Does social justice leadership in education improve the school belonging and resilience of students?

Abstract

This research aims to explore the relations between social justice leadership, sense of school belonging, and student resilience. The research was conducted with 549 high school students. The data was collected through the social justice leadership scale, the psychological sense of school membership scale, and student resilience scale. The research tested the mediator role of sense of school belonging in the relationship between social justice leadership and student resilience. The findings showed that sense of belonging has a full mediator role; in other words, social justice leadership improves student resilience by increasing the sense of school belonging. In this context, a school leader who wants to increase the academic and social resilience of the students should carefully consider all harmful effects caused by social differences at school and improve the quality of school life. School leaders also should involve students in their decision-making processes and provide students with a critical consciousness that can criticize and challenge discriminatory and oppressive practices. Generally, school leaders should contribute to the development of student resilience by improving students’ school context in all aspects.