Evaluation of school principals' social justice leadership behaviors towards refugee students

In globalizing world, the issues of migration and refugee, which deeply affect Turkiye, bring new responsibilities to educational institutions and school principals. Demographic and cultural diversity in educational institutions has increased with the refugees who took refuge in Turkey after the Syrian civil war that started in 2011, and therefore the leadership qualities exhibited by school principals towards the education of refugees, which is one of the determining factors of the school climate, have gained importance. This research aims to evaluate the behaviors of school principals working in refugee-intensive schools in Kızıltepe, Mardin towards refugee students, in the context of social justice leadership. Phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. Participants; (20 teachers and 8 school principals) were determined by snowball sampling and maximum diversity techniques. It was determined as a criterion that at least 10% of the students studying in the schools were refugees and the 5 primary schools, 3 secondary schools and 1 high school were determined using the criterion sampling technique. "Semi-structured interview form" developed by the researcher was used as a data collection tool. Interviews was carried out by the researcher, taking into account the voluntariness of school principals and teachers after being informed about the research through consent forms.According to the research findings, it was observed that the majority of school principals working in Kızıltepe district of Mardin province had positive and embracing feelings towards refugee students. It is seen that the majority of school principals strive to improve the negative conditions of refugee students, such as educational and financial deficiencies, in order to ensure social justice among students. The majority of teachers working in the same school also expressed their opinions on this issue regarding school principals. School principals' efforts to provide equality of opportunity for refugee students have been evaluated within the scope of social justice leadership. However, it was concluded that very few school principals exhibited limited social justice leadership behaviors, such as integrating refugee students and their parents into the school, raising awareness about a new culture, and participating in decision-making processes of refugee students and families at the school. It has also been concluded that school principals do not do enough social and cultural activities to integrate refugee students and their parents into the school within the scope of social justice leadership. As a result of the interviews with school principals and teachers, it was concluded that this limited number of social justice leadership behaviors are important as long as they meet the needs at school. On the other hand, it has been understood that school principals working in refugee-dense schools should diversify their social justice leadership behaviors and display them more effectively. Keywords: Refugee Students, Social Justice Leadership, School Principal