Educational leadership at the time of crisis: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19, the recent health threat that affected almost every part of the world, has had a huge impact on education and educators. While many researchers devoted their attention to exploring ways through which teachers and students could be supported at the time of a pandemic, this paper focuses on a different population: educational leaders. Effective educational leadership at the time of crisis is crucial not only because of its big impact and magnitude but also because it sets an example for how similar situations could be handled in the future. In this paper, the researcher first looks at the qualities and capacities needed of leaders at the time of emergency. She also discusses the need for educational contingency planning and crisis preparedness. Attention is then shifted to handling future crises and emergencies by shedding light on leadership essentials that school and district administrators should be equipped to handle. The paper ends by proposing some recommendations for leader preparation programs so that aspiring leaders are ready to deal with similar situations in the future. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

School Principals' Experiences and Learning from the Covid-19 Pandemic in Norway

This exploratory study present findings from semi-structured interviews with 15 Norwegian school principals elaborating on their experiences and learning from the school closures, transition to digital education, and educational leadership in the first six months of the pandemic. Three main themes emerged from the interviews: (1) "We took a quantum leap into the digital world” addressing how the school principals supported and experienced a rapid transformation to digital education;(2) "We tried to be close, even if we could not be” elaborating on worries regarding teachers and children with special needs;and (3) "We had to adjust” elaborating on the unpredictable and constantly changing nature of the situation. These themes are detailed and discussed in the context of research in crisis management, organizational change, role requirements, and leadership responsibilities. In closing, we discuss how the transformative experiences from the pandemic may have implications for educational leadership in future crisis situations.

Revisiting Acker's gendered organizational theory: what women overcome to stay in the superintendency

Despite key improvements to social, political, and economic status, women remain underrepresented in key leadership positions across the United States, including the superintendency. Feminist research underscores that androcentric systems maintain, valorize, and reproduce the experiences and knowledge claims of upper middle-class, heterosexual, white men. Documented in related fields, gender inequity within public school systems is thus in part, the result of bias, discrimination, and highly gendered organizational practices. Part of a larger qualitative descriptive study conducted in spring 2021 of the COVID-19 pandemic, the purpose of this research was to examine normative culture within the New York State (NYS) Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) superintendency, and how professional and personal supports affect women superintendents and ultimately their decision "to stay" in their position. The guiding research question for this part of the study asked how and why the NYS BOCES superintendency was gendered? Guided by and building upon Joan Acker's gendered organizational theory, 32 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were completed with NYS BOCES women superintendents. The BOCES organization was purposefully selected, in contrast to one of the 731 NYS public school districts, because of the level of political and economic power that BOCES superintendents have at the state level - and to that end, the role of women leadership in a highly influential state educational organization. Overall, study results are consistent with Acker's research, finding that the NYS BOCES is a highly gendered organization, and also in specific ways tied to contemporary context. Chief among these included that women superintendents face countless gender inequities and barriers associated with staying in their leadership role, but professional legacy, the extent to which the work benefited families, and appropriate work-life balance were motivating factors. Concluding with implications for research and practice, study findings are significant because this study is the first to empirically examine the NYS BOCES and the career trajectories of its women superintendents - and to do so from a feminist epistemological perspective and gendered theoretical framework focused creating transformative change within research and practice.

Harnessing the Affordances of Action Researchers to Address the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Educational Leaders take Action Research Online

The unique affordances of Action Research, including flexibility, playfulness, accessibility, and a focus on practical problem solving provided crucial strategies for generating knowledge and developing solutions to the challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The move to online research settings, in particular, required action researchers to find ways to adapt existing research methods and to devise new approaches. This article describes the work of a group of doctoral students in an Educational Leadership program and their instructor in carrying out action research methods in both synchronous and asynchronous online settings.If the months of the pandemic have taught us nothing else, it is that flexibility and willingness to innovate, which are central to action research, are valuable assets in times of uncertainty. The unique affordances of Action Research include creativity, playfulness, accessibility to multiple participants and audiences, transferability of findings, and a focus on the generation of knowledge designed to be pragmatic and problem-focused. These qualities can be harnessed to address the multiple challenges we have encountered during the pandemic including health equity and access, poverty and unemployment, and the interruption of education for vulnerable student populations. They also offer us hope that action research can continue to contribute to addressing the challenges we are sure to face in the future.As students in an educational leadership doctoral program, we focus on examining problems of practice in our schools and districts through action research. As we adapted to online learning in our own schools, we were able to bring these skills to bear in our doctoral studies by developing strategies for conducting these action research methods in both synchronous and asynchronous online settings. This paper describes some of the approaches we developed in the hope that this will enable other action researchers to implement these methods in their own schools, organizations, and communities. The specific action research methods described in this paper are Future Creating Workshops, Citizens' Juries, World Café, Nominal Group Technique, and Digital Storytelling.

