Reframing School Stakeholder Engagement through the Lens of Critical Theory: A Systematic Review of Governance and Leadership Perspective

Abstract

This systematic review examines how Critical Theory reframes school stakeholder engagement within educational governance and leadership. It responds to the continuing dominance of hierarchical and bureaucratic decision-making that limits authentic participation despite decades of decentralization reforms. By integrating evidence from twenty-eight (28) studies published between 2017 and 2025, the review synthesizes international and Philippine research through the analytical lens of Critical Theory, emphasizing power relations, communicative action, and emancipation. Guided by PRISMA methodology and thematic synthesis, the review identifies persistent tensions between policy rhetoric and democratic practice. Studies from contexts such as Iran, South Korea, China, Brazil, and the Philippines reveal that participatory mechanisms often remain procedural rather than transformative, constrained by cultural deference and structural control. Findings demonstrate that genuine stakeholder engagement emerges when governance emphasizes reflective dialogue, shared agency, and distributed leadership supported by institutional trust. The review contributes to theory by positioning engagement as an emancipatory process grounded in communication and equity, extending the works of Habermas and Freire into practical governance models. It further recommends that educational leaders institutionalize spaces for critical reflection and participatory decision-making, while policymakers strengthen decentralization with equitable capacity-building and transparency mechanisms. The study concludes that stakeholder engagement in education must evolve from compliance toward communicative collaboration to realize democratic governance and social justice.