we operate in the world more broadly (Cook-Sather, 2020). A leader that embodies ethics of care holds themselves and others to account to move inclusion forward. To successfully care about ourselves, students, colleagues and our environment, leaders also need characteristics such as passion and self-awareness.

Passion

I get this feeling of passion, almost like a passion for the school.

I sense a feeling that she feels something that when the school achieves

that she has achieved in order for the school to be achieving

… she has always had a strong desire to maintain or improve standards and to better the school

… to see that people are able to achieve (Parent). (Day, 2005, p. 579)

The following excerpts are direct quotes taken from interviews that illustrate how parents, as well as children and school staff, appreciate leaders who are personally invested in, or connected, to their schools. When leaders convey their passion for cultivating inclusion, for their school community, for each individual under their care and for every learner to achieve their goals – this passion can embolden and encourage others to be active participants that contribute to furthering the school’s inclusive mission.

The ability to care and lead with passion, has been identified as a characteristic that can sustain success in challenging learning contexts (Day, 2005). It plays an important role in shaping inclusive learning and teaching because passion includes and conveys: moral responsibility, optimistic enthusiasm, constant perseverance, urgency for action, genuine valuing of others and more (Caldwell and Okpala, 2022). Understanding the role of passion in building strong relationships has practical benefits for inclusive, caring and self-aware leaders.

Self-awareness

…teachers must spend time recognizing who they are, bring that authentic self into the class-room, and invite their students to do the same. In this process, it is important to note that the goal is not to be like our students. Instead, we must be as unapologetic, raw, and honest as we can be about who we are, while creating space for our students to express their authenticity and vulnerability in ways that have never been allowed before and that support their freedom to learn and become academically successful. (Sealey-Ruiz, 2022)

Self-awareness and the capacity to ‘tune into’ the range of lived experiences and perspectives of children, colleagues, and community members are essential. This begins with tuning into oneself as leadership for genuine inclusion requires openness and humility. Inclusive leaders are able to reflect on their own biases and comprehend diverse experiences through in-depth engagement and active listening. Being self-aware supports inclusive leaders in terms of leaning into their own identity and discomfort, particularly as this can often be a barrier for having conversations about race, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic status, etc (Talusan, 2023). The process of understanding one’s own and others’ lived experiences has been described as ‘tuning’, or becoming ‘attuned’.

With self-awareness, leaders can recognise one’s own socialisation that informs conscious and unconscious ways of knowing, doing and understanding the world. This includes recognising one’s unconscious biases that can lead to having affinity with certain people and groups and that can also lead to polarising judgements and exclusionary behaviour. Being cognisant of the limitations of one’s own lenses helps us move beyond our own perspectives to develop informed understandings from multiple perspectives (Cook-Sather, 2020). For example, a head of school who is aware of one’s power and positionality can use it to prioritise inclusive hiring for greater representation of teachers from underrepresented groups. This does not suggest that power related to the position is used in a coercive and controlling way (power over), but rather the sharing of power (power with) is necessary in order to maximise every persons’ unique potential (power within) and achieve shared goals (power to).  A newly qualified teacher also has power and positionality to make a difference in their context and spheres of influence, for example a teacher has great power in the classroom and can intentionally form the content they choose to include or omit from their unit and lesson designs.

By understanding ourselves and others deeply, an inclusive leader will be able to bridge differences in order to develop shared ways forward that honours all intersectional identities in one’s learning community.

Inclusive leadership styles

Leadership for inclusion encompasses various styles and approaches. The most effective style depends on the individual leader, the school, the wider community, and the leadership task at hand. Some key leadership styles discussed in literature around leadership for inclusion include transformative leadership, distributive leadership and ethical leadership. For example transformational leadership nurtures the characteristics listed above as it focuses on educational practitioners’ professional identity evolvement. Distributive leadership fosters collaboration among and between educational practitioners, students, families, governors, school evaluators and more. Ethical leadership ensures that decisions are driven by socially responsible motives that transform society for good. These three styles represent research-informed approaches that drive inclusion and foster a thriving school environment. To support further learning about each of these leadership styles Table 2 shares resources that serve as a starting point for your ongoing professional inquiry.

Table 2. Leadership Style Resources

In summary, inclusive leadership involves articulating contextually appropriate principles that emphasise care, passion, self-awareness and adaptable leadership styles. These principles help leaders create an inclusive school culture where everyone feels valued and supported, ensuring the safety and well-being of all. With these foundational principles, specific strategic priorities can be actioned in accelerated ways. The following pathways outline steps schools can take to cultivate sustainable inclusion.

