Orchestrating inclusive school ecosystems: a contextual leadership model for primary schools

Journal of Counseling, Education and Society October 30, 2026 Volume 7, Number 1 3 authors

Abstract

This study develops a theoretically explicit, context-responsive model of inclusive primary-school leadership and uses North Halmahera as a boundary context rather than an empirically sampled case. A targeted integrative review combined qualitative policy and document analysis with three-stage thematic synthesis. Searches updated on 31 August 2026 covered ERIC, Crossref, Google Scholar, backward citation chaining, and official Indonesian sources. The final analytic corpus comprised 37 documents: 27 substantive scholarly sources, five methodological sources, and five policy or contextual documents. Eligibility required direct relevance to inclusive school leadership, instructional practice, teacher capacity, reasonable accommodation, family and community participation, support networks, or data-informed improvement. The synthesis yielded six interdependent dimensions: rights-based vision and ethics; inclusive instructional leadership; teacher-capacity development; reasonable accommodation and resource governance; family, community, and Disability Service Unit networks; and data-informed continuous improvement. The architecture synthesises rights and social-justice, instructional, distributed, and systems leadership: rights-based vision is foundational; instruction, capacity building, and accommodation form the operational core; and networks and data function as enabling and feedback conditions. No included study tested the six dimensions as a causal configuration, and no inter-rater coefficient was generated. KIK-HU is therefore a conceptual proposition, not a validated intervention, and requires multisite empirical testing.

Authors

  1. Taslim Buaja

    Program Studi Pendidikan Guru Sekolah Dasar, Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Muhammadiyah Maluku Utara

  2. Djulaiha Abubakar

    Program Studi Pendidikan Guru Sekolah Dasar, Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Muhammadiyah Maluku Utara

