Meeting students’ motivational needs based on Maslow’s framework in challenging contexts: the role of integrated leadership in advancing social justice

Schools are considered a microcosm of society, and as such, often reflect structural injustices that limit students’ development. Among those limits are limits on students’ ability to satisfy both basic and advanced needs, which Maslow’s hierarchy of needs addresses. The pressing need for effective school leadership is in schools with the most challenging social, economic, and political circumstances. Fulfilling students’ needs is highly challenging in schools and communities characterized by poverty and a lack of resources. This qualitative study explored nine social justice leaders operating in Arab schools in Israel. The findings reveal that school leaders recognized a range of Maslow’s basic and advanced needs requiring their attention to effectively promote social justice for students. To satisfy the students’ needs and promote social justice, these school leaders adopted an integrated leadership style, including instructional, social-emotional, and distributed leadership. The results demonstrate how the motivational framework is linked with (in)justice in schools operating in very challenging circumstances, as well as how a diverse range of students’ needs in these settings demands multimodal leadership action. The contribution of the paper lies in offering the Integrated Leadership for Promoting Social Justice (In-Lead for SJ) model specific to educational settings with complex school conditions.