ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AS A DELICATE EMBROIDERY FOR INTEGRITY: NEW DIRECTIONS FOR SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

Recent research in the academic literature expressed the urgency for new directions to assist school principals to understand ethical leadership toward leading with integrity.Notably, leading with integrity is an ongoing learning process, yet the advantages are undisputable.The aim of this paper, therefore, was to showcase ethical leadership as a delicate embroidery for the enactment of integrity, proposing moral ribbons that can be used by school principals to act ethically in the line of their duties.Through the lens of integrity theory, this conceptual paper presents an analysis of selected texts in the South African Standard for Principalship (SASP) which outlines key ribbons for school principals in subscribing to educational ethics.Data mining techniques were used to search for and select texts that could provide insights into school principals' application of ethical leadership toward acting with integrity.The findings suggest that having and doing one's own, an escape from the cave, and integrity kingship can be vital moral ribbons to fuel school principals with new directions on how to apply ethical leadership as a delicate embroidery for the enactment of integrity.This paper should be regarded as an act of planting fresh seeds for the enactment of integrity in the hope that principals will reap the fruits of living an honourable life as moral agents in schools.