  3. Paul Arjanto

    Program Studi Manajemen Pendidikan, Program Pascasarjana, Universitas Pattimura

Keywords

References

  1. Ainscow, M. (2020). Promoting inclusion and equity in education: Lessons from international experiences. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 6(1), 7–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2020.1729587
  2. Ainscow, M., & Viola, M. (2024). Developing inclusive and equitable education systems: Some lessons from Uruguay. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(14), 3568–3584. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2023.2279556
  3. Artiles, A. J. (2011). Toward an interdisciplinary understanding of educational equity and difference: The case of the racialization of ability. Educational Researcher, 40(9), 431–445. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X11429391
  4. Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Halmahera Utara. (2026). Kabupaten Halmahera Utara dalam angka 2026 (Publikasi No. 82050.26002). https://halutkab.bps.go.id/id/publication/2026/02/27/c9296ffa9080816be88ab3d6/kabupaten-halmahera-utara-dalam-angka-2026.html
  5. Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
  6. Carrington, S., Park, E., McKay, L., Saggers, B., Harper-Hill, K., & Somerwil, T. (2024). Evidence of transformative leadership for inclusive practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 141, 104466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104466
  7. Crisol-Moya, E., Romero-López, M. A., Burgos-García, A., & Sánchez-Hernández, Y. (2022). Inclusive leadership from the family perspective in compulsory education. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research, 11(2), 226–245. https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2022.7.937
  8. Damri, D., Indra, R., Tsaputra, A., Ediyanto, E., & Jatiningsiwi, T. G. (2023). Leadership evaluation and effective learning in an inclusive high school in Padang, Indonesia. Cogent Education, 10(2), 2282807. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2282807
  9. DeMatthews, D. E. (2015a). Clearing a path for inclusion: Distributing leadership in a high-performing elementary school. Journal of School Leadership, 25(6), 1000–1038. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461502500601
  10. DeMatthews, D. E. (2015b). Making sense of social justice leadership: A case study of a principal's experiences to create a more inclusive school. Leadership & Policy in Schools, 14(2), 139–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2014.997939
  11. DeMatthews, D. E. (2018). Urban principal narratives on including Black boys with emotional disabilities. Journal of School Leadership, 28(3), 401–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461802800306
  12. DeMatthews, D. E. (2021). Undoing systems of exclusion: Exploring inclusive leadership and systems thinking in two inclusive elementary schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-02-2020-0044
  13. DeMatthews, D. E., Billingsley, B., McLeskey, J., & Sharma, U. (2020). Principal leadership for students with disabilities in effective inclusive schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(5), 539–554. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-10-2019-0177
  14. DeMatthews, D. E., Conroy, K., & McKenzie, L. C. (2026). Inclusive principal leadership from 1995 to 2024: A systematic literature review. Review of Educational Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543261446662
  15. DeMatthews, D. E., & Mawhinney, H. (2014). Social justice leadership and inclusion: Exploring challenges in an urban district struggling to address inequities. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(5), 844–881. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X13514440
  16. DeMatthews, D. E., Serafini, A., & Watson, T. N. (2021). Leading inclusive schools: Principal perceptions, practices, and challenges to meaningful change. Educational Administration Quarterly, 57(1), 3–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X20913897
  17. Duncan, J., Punch, R., & Croce, N. (2021). Supporting primary and secondary teachers to deliver inclusive education. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 46(4), 92–107. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2021v46n4.6
  18. Ediyanto, E., Ramadhani, R. S., Fitrasari, B. D., Kenila, E., Sunandar, A., Hastuti, W. D., & Suhendri, S. (2023). The problems in the implementation of inclusive education in primary schools. Journal of ICSAR, 7(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.17977/um005v7i12023p1
  19. Global Education Monitoring Report Team. (2024). Leadership in education: Lead for learning. UNESCO.
  20. Hosshan, H., Stancliffe, R. J., Villeneuve, M., & Bonati, M. L. (2020). Inclusive schooling in Southeast Asian countries: A scoping review of the literature. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21(1), 99–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09613-0
  21. Indonesia. (2016). Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 8 Tahun 2016 tentang Penyandang Disabilitas.
  22. Indonesia. (2020). Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia Nomor 13 Tahun 2020 tentang Akomodasi yang Layak untuk Peserta Didik Penyandang Disabilitas.
  23. Kementerian Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset, dan Teknologi Republik Indonesia. (2023). Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset, dan Teknologi Nomor 48 Tahun 2023 tentang Akomodasi yang Layak untuk Peserta Didik Penyandang Disabilitas pada Satuan Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini Formal, Pendidikan Dasar, Pendidikan Menengah, dan Pendidikan Tinggi.
  24. Khaleel, N., Alhosani, M., & Duyar, I. (2021). The role of school principals in promoting inclusive schools: A teachers’ perspective. Frontiers in Education, 6, 603241. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.603241
  25. Leithwood, K. (2021). A review of evidence about equitable school leadership. Education Sciences, 11(8), 377. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11080377
  26. Opoku-Nkoom, I., & Ackah-Jnr, F. R. (2023). Investigating inclusive education in primary schools in Ghana: What inclusive cultures, environment, and practices support implementation? Support for Learning, 38(1), 17–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12435
  27. Poon-McBrayer, K. F. (2017). School leaders' dilemmas and measures to instigate changes for inclusive education in Hong Kong. Journal of Educational Change, 18(3), 295–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-017-9300-5
  28. Riowati, R., Hendriani, W., & Paramita, P. (2022). School-based inclusive education management as a quality assurance system in Indonesia (systematic literature review). Jurnal Kependidikan: Jurnal Hasil Penelitian dan Kajian Kepustakaan di Bidang Pendidikan, Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran, 8(2), 437–449. https://doi.org/10.33394/jk.v8i2.4363
  29. Scheer, D. (2021). Integrated framework model for the leadership role of principals in inclusive education. European Journal of Education, 56(4), 660–680. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12480
  30. Slee, R. (2018). Inclusive education isn't dead, it just smells funny. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429486869
  31. Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
  32. Tanta, Rahabav, P., Mataputun, Y., Arjanto, P., & Makaruku, V. K. (2025). Role of academic supervision and achievement motivation in enhancing teacher competence: Evidence from remote regions in Indonesia. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 116, 87–104. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2025.116.06
  33. Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8, 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-8-45
  34. Torraco, R. J. (2016). Writing integrative literature reviews: Using the past and present to explore the future. Human Resource Development Review, 15(4), 404–428. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484316671606
  35. Van Mieghem, A., Verschueren, K., Donche, V., & Struyf, E. (2022). Leadership as a lever for inclusive education in Flanders: A multiple case study using qualitative comparative analysis. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 50(5), 871–888. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143220953608
  36. Vlachou, A., & Tsirantonaki, S. S. (2023). The importance of school principals’ values towards the inclusive education of disabled students: Associations between their values and knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices. Education Sciences, 13(4), 360. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040360
  37. Whittemore, R., & Knafl, K. (2005). The integrative review: Updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(5), 546–553. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x