Learning needs in diverse school settings: School leaders’ responses

Challenges to uplifting all students still exist in many places across different societies in times of increasingly diverse student populations in schools. How can school stakeholders respond to voices of students with different learning abilities and those from different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds? We argue that inclusive education should take a broader perspective regarding students of difference and/or difficulty, while school leaders play out important leadership roles for equal educational opportunity in schools. This paper aims to examine two principal leadership approaches to responding voices of the students' needs in diversity. By conducting a cross-case study, the principals cultivated an inclusive and multicultural school environment for the students. The findings show that the principals turned their schools around by adopting similar and different leadership practices. Hence, they can transform the schools towards more inclusion for the voices of students with differences and difficulties. Copyright © 2019 The Education University of Hong Kong.