The purpose of this study is to explore the strategies principals use to promote inclusion in their urban elementary schools. Data was collected from sixteen urban elementary school principals—who were identified as skilled at promoting inclusion—in Ontario, Canada. The thesis argues that inclusion is vital to ensuring social justice and combating the culture of positivism in the current educational context. As well, this thesis presents numerous strategies to promote inclusion with staff members, students, and parents. I also identify critical themes: the importance of principals teaching others, particularly teachers, about inclusion; how the principals in this study learned about inclusion; teachers as barriers to the promotion of inclusion; and the negative impact on principals who promoted inclusion. I conclude with the connection of inclusion with the concept of the public intellectual.

The purpose of this study is to explore the strategies principals use to promote inclusion in their urban elementary schools. Data was collected from sixteen urban elementary school principals—who were identified as skilled at promoting inclusion—in Ontario, Canada. The thesis argues that inclusion is vital to ensuring social justice and combating the culture of positivism in the current educational context. As well, this thesis presents numerous strategies to promote inclusion with staff members, students, and parents. I also identify critical themes: the importance of principals teaching others, particularly teachers, about inclusion; how the principals in this study learned about inclusion; teachers as barriers to the promotion of inclusion; and the negative impact on principals who promoted inclusion. I conclude with the connection of inclusion with the concept of the public intellectual.

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Women in the United States are underrepresented in high school principalships. A review of literature identified specific barriers that have historically contributed to this disparity including role congruity, normative male dominance, and gender bias against women. Furthermore, the high school principalship has been defined over time from a male perspective assumed to be the universal reality leaving the unique career experiences of female high school principals glossed over and often misunderstood. Similar barriers most likely have also contributed to the underrepresentation of female high school principals in Utah, yet intentional studies analyzing their unique career journeys have not been completed. A lack of understanding and awareness of the female high school principal experience in Utah may also leave their unique experience glossed over and misunderstood. The purpose of this study was to increase awareness of the unique professional journey of female high school principals in Utah and to potentially adjust the male-gendered lens through which this leadership position has traditionally been viewed. A narrative, phenomenological qualitative research approach was used to gather and analyze the career journeys of six female high school principals in Utah. The findings of this study indicated female high school principals in Utah have experienced similar barriers in their career journeys as those identified in the literature. Mentored support and examples of inclusive leadership practices assisted these women in moving through and beyond these barriers. The findings of this study imply that a male-gendered leadership lens continues to impact the careers of female high school principals in Utah; however, increasing an awareness of their unique career journeys may promote a transformation away from this perspective and generate a high school principal experience that is more inclusive and refined.

Leadership is a well-known complex phenomenon that focuses on important organizational, social and personal processes, where leadership is dependent on a process of social influence, which occurs between the leader and follower (Bolden, 2004). Therefore, leaders need to operate with a certain understanding of leadership and the environment in order to address the increasing pressures and demands that come with being a leader. However, leadership concepts too often focus on leader behaviors apart from their effects on followers; in contrast, Inclusive Leadership (IL) highlights the importance of leadership as a social construction process between the leader and follower. The present study first examines the association of IL and employee engagement (EE), and second, the moderating effect of Psychological Diversity Climate (PDC) on the association between IL and EE. Specifically, context that related to leader characteristics and employee behavior was furthered explored to help shape an understanding on how contextual factors affect the relationship. First, a bivariate correlation revealed that IL was shown to be significantly and positively related to EE. Second, a regression analysis using Andrew Hayes’ PROCESS tool on SPSS was used to examine the moderation, which found that PDC did not significantly moderate the relationship between IL and EE. Additional analyses were further explored to address the insignificant findings for the purpose of explaining if one of IL’s sub-dimensions significantly affected the moderation analysis. Similar, to hypothesis testing, no significant results were found. The results suggest that immediate supervisors play a critical role in enhancing EE; however, no additive effect occurs when a PDC is incorporated. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. Data consisted of 221 adult men and women working a minimum of 12 months and 20 or more hours a week to support our model.

In the light of the Global Era, post COVID-19 restrictions, companies have started to operate their businesses in virtual or hybrid workplaces. In the context of disruptive times, the importance of inclusive behavior in work environments has been denoted. Thus, this thesis aims to investigate if and how global companies and their leaders practice inclusive leadership in virtual and/or hybrid teams. Specifically, this concerns investigating the perceptions of individual employees and leaders of their respective companies’ inclusive behavior in virtual and/or hybrid work environments. In order to assess the different perspectives of employees and leaders, qualitative interviews were conducted. In addition, primary data was complemented with an investigation of official public company information regarding their work with inclusion. Empirical data was analyzed based on an adaptation of a theoretical model of inclusive leadership with the aim to identify and analyze different themes related to inclusive leadership as well as potential emerging themes. The findings indicate that global companies studied within the scope of this research practice inclusive leadership working in virtual and/or hybrid work environments. Twelve themes emerge as factors and behaviors of leadership, at global companies and their leaders, that facilitate an inclusive environment in hybrid and virtual settings.

Research within the field of inclusive leadership solely derives from insights from leaders practicing inclusive leadership in physical settings. Building on previous research of e-leadership in virtual settings, the purpose of this study is to make a theoretical contribution to the area of inclusive leadership by incorporating the experiences and perspectives of leaders practicing inclusive leadership in hybrid settings. In addition, a practical contribution is to provide guidance on how leaders can adapt their leadership practices to be suitable for a hybrid way of working. The research is based on a qualitative interview study with an abductive approach and collected data from semi-structured interviews with fourteen formal leaders in a wide range of industries practicing inclusive leadership in a hybrid setting. The results show that inclusive leadership is influenced when practiced in hybrid settings and the key finding of this thesis concerns that shared decision-making incorporates additional features for inclusive leaders in hybrid settings to take into consideration.

