This paper presents a critical analysis of school leaders’ perspectives and approaches to social justice education in Iraqi Kurdistan and their response to education policies. Leadership of education in conflict and post-conflict contexts as an area of scholarship has been historically marginalised despite documented evidence of its influence on teaching, learning, and community development. Scholars of social justice educational leadership call for incorporating the principles of social justice within the curriculum and pedagogical practices, and for responding to societal needs. Examining the dual role of leaders as agents for social justice and policy-enactors is essential for a deeper understanding of their role and impact in the Iraqi context. This research examines leaders’ perspectives and practices of social justice leadership (Smyth, 1989, 2012) and their response to education policies and structures through Giddens’ Structuration theory (1999). This research is underpinned by a constructivist and transformative paradigm that incorporates three methods: Instrumental case studies (Stake, 2006), Stories of Practice (Clandinin et al., 1991), and Analytical reflective journals (Brown, 2004). The findings showed that leaders in KRI, including public and local private schools strongly demonstrate a social justice stance that is unique and representative of local values and context. Their understanding and practice do not necessarily fit with the mainstream discourse and concepts of social justice education and leadership but present a unique local perspective that centres students and their lives—and communities—in the praxis of leadership, especially disadvantaged groups. This perspective incorporates pedagogies of care, hope and advocacy, in addition to a critical and agentic policy interpretation and enactment approach. On the contrary, international school leadership represents a different model that centralises socio-cultural sensitivity and endorses local class and identity hierarchies, while predominantly conforming to neoliberal managerialist approaches and heavily drawing on globalised—and westernised—norms.