Who Gets to Belong? Inclusive School Leadership and the Professional Experience of Early Career Teachers

Abstract

This study found that inclusive school leadership shaped early career teachers’ (ECTs’) professional belonging, but its influence depended on whether leaders’ relational intent was supported by the organisational conditions in which it was enacted. Inclusive leadership was understood as the relational and structural practices through which leaders foster voice, psychological safety, and equitable access to support. This study adopted an instrumental case study design, situated in an Australian primary school. Semi-structured interviews with five ECTs were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, from which four themes were identified. Relational signalling from the principal shaped whether ECTs felt safe to voice uncertainty. Leadership functioned as emotional co-regulation in demanding moments, though its sustainability varied. Organisational routines produced a hidden curriculum through which ECTs learned when belonging was conditional. In high-stakes situations, guided participation actively drew ECTs into professional community practices. These findings suggest that sustaining ECT belonging requires attention not only to leaders’ relational practices but to the organisational conditions, including workload and role design, that determine whether those practices can be sustained over time.