Leading educational re-design to sustain socially just schools under conditions of instability

There is now significant evidence that school and leadership redesign is necessary in order to achieve more socially just educational futures for all students and a productive and professionally rewarding environment for teachers. Redesign requires some fundamental shifts in how schools work; engagement with and through learning communities based on systematic critical inquiry; and inclusive leadership practices that address the complexities of the relationships between diversity, culture, gender and race in schooling. I argue that democratic leadership is most conducive to initiating and sustaining equitable outcomes. The article concludes with consideration of principles that could sustain leadership for social justice.