School Leadership in Global Citizenship Education: Strategies, Roles, and Policy Innovations for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Global Citizenship Education (GCED) plays a vital role in cultivating socially responsible and globally aware learners. However, implementation methods vary widely among school leaders, particularly where national policies require local adaptation. Although the Department of Education in the Philippines has integrated GCED within the K-12 curriculum through national initiatives, provincial implementation requires contextual adaptation. This study explored the perceptions of 13 purposively selected school principals regarding their roles in promoting GCED and in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. The study was conducted in Surigao del Sur, Philippines, a predominantly rural province where schools serve diverse communities with limited technological resources. Using a qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis across elementary, secondary, and integrated schools, the findings revealed that while school leaders recognize the value of GCED in developing globally competent students, they face significant barriers, including limited resources, inadequate training, and absent policy frameworks. Principals conceptualized GCED variably, from civic responsibility to social justice paradigms while identifying multidimensional roles in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals through educational leadership, community advocacy, and environmental stewardship. To address these challenges, this study introduces the Leadership-Driven GCED Implementation Framework, emphasizing three interrelated pillars: Visionary Leadership, Strategic Implementation, and Community-Policy Engagement. leveraging offers practical, cost-effective strategies for institutionalizing GCED through subject integration, partnership leveraging, and technology integration within existing budgetary constraints, transforming policy innovation challenges into actionable solutions for resource-constrained contexts.