Twenty-First-Century School Leadership: Integrating Psychological Flexibility and Human-Centered Management in Educational Settings

The twenty-first century brings unprecedented complexity to educational challenges such as rapid technological change, increasing diversity of students and teachers, new expectations for teacher preparation programs, and the social-emotional aspects of education. Current educational needs require a more responsive approach to school management, and this study explored whether the integration of psychological flexibility (based upon Acceptance and Commitment Therapy [ACT]) and human-centered leadership models can be applied to contemporary educational settings through the use of an integrated theoretical framework that synthesizes empirical research on psychological flexibility, cognitive flexibility, and human leadership models from educational psychology, school leadership scholarship research, and organizational behavior to understand how the integration of psychological flexibility can provide a paradigm shift in human-centered management to help contemporary school leadership navigate uncertainty and construct environments for educator growth, student flourishing, and community engagement. These integrated approaches help schools adapt to context, have stronger learning cultures, and produce sustained performance improvement.