In this chapter we discuss the role of educational leadership in advancing the ideal of the socially just school. We are mindful that much is expected of leaders in shaping the culture of schools, the quality of teaching and learning, and authentic engagement with communities and, in many ways, their work has become more complex and challenging in ‘unstable environments’. The chapter is organized in the following manner. First, we examine the concept of educational leadership, the changing political, social and economic context of schooling, and the roles and responsibilities of school leaders in an increasingly marketized approach to education. We highlight the paradoxes involved in the shift towards local school management, the re-centralization of curriculum, the imposition of standardized testing regimes and the ascendancy of bureaucratic leadership. Second, we explain why social justice must become a major focus of educational leadership and identify key assumptions and features of a critical approach to social justice. Third, we elaborate on the elements of socially just leadership around notions of advocacy, educative leadership and public pedagogy. With reference to an Australian example, we show how a community-engaged school has been able contest the more corrosive aspects of managerialism by creating spaces and structures which nurture a collective view of leadership, promote a culture of debate about teaching and learning and develop culturally relevant curriculum for young people.