Four pathways to inclusion

A shared understanding about leadership and inclusive leader characteristics as well as leadership styles helps to create clarity across the school community and that all members have a role to play in this process. Given these principles which underpin leadership for inclusion, a school also needs to co-construct aspects of the school to strategically move forward in order that inclusive cultures can be nurtured. To promote success among educators and in the school more generally, four pathways to inclusion are presented for leaders to address in contextually relevant ways in their learning communities, these are:

1. Developing shared understandings of key concepts related to inclusion.
2. Designing inclusive policies and implementation processes.
3. Nurture inclusive cultures for diverse identities to grow.
4. Cultivate partnerships to strengthen inclusion.

Each of these pathways has the potential to move a school forward if leaders provide support and opportunities for positive interactions. If any of these pathways are neglected, leaders will find that progress is likely to be hindered. In any school, multiple pathways can be developed simultaneously. Together, these pathways complement and support each other  by providing multiple ways to achieve a goal when specific paths may be a barrier to reaching an inclusion-related goal. For example, let’s take the example case of Ms. Lee’s desire to support Kezia and the Roma community. It is clear that a shared understanding about how best to serve students with Kezia’s background or policies, practices or partnerships is lacking and fostering respect and understanding is necessary to support Ms. Lee with achieving her goals. Consider how each of these pathways, if addressed with Kezia and Ms. Lee in mind, would promote leadership for inclusion.

Each pathway’s purpose and importance is explained and examples of practice are provided. These examples should be considered as starting points for strategic planning and development for a school. Through strategic planning and development these pathways can lay foundations so that steps can be taken towards embedding more inclusion in educators’ daily practice.

Pathway 1: Developing shared understandings of key concepts related to inclusion 

‘Shared understanding’ happens when the vision and core values in an educational setting are clearly articulated, regularly discussed, widely disseminated and well understood. When staff and students share an understanding about the importance, and key aspects of inclusion, they are able to take communal action in achieving an inclusive and caring environment.

A shared understanding and commitment to inclusion is essentialas it enables communities to move beyond rhetoric in promoting meaningful participation of all members, irrespective of their age, gender, race, colour, caste and religion. A shared understanding about inclusion is supported when there is space and opportunity for all perspectives in a school community to be noticed, heard and valued. By harnessing diverse perspectives and ideas, shared commitment to inclusion also leads to greater creativity and innovation.

It is important for schools and school policies to reflect a clear sense of how ‘inclusion’ is  understood and enacted within their own contexts. Inclusion is a multifaceted concept and understandings of inclusion are constantly evolving to reflect broader changes in society and the world. One concept that has played a key role in shaping ideas about inclusion is the idea that education is a ‘political act’. As Paulo Friere stated in his 1968 book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “All education is political, teaching is never a neutral act” (Freire, 1968, p. 19). Decisions about what is taught in the curriculum reflect particular values and ideologies that do not always mirror the lived experiences of all children and their communities. For instance, emphasis on particular historical figures, the framing of historical events, the choice of language of instruction, are all political decisions. Teachers themselves might also make choices about topics that they teach, and how these topics are delivered, that reflect their own values, beliefs and understanding about how societies function. Politics are therefore intertwined with children’s learning, and it is important that teachers are encouraged to reflect on their own teaching and learning choices, to ensure that they do not unintentionally marginalise or exclude.

Developing cultural competence among community members and leaders is also important for developing a shared understanding around inclusion, as this promotes awareness of how diverse cultures and values systems can be better incorporated, or at least considered, in planning and delivery. This could be achieved via continuous learning and by providing development opportunities for teachers, including open, constructive discussion of potential bias across all school policies and practices. Empowering community members to participate in development of inclusion policies promotes ownership of inclusion initiatives and ensures sustainability and relevance.

As part of developing a shared understanding about inclusion, it is important to have open dialogue across schools around the importance of justice. This includes differentiating between equality and equity. Traditionally, equality means treating everyone the same. However, recent educational literature emphasises the importance of equity (Hammond, 2014), in other words, a school environment provides resources and support tailored to address individual unique needs, thereby ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. For example, providing extra language support for students who might face difficulties with accessing curriculum content taught in the language of instruction is an example of equity in action. This approach, supported by scholars like Ainsworth & Ladson-Billings (2018), promotes a more just and inclusive school community where all students can reach their full potential. According to Cobb and Krownapple (2019), successful educational equity initiatives require a shared understanding that moves beyond diversity to fostering a culture of dignity and belonging.

