Prevention of digital inequality in primary and secondary schools in the context of social justice leadership according to teachers' and school administrators' views

The aim of this study was to reveal the opinions of school administrators and teachers working in primary education schools regarding the prevention of digital inequality within the framework of social justice leadership behaviors exhibited by school leaders. The study employed a qualitative research design based on an embedded multiple case study, and the study group was selected using the extreme case sampling method. Data were collected through semi-structured interview forms and analyzed using thematic analysis.The study group consisted of 24 participants working in four primary and secondary schools located in socioeconomically diverse regions of Eskişehir city center. Among the participants, 16 were teachers and 8 were administrators (principals and vice-principals).The findings indicated that student differences directly reflected on educational processes, and that school administrators' social justice leadership behaviors played a decisive role in preventing digital inequality. It was found that digital inequality manifested at both the first level and the second level,the third level access issues were prominent in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, whereas skill differences were more pronounced in socioeconomically advantaged schools.The study also revealed that school administrators developed various strategies to reduce digital inequality, such as strengthening technological infrastructure, securing resources for students, improving students' digital literacy skills, supporting teachers' professional development, and enhancing collaboration between students and parents. It was emphasized that merely increasing access to technological devices was insufficient; efforts should also focus on developing students' digital skills, ensure beneficial and purposeful technology use, creating social justice-oriented educational policies, and securing active support from both central and local administrations.