The Headteachers' Toolkit: Leadership for Social Justice and Equity

The main aim of this toolkit is to serve as a reflexive instrument for Headteachers to draw on their experience, specialized qualifications, support services offered by the national government, education policies, and other vital resources in order to work with their Senior Leadership Team, teachers, parents and other community stakeholders to provide the best quality education for the student at compulsory school level.
To what extent is a socially just educational system possible in an unjust society? Can education alone reduce inequality? How can school leaders foster an inclusive and equitable environment for all students, irrespective of background and of the inherently inequitable society within which the school operates?
This toolkit is built around the concepts of social justice, equity and inclusion, using case studies, scenarios and images to generate discussions around policies; structure and systems; and practices. These discussions are intended to lead to more critical and empowering leadership practices that may generate successful school improvement initiatives, and impactful curriculum development for the collegial provision of quality education – while simultaneously highlighting the numerous persistent challenges faced when striving for equity in education.