Inclusive school leaders (or leadership teams) have the vision that ‘all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-quality educational opportunities in their local community, alongside their friends and peers’ (European Agency, 2015a, p. 1). Such leaders combine elements of instructional, transformative and distributed leadership models. They take responsibility for and value all learners. They work to ensure learners’ full participation and engagement by setting a clear direction, developing staff and other stakeholders and using all available evidence, experience and expertise to collaboratively create and sustain the learning community and support everyone to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Inclusive school leadership goes beyond organisation. It aims to address inequity to build community and full participation. It focuses on developing an inclusive culture where all stakeholders are supported to work together, value diversity and ensure that all learners, including those most vulnerable to exclusion, receive a high-quality education (European Agency, 2020, p. 41).