This research proposes a new framework for understanding how school leaders can promote social justice and enhance learning outcomes for all students.

This study aims to examine social, cognitive, and teaching presences and student learning outcomes in collaborative science learning in the metaverse.

Principalship has been always considered a challenging profession, which has certainly become even more so in the post COVID pandemic (Harris & Jones, 2020; PI & Walker, 2023).

Hong Kong's teaching profession is in crisis, with 18,000 teachers, a quarter of the K-12 teaching workforce, leaving their positions in the past three years (EDB, 2023).

The work of school principals has become more complex and challenging than ever due to unprecedented uncertainties, rapid changes, and overwhelming digitalization in schools today (Fullan et al., 2024; Pettersson et al., 2024).

A cursory glance of the roll call of names across the 'top 100' universities internationally, reveals the dominance of predominantly white males in positions of power and influence.