From Adoption to Human-AI Leadership: A Scoping Review of Artificial Intelligence in Educational Leadership and Management

This scoping review maps how artificial intelligence is conceptualized and used in educational leadership and management and examines the transition from technology adoption toward human-AI leadership. Following established scoping-review guidance and PRISMA-ScR, records from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed published or officially available online from 2022 to the final search date in 2026 were screened; items assigned a 2027 bibliographic year were eligible only if already available online before the cutoff. Of 747 records identified, 183 duplicates were removed and 323 records underwent title-and-abstract screening. Full texts were sought for 81 reports; two could not be retrieved, 79 were assessed for eligibility, and 50 studies were included. Four themes emerged: leadership readiness and capability; AI-augmented leadership practice; organizational conditions and institutional transformation; and human-AI agency, governance, and ethical boundaries. The evidence favors augmentation rather than autonomous substitution, with human judgment remaining central to accountability. The review proposes a five-stage Human-AI Educational Leadership Continuum integrating individual capability, organizational readiness, governance, and decision authority. The review was limited to three databases and English-language articles, and the evidence base remains methodologically heterogeneous and largely cross-sectional or context-specific.