This study examines how school leaders exercised leadership in conflict-affected and ethnically marginalized regions of Uganda. It focuses on how leaders navigated extreme insecurity, displacement and community mistrust during wartime.
The study adopted a qualitative research design, using in-depth interviews with school leaders including headteachers, directors of studies and acting school heads/administrators from conflict-affected regions of Uganda, including Karamoja, West Nile and refugee-hosting districts. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
The findings show that school leaders assumed expanded and unconventional roles, including safeguarding students and staff, improvising learning arrangements during displacement, negotiating trust and authority in marginalized communities and mobilizing community resources to sustain education. Leadership practices were highly contextual, relational and embedded in local social structures, reflecting a continual balancing of safety, learning and survival in conditions of extreme uncertainty.
The findings emphasize the need for leadership development models that incorporate conflict sensitivity, cultural competence and community collaboration, moving beyond managerial frameworks. In crisis-prone regions, leadership must be prepared for improvisation, grassroots engagement and relational trust-building to ensure educational continuity.
The study provides a rare empirical insight into school leadership in wartime Uganda, particularly within minority communities. It challenges conventional leadership paradigms by documenting grassroots-driven, adaptive strategies and extending theoretical models to underexplored emergency and displacement contexts.
