The Multicultural School as a Micro-Organizational Unit: An Organizational Sociology Perspective on Power, Culture, and Everyday Practice

This study examines the multicultural school as a micro-organizational unit, focusing on the interplay of power relations, organizational culture, and everyday pedagogical practices. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with educators at the 16th General Lyceum of Thessaloniki, the analysis situates school life within broader institutional and normative frameworks. Grounded in Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), specifically Target 4.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the findings show that while educators actively promote intercultural coexistence and democratic participation, their initiatives are constrained by centralized governance and curricular rigidity. Nonetheless, teachers’ personal agency and informal leadership play a crucial role in fostering inclusion, care, and global citizenship values at the micro-organizational level. The study contributes theoretically by reframing the multicultural school through an organizational sociology lens, emphasizing the micro-politics of discretion, institutional logics, and cultural reproduction within school settings. Practically, it highlights the need for structural policy reforms that move beyond reliance on individual teacher initiative and institutionalize inclusive, care-oriented, and sustainability-driven practices within centralized educational systems.