Detta examensarbete syftar till att undersöka hur inkluderande ledarskap uppfattas av ledare inom offentlig verksamhet och vilka konsekvenser denna typ av ledarskap kan ha för medarbetare, ur ledarnas perspektiv. Genom en kvalitativ studie har empiri samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett urval av ledare inom den offentliga sektorn. Analysen av intervjuerna identifierade huvudteman och mönster i ledarnas uppfattningar om inkludering och inkluderande ledarskap samt de strategier och verktyg som används för att främja inkludering på arbetsplatsen. Dessutom har ledarnas uppfattningar om de konsekvenser som det inkluderande ledarskapet kan ha för medarbetarna undersökts. Resultaten visade ledarnas övertygelse om betydelsen av att skapa en miljö som främjar inkludering och som möjliggör delaktighet och engagemang hos medarbetarna. Inkluderande ledarskap kan leda till ökad produktivitet, innovation och trivsel på arbetsplatsen. Ledarna framhöll även vikten av att implementera konkreta strategier och verktyg för att stödja inkludering, såsom utbildning och medvetandehöjande åtgärder. Resultaten gav även insikt i hur inkluderande ledarskap uppfattas och praktiseras, samt vilka konsekvenser det kan ha för medarbetarna. Denna studie har bidragit till en fördjupad förståelse för inkluderande ledarskap ur ledarnas perspektiv inom offentlig verksamhet. Ledarnas uppfattningar om inkluderande ledarskap omfattar att skapa en tillitsbaserad arbetsmiljö, engagera medarbetare och anpassa sig till medarbetarnas individuella behov men även att begreppet inkluderande ledarskap inte används inom den offentliga sektorn. / This thesis aims to investigate how inclusive leadership is perceived by leaders in the public sector and what consequences this leadership can have for employees from the leaders' perspective. Through a qualitative study, empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with a selection of leaders in the public sector. The analysis of the interviews identified main themes and patterns in leaders' perceptions of inclusion and inclusive leadership, as well as the strategies and tools used to promote inclusion in the workplace. Additionally, leaders' perceptions of the consequences of inclusive leadership for employees were examined. The results showed the leaders' belief in the importance of creating an environment that promotes inclusion and enables employee participation and engagement. Inclusive leadership can lead to increased productivity, innovation, and well-being in the workplace. The leaders also emphasized the importance of implementing concrete strategies and tools to support inclusion, such as training and awareness-raising measures. The results also provided insights into how inclusive leadership is perceived and practiced, as well as its consequences for employees. This study has contributed to a deeper understanding of inclusive leadership from the perspective of leaders in the public sector. Leaders' perceptions of inclusive leadership include creating a trust-based work environment, engaging employees, and adapting to employees' individual needs, but it is also noted that the concept of inclusive leadership is not widely used in the public sector in Sweden. / <p>PE207G. Exainationsdatum: 2023-06-08.</p>

This research examines the understandings and practices of inclusive minded principals toward facilitating the development of inclusive school environments for intermediate level (Grade 7 and 8) students who are experiencing behavioural problems in their schools. Qualitative interviews with 16 principals across 4 school districts were conducted to explore how these inclusive minded principals conceptualize and understand the needs of this particular group of students, and what they consider to be their roles and responsibilities as principals in meeting these needs. The data suggest that despite the number of barriers that serve to hamper principals’ efforts to develop the ideal inclusive school, there are a great many strategies principals intentionally use to facilitate change toward more inclusive school cultures and pedagogy. These strategies emanate from, and are reflective of, an inclusive philosophy that is common among participants. Principals’ individual philosophies and ideologies serve as a compass in guiding decision-making and actions that affect staff, students, and the wider school community. In an inclusive school, these ideologies are reflective of the principles of inclusion, such as the need to create a culture of care wherein all students feel valued, supported, and experience a sense of belonging and individual self worth. The implications of this research toward improving the schooling experiences of students with behavioural problems as well as other marginalized groups of learners are discussed in the context of the call for a re-culturing of schools toward more inclusive environments.

This research examines the understandings and practices of inclusive minded principals toward facilitating the development of inclusive school environments for intermediate level (Grade 7 and 8) students who are experiencing behavioural problems in their schools. Qualitative interviews with 16 principals across 4 school districts were conducted to explore how these inclusive minded principals conceptualize and understand the needs of this particular group of students, and what they consider to be their roles and responsibilities as principals in meeting these needs. The data suggest that despite the number of barriers that serve to hamper principals’ efforts to develop the ideal inclusive school, there are a great many strategies principals intentionally use to facilitate change toward more inclusive school cultures and pedagogy. These strategies emanate from, and are reflective of, an inclusive philosophy that is common among participants. Principals’ individual philosophies and ideologies serve as a compass in guiding decision-making and actions that affect staff, students, and the wider school community. In an inclusive school, these ideologies are reflective of the principles of inclusion, such as the need to create a culture of care wherein all students feel valued, supported, and experience a sense of belonging and individual self worth. The implications of this research toward improving the schooling experiences of students with behavioural problems as well as other marginalized groups of learners are discussed in the context of the call for a re-culturing of schools toward more inclusive environments.