Transformative School Leadership: Strategies for Innovation and Improvement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education in Australia

In Australian education, the challenges and complexities of school leadership and the educational achievement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are frequently debated. Each has been given individual attention, but little attention to how school leadership and educational success for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people collectively interact. While there are increasing expectations of school leaders enabling the success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives embedded in schools, knowledge is required about the role of transformative leadership approaches that enable cultural responsiveness in the actions and practices of school leaders. Framed by Rigney’s Indigenist Research Theory (IRT) and Transformative Leadership Theory (TLT), this paper draws from a collective case study that gathers the lived experiences of school leadership from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, community, staff and school leader participants. The findings illuminate the actions and practices that school leadership enact to lead culturally responsive and inclusive school communities. The study argues the necessity of school leaders valuing and engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, perspectives and lived experiences as critical for advancing educational success for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and education for all young people. Exploring the role of transformative leadership in the advancement of equity and excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Australia, this paper culminates in examining the implications for practice that also support the advancement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) of equity, inclusion, and quality education and lifelong learning for all.