Contextualizing strategic leadership in a Tibetan school in exile

Educational leadership in refugee and diasporic school contexts is shaped not only by instructional and organizational demands but also by questions of identity, cultural continuity, belonging, and relationships with host societies. Research on this area of leadership remains comparatively limited, and little is known about how strategic leadership is enacted in refugee schools that operate within educational structures and a community-specific educational policy. This article examines the leadership of a Tibetan school principal in India during a period of institutional transition. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, the article uses interviews with the school principal and 16 stakeholders, participant observation, field notes, and archival school materials. The school was established in 1961, two years after the arrival of Tibetan refugees in India, to educate Tibetan refugee children, but by the time of the study, approximately 80% of its students were Indian. At the same time, the school had recently moved from the Indian government administration toward Tibetan administration, creating a particularly complex environment for the school principal. The study finds that strategic leadership goes beyond simply planning for institutional improvement but is a process of contextual translation of long-term educational goals into everyday reality while mediating Tibetan purposes, Indian educational requirements, demographic diversity, and sustaining refugee-host coexistence. The paper reframes strategic leadership in diasporic and minority-serving schools through a culturally grounded lens.