CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE EDUCATION LEADERSHIP IN MULTICULTURAL CONTEXTS: PRIVATE ISLAMIC SCHOOL DIRECTORS' VOICES FROM THAILAND'S DEEP SOUTH

This study examines the application of culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) in private Islamic schools in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces, drawing on Khalifa et al.’s (2016) framework. Employing a multi-case study design, three school directors were recruited from private Islamic schools to represent diverse school contexts. Data were collected primarily through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that successful leadership is achieved through a holistic and strategic alignment of four key domains: adopting critical self-reflection, developing culturally responsive teachers, promoting an inclusive environment, and engaging stakeholders including families and communities. Effective school leaders demonstrated a contextualized approach, using local Islamic and cultural identity as the foundation for the school's vision and moral authority. The study concludes that culturally responsive school directors serve as the vital mechanism for maintaining school resilience, fostering inclusivity, and balancing local cultural preservation with global adaptability. Practical implications call for specific training in Islamic leadership ethics, decentralization of curricular autonomy, and systemic support for heritage-based instruction to build a pipeline of ethically grounded and culturally competent school directors in the multicultural landscape. This study extends Khalifa et al.’s (2016) culturally responsive school leadership framework to an underexplored setting, private Islamic schools in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces, and shows how CRSL is enacted through the strategic alignment of critical self-reflection, teacher development, inclusive school culture, and stakeholder engagement.