In Australia, along with other affluent first world countries, there is a trend of growing inequality (OECD, 2015; Piketty, 2014). This inequality is reflected in a range of ways, such as the concentration of disadvantage in geographical areas where multiple factors, such as long term unemployment, poverty, disability, Indigineity, or cultural background, may intersect leading to educational disadvantage for young people (Sharkey, 2013; Vinson, Rawsthorne, Beavis, & Ericson, 2015).

Educational leaders have been shown to have a small explicit, but indirect, influence on learning and teaching (Hargreaves & Harris, 2015; Robinson, Hohepa, & Lloyd, 2015). Their role is crucial, however, in influencing the quality of the teaching and learning programs in schools and in the organisational culture and vision for the school (Robinson et al., 2015). This influencing role is important because the quality of teaching and learning in schools can, and does, make a significant difference to the academic outcomes of students, particularly for students from low SES backgrounds (Gonski et al., 2011; Niesche & Keddie, 2015).

There is a rich history of international scholarship focusing on the practices of educational leaders in areas of disadvantage, particularly in terms of the differences that leaders can make in influencing the quality of teaching and learning. This research suggests that leaders who are focused on social justice may employ a range of leadership practices (Niesche, 2017; Normore & Brooks, 2014; Raffo et al., 2010). However, it is not clear how and why educational leaders seek the principalship in primary schools in areas of disadvantage or how and why they may enact socially just practices once in these schools.

To address this gap, my doctoral research seeks to further investigate the links between educational leadership, social justice and educational disadvantage in Victorian primary schools located in disadvantaged areas. It explores the path educational leaders have taken to working in schools located in disadvantaged areas, and how they lead. My study is significant because the level of schooling has not been a particular focus of social justice leadership research and it is not well understood how these practices might differ across school settings. Hence, understanding the strategies primary school leaders employ to manage the complexities of their work as well as understanding why they work in such schools is critical from a social justice perspective. Furthermore, the social justice leadership literature has tended to focus on imparting social justice principles to aspiring leaders. My study makes a contribution to understanding what shapes the social justice leading practices of primary school leaders working in these challenging contexts. It examines the links between the ideal (what 'should be') and how these principles of social justice leadership are lived in the complex contexts in which these school leaders are located ('what is'). In a practical sense, my work is important both in preparing aspiring principals for the social justice work necessary in disadvantaged schools, but also in contributing to further understanding the impact that these complex workplaces have on the health and wellbeing of serving principals.