Examples of how shared understandings can be disseminated and implemented

A shared understanding of, and commitment to inclusion facilitates action by ensuring that inclusive practices are integrated into the full range of school policies and practices. One example could be around creating a shared understanding of terminology related to gender. When leaders, educators, and community members are well-informed about and sensitive to diverse expressions of gender, this reduces stigma, promotes acceptance, and ensures that everyone feels valued and understood. Practical actions to demonstrate this shared understanding could include the possibility of Alias Careers that legitimate sexual identity in terms of subjective choice.

This second illustration draws on the concept of restorative practice, which is elaborated on in the chapter Restorative Justice in Schools: Implementing restorative approaches to resolve conflicts and build positive relationships within the school community. Shared understandings of inclusion that are widely discussed and practised across a school community can support heightened awareness among teachers, which is critical for acknowledging and addressing instances of exclusion and ‘othering’ that might not be overtly visible. For example, students from ethnic backgrounds that differ from the mainstream can be subjected to instances of microaggression or feeling disregarded. These experiences are not always immediately identifiable, but they can lead to behaviours that result in traditional disciplinary measures such as reprimanding both groups or the detention of some students from the majority group, which can further isolate the excluded student and might not resolve the issue. A more inclusive approach would be for the teacher to facilitate a restorative circle involving the excluded student and the dominant group. In the circle, an inclusive space can be facilitated for students to feel safe to discuss key values underpinning inclusion and share their perspectives. The excluded student can express their feelings of isolation, while the dominant group might become more aware of the harmful consequences of their behaviour. This open dialogue allows for empathy building and an opportunity to find solutions together.

By establishing core values, creating inclusive decision-making processes, prioritising well-being, embedding inclusivity in organisational practices, and continuously monitoring and evaluating outcomes, leaders can ensure their decisions foster a supportive, equitable, and thriving community. This comprehensive approach enhances individual well-being and promotes a culture of respect, engagement, and collective success.

Pathway 2: Designing inclusive policies and implementation processes

To foster sustainable growth, it is essential to outline a strategic direction that articulates the school’s key purposes. A school’s mission, vision and values are operationalised through its organisational policies (Eredics, 2018). Policies provide clarity of shared beliefs, values and approaches which the school adopts to achieve its stated mission. Without this clarity, it can be difficult to achieve one’s promise to students and their families and to hold each other accountable. As policies play such an important role in shaping a school’s culture and learning ecosystem, it is vital that all policies are underpinned by inclusive values. A well-articulated policy has the power to promote development, change and to sustain an inclusive organisation.

In this section, we highlight two very important considerations in developing inclusive policies: the first focuses on the ‘human aspect’ of policy: the importance of tuning into, representing and engaging with, diverse perspectives in policy development and review. The second focuses on policy content and external influences.

The human aspect of policies

The first consideration centres around the importance of connections between policies and the communities that they are designed to serve. Successful policies ‘speak to’ people. They are highly valued, well understood and grounded in shared understanding about why they matter. As outlined earlier, some policies, such as safeguarding policies, may require a higher degree of top-down implementation that may be less open to democratic processes of development. However, effective implementation of such policies still requires a process of engagement with the school community, to ensure that they are widely understood and valued. In the case of policies that seek to promote genuine inclusion, these aspects are particularly important. Policies drive practice, so in the case of inclusion, policies need to incorporate diverse ‘voices’, carry meaning for diverse groups, and clearly articulate key values (including care, respect and dignity) outlined earlier.

In a school setting, leadership for inclusion requires that the diverse needs and capabilities of all students and staff across the school community are incorporated into policy development and review. Where possible, students should be given opportunities to participate in policy-related decision making. At the very least, the best interests and well-being of all children should drive policy making and review. Democratic structures like student councils or children’s parliament can contribute to fostering student leadership and space for learners’ voices to be heard.