The Phenomenon of Leading without Guidebook: Educational Leadership Practices of Philippine School Principals in Virulent COVID-19 Times

The school principals play a pivotal role in leading educational institutions. Their lived experience as educational leaders in the context of a virulent crisis, however, is largely unexplored. This paper sought to discover the essence of educational leadership practices of school principals in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis. Following phenomenology as a research design, the researcher explored the world of six Filipino school principals through interview procedures. The analysis method developed by Colaizzi (1978) was used. The results revealed six emerging themes of educational leadership practices during a crisis as follows: 1.) navigating the crisis with adaptive leadership;2.) cultivating practices in crisis management;3.) managing through the machine;4.) freezing the standards and patterns;5.) promoting inclusivity in the new normal;and 6.) caring first for what is essential. These themes form the basis of the description and structure of the phenomenon offered at the end of the paper. Considering the present scarcity of knowledge on how school principals respond in times of crisis, this paper provides insights into educational leadership practices within the context of the COVID-19 situation.

Letter From the Editor

These articles together explore wilderness expeditions, service learning implementation, and educational responses to environmental crises. Several of the articles in this issue explore service learning educational implementation. This study analyzed course syllabi as well as quantitative measures of students' civic attitudes, collecting data from 55 students in 10 undergraduate courses with service learning components. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Journal of Experiential Education is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Vox Poetica: bringing an arts-based research method to school leaders' lockdown experiences

The work of school leaders during lockdown has been emotionally charged and emotionally draining, affecting immediate well-being and longer term career plans. To communicate the emotions that we were told about and which were obvious during interviews with serving headteachers, we turned to arts-informed methods. We used poems made from transcripts to complement and supplement the analysis of 58 interviews and survey responses (n = 1491). This paper introduces the use of transcript poetry and explains our choice of method. The poems foreground the diversity that existed among the leaders, and different kinds of interventions that might make a difference. Our example suggests that the educational leadership, management and administration field might benefit from further experimentation with arts-based methods.

The Politics of School Reopening During COVID-19: A Multiple Case Study of Five Urban Districts in the 2020–21 School Year

Purpose: Nearly all schools in the United States closed in spring 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze traditional public and charter school reopenings for the 2020–21 school year in five urban districts. We provide a rich and theoretically grounded description of how and why educational leaders made reopening decisions in each of our case districts. Research Methods: We used data from a multiple-case study from March 2020 to July 2021. The research team conducted 56 interviews with school, district, and system-level leaders;triangulated with publicly available data;and also drew on interview data from a subsample of parents and guardians in each of our sites. We analyzed these data through qualitative coding and memo writing and conducted detailed single- and cross-case analyses. Findings: School system leaders in our case sites generally consulted public health authorities, accounted for state-level health and educational guidance, and engaged with and were responsive to the interests of different stakeholders. Districts' adherence to and strategic uses of public health guidance, as well as a combination of union-district relations and labor market dynamics, influenced reopening. Parents, city, and state lawmakers, and local institutional conditions also played a role, helping to explain differences across cases. Implications: In contrast to the "politics or science” framing that has dominated research and public discourse on school reopening, we show that local pandemic conditions and local political dynamics both mattered and in fact were interrelated. Our findings have some implications for how educational leaders might navigate future crises. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Educational Administration Quarterly is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The heavy weight of COVID leadership: an analysis of one international school's leadership during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented chaos all over the world, and schools and their leaders have not escaped its impacts. This article analyses the leadership actions of the team from one international school in reopening after mandated lockdown;it seeks to contribute to the discourse on school leadership during these unprecedented times and to share leadership lessons with those bearing the weight of responsibility of leadership during the pandemic. Using the lens of a framework drawn from the example of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's leadership of New Zealand during the crisis, the actions of the school leaders are examined and linked to each of the good practices outlined. To connect this firmly to school leadership, the actions are categorised as either educational management or educational leadership, and then assessed to determine to what extent transactional and/or transformational leadership was appropriate to how the leaders responded to the various issues that arose during the events. From the analysis, I conclude that the actions of school leaders should fall under the guise of both leadership and management in order to successfully take a school through a period of uncertainty such as this, and should utilise both transformational and transactional leadership, dependent upon the circumstances with which they are faced. © The Author(s) 2023.

