Culturally responsive leadership for multicultural education: The case of “Vision School” in Malaysia

Abstract

The “Vision Schools” in Malaysia is a new concept that brought within its common premises the vernacular primary schools of Malays, Chinese, and Indians. They were established to foster racial integration among students by sharing of common facilities and jointly hosting school events. But the success of the ‘Vision school’ initiative was hampered for it lacked ‘culturally responsive’ leadership to make the transformation. The school heads needed adequate knowledge base and competence in leading and supporting multicultural schools for racial integration. A new professional development model that supports multicultural education may have to be evolved for the schoolheads.