As well as representing children, inclusive policies should consider and reflect the interests of all members of a school community, including staff, parents and caregivers, and key stakeholders who share responsibility for supporting children and their well-being. Teachers need to understand and ‘tune into’ the importance of engaging with and embracing children’s diverse lived experiences in classroom settings. Support staff need to engage with and understand the importance of inclusive language and a caring environment. Parents and caregivers need to be encouraged to participate in policy development at the school level, so that they understand the values that underpin regulations, pedagogical approaches and other key aspects of school life.

Policy contents and external influences

With regard to the second key consideration, developing inclusive policies in schools involves recognising the interconnectedness of various policy areas, such as gender, safeguarding, and human resources. Rather than viewing these policies as mere compliance checklists, schools should adopt a commitment-driven approach that emphasises growth and development (Wutschka and Lossen, 2022). This shift fosters a culture where policies are living documents that actively support inclusivity and equity. By integrating policies that address multiple dimensions of inclusion, schools can create a more cohesive and supportive environment for all members of the community.

Inclusive policies must also consider external parameters that may be exclusionary, including legal and cultural factors. For instance, Germany ranks highly on the legal index for LGBTQ+ rights according to Equaldex, but public opinion is less supportive (Equaldex, n.d.). This discrepancy highlights the need for school policies to bridge the gap between legal protections and societal attitudes. Schools must be proactive in creating an environment that upholds legal standards while also promoting a culture of acceptance and respect. Understanding these dynamics helps schools to tailor their policies to both reflect legal requirements and address cultural mindsets, ensuring that all individuals feel safe and valued (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2021).

Policies within a school can significantly promote or inhibit progress towards inclusion. For instance, a Language Policy that encourages multilingualism and honours home languages fosters an inclusive environment where all students feel valued and respected. Conversely, a policy mandating the use of English only (or another dominant language only) sends a message that one language is more valuable and powerful than other languages, potentially diminishing the cultural and linguistic identity of students (Blume, Gerlach, Roters and Schmidt, 2021). This can result in marginalisation and potential loss of a multilingual identity as students conform to a monolingual standard. On the other hand, when a school adopts a specific language for instruction, but also explicitly supports multilingualism and welcomes all languages, it aligns with research showing that students learn additional languages more effectively when they can connect new knowledge with their existing linguistic repertoire (Cummins, 2021). This approach will also ensure that students with limited proficiency in their school’s language of instruction are fully able to comprehend their rights and responsibilities.

To be effective, policies must be accessible, realistic, and their implementation carefully monitored. Accessibility ensures that all members of the school community can understand and engage with the policies. Realistic policies are those that can be practically applied within the school’s context (Cairney, 2023). Monitoring implementation is crucial to ensure that policies are not only put into practice but are also adapted as needed in order to remain effective. By focusing on these aspects, schools can develop inclusive policies that truly support the diverse needs of their students and staff, fostering an environment where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Managing and accelerating change

Managing and accelerating change to achieve inclusion requires leaders to strike a balance between driving transformation at a pace that challenges and inspires, while also ensuring that the community feels supported and capable of keeping up with changes (Abrams, 2019). Distributive and transformative leadership are universally acknowledged approaches that will inclusively involve all community members in enacting change in non-hierarchical ways (Gómez-Hurtado, Valdés, González-Falcón, Jiménez Vargas, 2021).

Successfully managing change in democratic ways means providing opportunities for everyone to have a say in decisions that affect them. When community members understand reasons for decision-making, they are more likely to accept the legitimacy of decisions and feel more ownership to act. Transparent sharing of decision-making processes brings more visibility and builds trust. Additionally, when community members have a role in decision-making, they can clearly see future opportunities for participation to act on change initiatives (Santana, Rothstein and Agnes, 2016). In order to ensure that policies are transparent and visible, they may need to be translated into multiple languages and formats, to reach diverse communities. Careful dissemination of policies can enable parents and students to understand the importance and nature of school regulations, academic requirements, and available resources.

Fullan (2000) highlights the need for ongoing monitoring and support for successful policy implementation. It is very important to gather feedback from teachers, staff, students, and families to identify challenges and areas for improvement. On-going collection of key data should inform policy review and development. For example, if school data indicates low scores for students who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds, then immediate actions should be undertaken to understand the needs of those students and to provide appropriate support. Another example could be that a school policy could mandate bi-annual anonymous surveys and quarterly feedback sessions for all teachers to assess school climate and operational effectiveness. For instance, a monthly “Feedback Friday” could be established, where teachers and students provide input through easily accessible online forms and in-person meetings, ensuring continuous and inclusive improvement. For the students, a feedback wall could be established in the school enabling students to provide feedback on important questions that might guide policy development. Once this data is collected and analysed, a summary report highlighting key findings and action steps should be shared with all stakeholders, and follow-up meetings should be scheduled to address any urgent issues and track the progress of implemented solutions. If the findings show inequity, then further analysis should be undertaken to understand what caused it. A thorough action plan responding to the analysis should be made and implemented. The plan could consist of communicating and then allocating resources equally to ensure that everyone’s needs are met.

