A systematic review of the empirical literature on school leaders and school discipline: A sensemaking perspective

School discipline is a key part of school leaders’ roles, but scholarly knowledge on this important domain is limited and scattered. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of the peer-reviewed empirical literature on school leaders and school discipline. Data sources were Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. In total, 40 empirical studies were identified. Thematic analysis was used to reveal the scholarly knowledge and identify key research themes, and a sensemaking perspective assisted in interpreting the evidence. The review identified several themes related to school leaders’ sensemaking: how they interpret discipline problems, make disciplinary decisions and understand disciplinary actions and approaches; how competing meaning systems and organisational structures shape those interpretations; how racialised sensemaking produces inequities; and how technology increasingly mediates disciplinary judgment. Research on the relationship between school leaders and school discipline remains limited despite recent growth, and the field still lacks a recent integrative review that organises and synthesises the relevant literature. This review contributes to illuminating the state of knowledge on the connection between school leaders and school discipline. The work helps researchers by identifying key gaps and offering directions for further study, and helps leaders understand the consequences of their decisions and actions.