Guest editorial: Organizing schools for the future: innovative conceptualizations of schools as organizations

[...]of these incomparable challenges, schools were contending with profound changes in their day-to-day practices, including suspension of classroom teaching, transformation in learning and teaching modalities and the provision of health and social services to students and their families (Huang et al., 2020;Reimers and Schleicher, 2020). [...]this global crisis has led to students' higher dropout rates, parents' increased responsibilities in the education process (Azorin, 2020;Striepe and Cunningham, 2022) and school principals' enhanced concentration on strengthening the school's community and its individual members (Schechter et al., 2022;Thornton, 2021). Yet, we suggest the articles converge on three central themes including the nature of leadership response to organizational change and crisis, organizational interdependency and boundary spanning and relationality matters to inform leaders' weathering of crisis and challenge. The authors argue that school leaders, in real time, can simultaneously employ school and district structures and supports for crisis leadership, resulting in increased individual and collective sensemaking and the provision of needed resources, in turn, buffering school organization members from threats. [...]they conclude that adapting, rather acting in rational, but outdated ways, increases the potential for leaders to better respond to persistent uncertainty and singular crises like Covid-19. Arguing that relationality is central to leadership and organizational effort, the authors propose a holistic and dynamic sense of community framework with the potential to offer insight into the conditions and actions that facilitate or hinder the organizational learning

Distributed Leadership in Irish Post-Primary Schools: Policy versus Practitioner Interpretations

School leaders have faced significant challenges since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Distributed leadership has become the default leadership response implemented by schools to manage increased pressure. While Irish schools have traditionally operated behind a ‘closed-door', there has recently been a movement towards a shared model of leadership, and Irish school leadership policy currently endorses the adoption of a distributed leadership model. Increased interest and policy endorsement notwithstanding, distributed leadership remains an elusive concept. The aim of this study was to explore Irish post-primary school personnel's interpretations of distributed leadership and analyse these interpretations through a teacher empowerment lens with respect to Irish school leadership policy. This study reports the results of a thematic analysis of 363 survey responses provided by post-primary school personnel. Short's six dimensions of teacher empowerment were utilised to inform a framework for thematically analysing the participants' interpretations. An initial framework for enacting distributed leadership through an empowerment lens was outlined. Interpretations were found to diverge regarding (i) what is shared, (ii) who it is shared with, and (iii) how it is shared. This paper adds to the corpus of knowledge concerning how distributed leadership is understood in practice and will aid in informing future school leadership policy documents.

Educational leadership support for work transitions during COVID-19: Perceptions of K-12 teachers in United States and China

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational leadership support as perceived by K-12 teachers and leadership effectiveness in addressing the work transition during the COVID-19 pandemic in two countries: China and the U.S. In this exploratory study, sixteen K-12 teachers from China and the U.S. were interviewed. Our findings indicated that participants received educational leadership support in daily tasks, well-being, and training and development. Participants also indicated that their leaders helped them cope with the work transition by empowering and inspiring them. However, the leaders also faced challenges including limited resources and lack of authorization from upper-level administration. Differences in educational leadership were identified between China and the U.S. in terms of communication and trust-building, work-life/family balance, and safety. This study provides insights for educational leaders and HRD professionals on strategies to support teachers in a crisis such as the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A survey of transformational leadership traits for South African academic libraries in Gauteng province, South Africa

