Reimagining Educational Leadership: Leadership as a Lever for Human Rights in Ontario’s Public Education System

• In Event: Leadership for Organizational Change and School Improvement

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates how educational leadership shapes the application of human rights policies in Ontario’s K–8 public schools. Despite robust frameworks, schools often struggle to translate policy into practice. Drawing on Transformative Leadership Theory and Culturally Responsive School Leadership, the study examines how leaders—both formal and informal—advance or hinder equity. Interviews with leaders across seven school boards reveal that critical consciousness, distributed leadership, and community engagement are key to embedding human rights in daily practice. However, gaps in accountability, racial literacy, and professional learning persist. By centering leadership as a systemic force, this research underscores the need for equity-driven, ethical leadership that challenges oppression and reimagines schooling as a vehicle for justice, trust, and structural change.

Author

• Shezadi Khushal, University of Toronto - OISE