Scientific interest in educational leadership has grown in recent decades, driven by the pursuit of better outcomes and greater excellence. However, evidence on leadership practices in inclusive schools, and particularly those implemented by principals and leadership teams, remains limited. To contribute to this field of study, this paper reviews and synthesizes the available empirical evidence on inclusive leadership practices in the school context. We conducted a systematic literature review focusing on empirical studies on inclusive leadership published over the past 10 years, adhering to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol. Findings reveal: (1) a set of leadership practices organized into five dimensions of theoretical relevance; (2) implications of those practices into three organizational processes; and (3) heterogeneous perspectives on inclusion and educational leadership. Discussions focus on the implications of these findings for educational research in the fields of inclusion and school leadership.
Valdés et al. (2026) studied this question.