On-going reflection on how policies are working across the school, and how they are viewed by staff and students, is important to regularly assess policies’ effectiveness in achieving an inclusive environment for all students. Furthermore, it is important to review and update the policies so as to ensure that it is aligned with the goals and the vision of the community. More information can be found in the chapter on Policy Development and Implementation.

Pathway 3: Nurture inclusive cultures for diverse identities to grow

Nurturing diverse identities within school communities is at the heart of leadership for inclusion. We use the term ‘nurturing’ here intentionally, as it reflects the importance of on-going development and growth in valuing and embracing human diversity as a core component of inclusive cultures and thriving classrooms. Genuine inclusion is an on-going process that requires all members of the school community to take responsibility for recognising, supporting and responding to diverse ways of knowing, being and belonging. Schools are places where student and teachers’ identities evolve, and addressing the following aspects helps to provide preventative measures that foster inclusive mindsets and behaviours so that curative steps are less needed.

For example, if students are exposed to diverse role models in their curriculum, such as black women as presidents, Roma girls as heroine characters in books and trans-activists as role-models, students will then see possibilities for themselves which can positively inform their future identities and decision-making. These steps contribute to mental health and well-being and reduce biased, harmful behaviour from students and adults in schools. As you engage with the following aspects, consider how these preventative aspects can be cultivated to support the curative work that arises in schools.

Designing an inclusive curriculum

Even schools with little autonomy for developing inclusive curricula, can determine how curriculum is implemented in their own context. Collaborative approaches that incorporate insights from children, teachers and parents in planning, implementing, monitoring and revising the curriculum can lead to curriculum content that reflects diverse perspectives and life experiences, and that all children can connect with.

As teachers plan lessons, they play a key role in determining the extent to which curricula are delivered to reflect and present diverse groups. In many schools, time for teachers to reflect on the extent to which their lessons represent diverse knowledge and learning interests is often limited. Allocating time for teachers to engage in shared planning on a regular basis creates space and autonomy for teachers to work collaboratively in generating culturally-responsive ideas for learning that draw on diverse interests and lived experiences of students in their own context. On the other hand, teachers who are regularly presented with pre-determined lesson plans that prescribe overly standardised lesson outcomes, can become disempowered. Teaching becomes a process of technical delivery that provides limited opportunity for connecting with and responding to diverse interests and needs.

A range of frameworks are available for providing guidance on the inclusive implementation of curriculum. Some frameworks, such as Universal Design for Learning focus on cognitive aspects of inclusive curriculum. The Index for Inclusion (Booth and Ainscow, 2011) advocates for a spiral curriculum where both locally and globally relevant topics (like food security, mobility and the arts) are regularly addressed through interdisciplinary learning. Other, more philosophical frameworks, provide insights into indigenous world views on education. For example, the African philosophy of Ubuntu, applied to education, emphasises inter-connectedness and ‘humanism’ in education. Four key principles of Ubuntu can support implementation of inclusive practices in implementing curricula: solidarity and interdependence; coexistence and harmony; compassion and concern, and respect and dignity (Ngubane and Makua, 2021). There are many other educational philosophies from different parts of the world that engage seamlessly with key concepts of inclusion and we would encourage readers to explore these.

Identifying and addressing barriers to learning

While it is important to recognise that schools cannot be held accountable for meeting all children’s needs, where there are needs that are impacting on a child’s right to safe, secure and positive learning experiences, schools and educational settings must meet this challenge. As Adelman and Taylor (2018) have highlighted, barriers to learning must be understood as stemming from a combination of environmental factors, or deficits, as well as the ‘needs’ of an individual child and their family.

An interactional view of ‘need’ that acknowledges potential exclusionary factors is important as it enables leaders to identify where school policies and / or practices might be exacerbating, or creating, barriers. For example, if communication channels with parents and caregivers are only available via a single, majority language, this could exclude parents from linguistically diverse backgrounds and affect their child’s access to various resources and / or activities. If children are not able to see representations of themselves in the curriculum, or in everyday practices at school, they are less likely to develop a sense of belonging, safety and / or trust in school policies and procedures.