PurposeThe purpose of the paper was to survey transformational leadership traits in three academic libraries in the Gauteng province in South Africa. The three academic libraries were chosen based on the fact that two of the universities were residential research-intensive universities and the third was an academic library of a distance learning university.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a quantitative approach with a survey design in three academic libraries in the Gauteng province in South Africa in which a close-ended questionnaire yielded quantitative data. The study included 29 academic staff from the rank of assistant librarian to the director from the three academic libraries, as these are the personnel in leadership positions. To code and analyse, quantitative data from a Likert scale, SPSS version 25 was used. Cronbach's alpha was used to evaluate the instrument's reliability on the five constructs used in this study to determine readiness to adopt a transformational leadership style. The overall level of internal consistency exceeded the theoretical minimum of 70 percent. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to determine the normality of the data and the p values were greater than 0.05 (p > 0.05). Tables have been used to present descriptive and inferential statistics based on data.FindingsParticipants expressed favourable opinions about academic libraries' ability to learn from the best practices of others in the profession, with mean scores greater than 3.5 on a 5.0 scale. Participants' perceptions of transformative versus traditional management styles yielded a moderate mean score of 3.0, with moderate mean scores ranging from 2.8 to 3.3. The average score for talent identification and succession planning in academic libraries was 3.5. Perceptions of leadership responsibilities had a mean score of 4.1, with attributes on leadership responsibilities scoring at least 3.5. Perceptions of problems for the next generation of leaders in academic libraries were moderate, with a mean score of 3.2 on a scale of 5.0.Research limitations/implicationsOnly three of the seven public university libraries in the Gauteng province in South Africa were surveyed in this study. The sample size was reasonably small for generalizations beyond the South African Gauteng province academic libraries. However, it was felt useful for this particular case. A survey of all 26 South African public universities is required to assess transformational leadership traits in academic libraries.Practical implicationsNext-generation leaders in South African academic libraries are perceived as not being aggressive in terms of team building, coaching and motivating others.Social implicationsIn the wake of COVID-19, new leadership traits such as scenario planning are needed for academic libraries.Originality/valueLeadership studies abound in the library and information studies (LIS) profession and they are not new. However, research on transformational leadership in South African libraries is still in its early stages. As a result, this study fills a gap in the literature on transformative leadership in academic libraries in South Africa.

Teachers' perceptions of school principals' role in tackling the pandemic crisis

PurposeThis paper reports the findings of a qualitative study on teachers' perspective about school principals' role during the pandemic in the context of Greece. In particular, information is provided on school principals' communication and leadership aspects in tackling the pandemic crisis as well as the obstacles observed in this particular setting.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through the focus group interview tool and included 19 teachers from primary and secondary education in Greece. Due to the circumstances of the pandemic crisis, the interview process was held using the Zoom software environment. The data collection tools included a common semi-structured interview protocol developed specifically for this study based on the current theoretical sources of school principals' role in tackling the pandemic crisis.FindingsThe findings of this study indicated the important aspects of trust, collaboration, and positive climate, together with school principals' external dimension that included the outreach of the local community, parents, private organizations, etc. during the pandemic crisis. Finally, obstacles connected to the students' lack of technological equipment were also observed and addressed by school principals.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study could not be generalized since the study proceeded with convenience sampling. Furthermore, the data were collected while the world was in lockdown during the second pandemic wave.Originality/valueThis piece of research adds to the empirical aspect of school principals' role during the pandemic crisis from a different perspective and reports that researching school principals' role in tackling crises has grown considerably.

Resilient Leaders: Resilient Determinants When Entering Principalship

The study examines factors that boost principals' sense of resilience in their first year, as well as those that undermine it. 61 interviews were conducted with 21 school principals from five different districts throughout their first year in the role. Analysis revealed five categories of resilience-undermining factors. (1) Work overload that creates a sense of stress;(2) Difficulties in dealing with key players;(3) Lack of administrative knowledge;(4) Acceptance or rejection by the staff;and (5) Coping with the Covid-19 crisis. The analysis also revealed five categories of resilience-boosting factors: (1) Growth resulting from biographical events;(2) Short-term successes;(3) Supportive environment;(4) Drawing strength from the student environment;and (5) Acceptance by the staff. This study proposes ways of coping with the challenges of principalship through the prism of the resilience determinants of principals when entering their role. AD -, Ramat Gan, Israel ;, Ramat Gan, Israel

A comparative study on turnaround leadership in higher education and the successful implementation of the UN's sustainable development goals

