Social Justice Leadership in School Administration and Educational Equity in Urban Secondary Schools in Lagos State

This study theorises and empirically examines the role of social justice leadership in advancing educational equity in urban public secondary schools in Lagos State, South West Nigeria. Social justice leadership, which positions school administrators as equity advocates tasked with dismantling structural disadvantages within and beyond the school, has generated considerable theoretical interest internationally but limited empirical investigation in African school contexts. Urban Lagos, with its extreme socioeconomic stratifications, multi-ethnic school populations, and persistent inequality in educational outcomes, presents an ideal setting for this inquiry. The study employs a transformative mixed methods design, combining a survey of 400 teachers from 50 secondary schools with case studies of four schools selected for maximum variation in socioeconomic context. Data are analysed using multilevel structural equation modelling and interpretive case analysis. The study integrates Theoharis's Social Justice Leadership Framework with the Capability Approach of Sen and the Social Reproduction Theory of Bourdieu. Findings demonstrate that principals who actively practise social justice leadership produce measurable equity improvements in student access to advanced courses, reduction of discriminatory disciplinary practices, and narrowing of achievement gaps across socioeconomic groups. Systemic pressures from bureaucratic compliance demands and political context significantly moderate these relationships. The study makes theoretical contributions by contextualising social justice leadership within the Bourdieusian social structure of Lagos urban schooling. Recommendations include equity audits and social justice leadership modules in principal preparation programmes. Keywords: social justice leadership, educational equity, urban schools, Lagos State, school administration.