In earlier sections, we referred to the importance of the leader’s ability to ‘tune into’ the experiences of students, colleagues and community members in order to achieve inclusion. This ability to genuinely listen to, understand and connect, with a diverse range of experiences and perspectives, is key to achieving success in the inclusive implementation of curriculum, and in identifying and addressing barriers to learning. One example is how a school, during the COVID-19 pandemic, addressed a structural barrier for one kindergarten child which subsequently benefited all the children. Multiple entrances were activated and coloured lines on the floor were introduced to guide children to their class and prevent a feeling of disorientation. The strategy was developed to support the needs of a child diagnosed on autistic spectrum disorder and proved useful in allowing all children to gain autonomy.

Valuing open and shared decision-making

An inclusive, participatory approach to decision-making that is grounded in democratic student leadership practices, serves as a preventative measure for nurturing inclusive spaces where diverse identities can thrive. By involving students in decision-making processes, schools foster a sense of belonging and empowerment among students, which is crucial for their social and emotional well-being. This approach also encourages students to take an active role in shaping their educational environment, ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs are addressed. Research by DeMatthews and Mueller (2022) highlights how inclusive leadership, that promotes student participation and collaboration, can significantly enhance the inclusivity of school environments and support positive identity development among students with diverse backgrounds. These practices are effective in preventing identity-based harm, as they cultivate a culturally responsive school culture where all students feel safe, respected, and valued, ultimately contributing to their academic and personal growth.

Nurture a sense of belonging

Members of a school community experience a sense of belonging when they feel valued, cared for and represented in policy and practice. Fostering a sense of belonging for all intersectional identities is a complex process, as it requires leaders to engage authentically with a range of possible factors that might cause some children to feel ‘othered’ or excluded. These might include gender, ethnicity, race, language and disability. Children may also experience a sense of detachment if they lack confidence, are made to feel that they are not meeting academic expectations (or ‘underperforming’), or do not feel connected to the school community.

Educational leaders and practitioners can support a sense of belonging for all children and colleagues, by building relationships based on dignity, respect, trust and intercultural understanding that nurture inclusive spaces for diverse identities to grow. This involves creating a school culture that values every student’s unique background and experiences, ensuring not only that diverse voices are heard and respected, but that this diversity is made visible.

For instance, schools can adopt culturally responsive and sustaining teaching methods, provide professional development for staff on issues of diversity and inclusion, and establish support groups for various identity groups within the student body (Paris and Alim, 2017).

Caring about human resources

Creating a school environment where identities can evolve, learn, and thrive involves inclusive human resource practices. Schools need to prioritise hiring, retaining, and supporting teachers with a diverse range of intersectional backgrounds that reflect both one’s learning community and society at large (The Leadership Academy, 2021). Some schools have autonomy over who to hire, forming teaching teams and selecting school leaders. There are also schools that have external bodies, such as local or state authorities, that determine staffing in their institution. Whether a school has the authority to seek individuals who possess both inclusive mindsets and skillsets or not, it is important to intentionally further develop educational practitioners’ inclusive mindsets, understandings and skills.

By intentionally cultivating practitioners who value inclusion, schools can build a community where every individual feels represented, respected and valued. Leaders that foster a culture of care need to also intentionally foster well-being among their colleagues and across their learning community. Leaders need to understand that burnout is often caused by environmental factors and is not a problem of the individual themselves, and they can therefore act accordingly to ensure support is available for themselves and their colleagues. The key to avoiding burnout is just better self-care but also having an understanding of the impact of school-based factors on their working practices and taking steps to create a working environment where all colleagues can flourish (Kelly, 2023).

While the effectiveness of self-care is limited unless an imbalanced work environment is addressed, leaders and practitioners can also take steps to maintain their wellbeing. Leaders and practitioners would benefit from regularly engaging in four types of recovery activities during their rest periods: psychological detachment from work, relaxing, choosing how to spend their free time, and doing non-work activities that give a sense of achievement.