Purpose>Given the increased emphasis on embedding the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in the curriculum, research, engagement activities and operations of higher education institutions, this comparative study aims to replicate an earlier international study of Turnaround Leadership for Sustainability in Higher Education (TLSHE) in the unique context of Malaysia and Japan. This paper also presents a case for closer focus on developing Education for Sustainability (EfS) leaders in institutions of higher learning.Design/methodology/approach>This study is a quantitative comparative research. The authors collected data for EfS-related variables from lecturers affiliated with Malaysian and Japanese public and private universities. Building on the data and results from the TLSHE study, this study made a series of within- and between-sample descriptive comparisons from different angles and levels. To generalize the findings, this study used gender and experience outside higher education as control variables and compared the academics from the Malaysian and the Japanese institutions through the path modeling framework.Findings>The comparisons showed that except for two domains, namely, contextual factors influencing EfS leadership and the EfS leadership development approaches, the means of all other domains based on the data collected from the Malaysian sample were the highest, followed by means from the international TLSHE sample, and finally the means from the Japanese sample. This study also observed that transparency, engagement with EfS initiatives at different levels, passion for teaching and learning, and creative and lateral thinking were among the top indicators. The inferential tests revealed significant differences between the academics from Japan and Malaysia as well.Practical implications>The findings of the analyses can be used to ensure that the selection and development of EfS leaders (in this case, lecturers who may be formal or informal EfS leaders), not just at the central but at the local level in the distinctive context of Japan and Malaysia, focus on what counts and the good ideas embodied in the 17 UN SDGs are actually put into practice. This study has also highlighted the policy implications with respect to the gender and the previous work experience of lecturers outside higher education sector in more detail.Originality/value>This study compares the perceptions of two samples of academics from Asian countries with the perceptions of the international TLSHE sampled EfS leaders in terms of EfS leadership-related issues and therefore, increases the awareness of academic community in this regard. It also highlights the role of lecturers (e.g. professors) as intellectual academic leaders in achieving SDGs. Moreover, this study shows that lecturers' gender and previous work experience outside higher education should be considered when developing and implementing policies on EfS leadership.

Student reflections on an internship in educational leadership: A mixed methods case study

Researchers and legislators are seeking ways to improve educational leadership programs to better prepare individuals to lead today's schools. Researchers have often focused these efforts on an objectivist research paradigm, examining program outcomes and perspectives of current leaders. As such, few studies have engaged students in conversations about their internship experience. The purpose of the present study is to examine graduate students' perceptions of their internship experience and preparation in the field upon completing a year-long internship grounded in Experiential Learning Theory and the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. The study additionally examined whether gender differences existed in these perceptions. It is the theory of the current study that the use of this subjective research is a critical step in strengthening educational leadership programs. The overarching research question that guided this study was, Do graduate students believe their internships provided them with the experiences necessary to be future educational leaders? The researcher posed the following research questions to further guide this study: (a) To what extent do graduate student interns believe their internships provided them with the experiential learning necessary to be educational leaders? (b) To what extent do graduate student interns feel prepared to carry out leadership skills related to the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders upon completing their internship? (c) What experiences do graduate student interns identify as the most and least beneficial in the internship? (d) Do students' perceptions of their internships and feelings of preparation differ by gender? Data were collected and research questions were analyzed using surveys and individual interviews at a single university. Four results emerged across quantitative and qualitative results: (a) students believed their internships provided them with the experiential learning necessary to be educational leaders, (b) students expressed confidence in their leadership performances, while also discussing a desire for additional practice due to the COVID pandemic, (c) students placed a high value on relationships and experiential learning, while also identifying the COVID pandemic as the least beneficial experience, (d) gender differences persist in the field of educational leadership. Results of this study support prior literature on educational leadership, while offering new data on students' views of their internship experience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Deans as Agents of Change for Inclusive Teacher Education

Few resources are available to support deans who lead reform while they navigate competing complex issues. Understanding how deans succeed in leading a reform agenda carries much significance in today's context where issues of equity and Covid-19 are challenging educators to reexamine the content and delivery of programs, while also grappling with a myriad of other challenges (e.g., declining enrollment and fiscal demands). Little research examines the actions that deans take to lead change in their colleges or schools. This exploratory study employing grounded theory methods was designed to unpack what deans actually do when engaging their college or school in a reform effort. The results suggest that there are strategic actions deans take to facilitate change on their campuses, and these actions are reflected in an emerging theory of action.

A Survey of Lessons Learned from COVID-19 by School Administration Interns

A survey of lessons learned from COVID-19 by school administration interns is presented. Two cohorts of school administration interns enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in School Leadership (GCSL) and Master of School Administration (MSA) Degree programs at a university in the southeastern part of the US are surveyed. Successful completion of the certificate or the degree program leads to principal certification. The pandemic disrupted lives, but their duty was to adapt and maintain the integrity of the program and perform their core functions as educators to benefit their students. The interns who participated in the survey for this study were in the last two semesters of a principal preparation program. The responses gave a portrait of the experiences of interns during the pandemic.