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This paper discusses the contrasting views of what constitutes the ‘best interests’ of students and the implications of such perceptions for leadership practices in secondary schools in Kenya. The paper is based on a study conducted to establish the students’, teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of democratic school leadership — in line with the current policy requirement of the Kenyan government that students be involved in decision-making on some of the issues in school that directly affect them. The study was in two phases. The first phase included interviews with twelve school principals to explore their perspectives on democratic school leadership and provide a rationale for selecting the two case schools. The second phase was a case study of two schools. The findings suggest that the leadership practices perceived by most principals and teachers to be in the ‘best interests’ of students were contentious and in direct contrast to what the students considered to be in their best interests. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]