It is very essential to nurture an understanding of the importance of emotional, physical and mental health. Some examples of healthy habits are shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Building Resilience for Leaders

Self-care plays a vital role in nurturing well-being. By enhancing emotional resilience, improving decision-making and empathy, ensuring sustainable leadership, and creating a culture of care, self-care enables leaders and practitioners to support and promote an inclusive and respectful environment effectively. When leaders and practitioners prioritise their well-being, they set a powerful example and create the conditions necessary for a thriving, diverse community.

Engage in professional learning that values diversity

Professional learning and development are also critical in nurturing inclusive spaces for identities to flourish. Leadership training should focus on developing inclusive mindsets, and encouraging leaders to understand and empathise with the diverse experiences of their community members, particularly those from minority groups (Talusan, 2023). Leaders must also be equipped with the skills to manage difficult conversations on race and other sensitive topics, as addressing these issues is crucial for fostering an inclusive environment (Singleton, 2015). Additionally, managing social change involves more than implementing new curricula or management systems; it also requires a fundamental shift in values that impacts both personal and professional identities.

Creating a continuous professional development culture within schools is essential for fostering an environment where ongoing critical reflection, questioning, and mistake-making are embraced as key components of growth and learning. Leaders in schools can support this culture by implementing practices and strategies that encourage continuous professional development, collaboration, and a mindset that views mistakes as opportunities for learning. These spaces provide a safe forum where everyone can creatively express their thoughts and ideas and where diversity is celebrated.

Faculty development plays a vital role in supporting identity-conscious practitioners. Educators should be trained to affirm learners through identity-centered learning and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies. Recognising that practitioners continue to evolve their professional identity development is also essential for leaders. These approaches humanise all identities and honour’s each learner’s background (both students and practitioners) by valuing diverse ways of knowing, doing and understanding in the learning process.

Identify and address exclusionary practices

To nurture safety for diverse identities to evolve, learn, and thrive, schools must cultivate a critical awareness and affirmation of learners’ identities among educational practitioners (Wickner, 2020). This involves recognising and addressing exclusionary practices that cause identity-based harm, such as bullying, violence, and other forms of discrimination. By actively identifying these harmful practices within the school community, educators can take proactive steps to ensure a more inclusive and supportive environment for all students.

Strengthening safeguarding practices is an essential part of this process. Schools need to develop comprehensive safeguarding policies that specifically address identity-based harm. This includes creating inclusive spaces and trusted systems where students feel secure and supported. Additionally, educators should be skilled in equity-centered, trauma-informed practices, which are crucial for effectively supporting students who have experienced identity-based trauma (Venet, 2021). Restorative practices is an inclusive approach to improving and repairing relationships and social connections among people who are victims or perpetrators of harm. These approaches ensure that the unique needs of each student are met with sensitivity and understanding, promoting inclusive and nurturing learning environments.

Implementing these measures requires a commitment to continuous professional development for educators. Training in recognising exclusionary practices, developing robust safeguarding policies, and practising equity-centered, trauma-informed care are all vital components. By equipping educators with the necessary skills and knowledge, schools can create an environment where diverse identities are not only protected but also celebrated, allowing all students to fully engage in their learning and personal development.

Pathway 4: Cultivate partnerships to strengthen inclusion

Educational settings do not operate in a vacuum. Any agency that has an impact on a student’s life experience and well-being, directly or indirectly shapes how a school operates. If students live in safe, thriving communities and have access to resources that support their learning, they are in a better position to fully benefit from, and contribute to, their experiences at school. Successful leadership for genuine inclusion therefore requires efforts on the part of schools to establish strong partnerships with community-based and other external agencies. In this section, we provide three diverse examples of how school communities can benefit from well-established partnerships and networks that connect schools with external bodies.

Schools as community resource hubs

Schools can play a very important leadership role in supporting parents to navigate systems of support that may not be available within the school itself, but are critical for children’s learning and well-being. One example of where educational settings could provide important support for children and their families is in facilitating connections with service for children with disabilities and social support needs. For many parents and caregivers, navigating the complex network of government and non-government agencies involved in provision of services for children can be overwhelming. This can be especially so for families with linguistically diverse backgrounds, or families who have little experience of interacting with government agencies or administrative departments. This can result in children missing out on important interventions. In a similar vein, information about government subsidies and provisions for families on low incomes is not always readily available.

Schools that have active and on-going links to local government and non-government agencies that provide such services can play a crucial role in ensuring that equitable access to learning (through the provision of targeted supports) is available to all children. In Ireland, the role of Family and Community Partnership Coordinator has been recently addressed across schools to enact these important home-school-community networks and partnerships, as part of the newly introduced New Start initiative (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2024). A chapter on Collaboration with Parents outlines more ways to strengthen partnerships with parents.

