Leadership for Sustainable Education: A Critical Review of Transformational, Servant, and Distributed Leadership

This paper critically examines how transformational, servant, and distributed leadership contribute to advancing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Drawing on selected empirical and conceptual studies, it evaluates the conceptual foundations and institutional relevance of these approaches. The analysis indicates that no single leadership model sufficiently addresses the complexity of ESD, highlighting the value of an integrated approach combining vision, ethics, and collaboration. The paper proposes an Integrated Leadership Framework aligned with UNESCO’s Whole Institution Approach, mapping leadership practices across six domains of institutional transformation to support whole-institution ESD implementation across diverse educational contexts and governance settings worldwide.