Identifying and addressing diverse needs

Leaders can also support partnerships by tuning into family’s needs and understanding the circumstances of families. This can be achieved by having an open dialogue with families in need and then implementing support services. Needs should be co-constructed so that actions implemented actually address specific needs – those which are not based on stereotypical assumptions about what families may or may not need. Sensitively managing access to services to avoid stigmatisation is a consideration leaders need to be aware of.

For example, a school where the majority of the student population come from lower socio-economic backgrounds has seen attendance rates drop as students feel stigmatised due to the lack of access to clean clothing.To address this challenge, schools could provide a laundry service, free of charge, and equipped with washing machines and dryers providing access to clean clothing and improving attendance.

Another example of meeting the needs of a diverse school demographic relates to affinity groups and organisations for practitioners with marginalised identities where the school demographic may not reflect them. In this instance, developing external partnerships for learning can significantly enhance a school’s capacity to support and empower its staff, particularly in addressing gender and racial disparities within educational leadership. While women constitute approximately 70% of the teaching profession, they remain underrepresented in senior leadership positions. To address this gender gap, schools can partner with grassroots organisations like WomenEd, which aims to support aspiring and existing women leaders in education (About Us, n.d.). By providing mentorship, networking opportunities, and professional development resources. Such partnerships can help women educators advance into leadership roles, promoting greater gender equity within the profession.

Schools must also recognise and address the unique challenges faced by educators of colour, who often find themselves underrepresented among colleagues and across leadership positions. Navigating professional environments where one’s background is not reflected in the broader community requires specialised support. Affinity groups, such as the Association for International Educators and Leaders of Color (AIELOC), offer vital spaces for educators of colour to connect, share experiences, and receive the support necessary to thrive (About Us, n.d.). Partnering with such organisations can provide educators of color with a trusted space, resources and community they need to navigate and succeed in predominantly white institutions.

By leveraging external partnerships with organisations like WomenEd and AIELOC, schools can create more inclusive and supportive environments for all educators. These partnerships not only help to narrow gender and racial gaps in educational leadership but also foster a culture of equity and inclusion within the school community. Through these partnerships for learning, schools can support all educators, with access to identity-affirming communities needed for them to advance and excel in their profession.

Local contexts

Literature

About the authors

name: Angeline Aow

Angeline is an international educator, author, consultant and pedagogical leader. She has undertaken multiple roles within schools, as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, accreditation coordinator and professional learning and development coordinator. Angeline is an advocate of inclusion, coaching, concept-driven learning and teaching and contributes as an active citizen on social justice issues through her role as a country network leader of WomenEdDE, facilitator of the Humanising Pedagogy Committee of the International Schools Anti-discrimination Task Force and work with the Council of International Schools. Her book, Becoming a Totally Inclusive School: a Guide for Teachers and School Leaders was published by Routledge in November, 2022.

name: Bhuvan Israni

Bhuvan works as an Assistant Lecturer at Technological University Dublin. Before joining Technological University Dublin, she worked at DBS, ECBM, and IBAT colleges in Ireland. She holds a Bachelor’s (Hons) and a Master’s degree in Psychology, both with first-class honours, and is currently completing her doctorate.
With over five years of experience as a Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher in India and Ireland, Bhuvan is deeply passionate about Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Her research in this field has been featured at both national and international conferences. A strong advocate for continuous professional development (CPD), she is actively engaged in advancing her academic and professional journey.
Bhuvan has contributed multiple publications to RTE Brainstorm and maintains an active ResearchGate profile, where her work continues to make a meaningful impact.

name: Emma Pearson

Emma Pearson works in the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education at Maynooth University in Dublin. Her research and outreach work centres around understanding and documenting the perspectives and experiences of children and families from under-represented communities. During the past 15 years, she has worked with a range of international, regional and national government and non-government early childhood agencies (including UNICEF, UNESCO, Plan International and the UK Department for International Development / FCDO) to advocate for policies that promote community-centred, equitable access to early childhood education and development supports.

name: Heidrun Demo

Her work centers on equity in education, with a particular focus on supporting diverse learners, fostering inclusive teaching practices, and driving inclusive school development. She is deeply involved in research and teacher training, dedicated to creating and sustaining inclusive learning environments.