Leading in lockdown: Community, communication and compassion in response to the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

This paper examines the ways that Australian school leaders made sense of and responded to situations of crisis and uncertainty that resulted from the COVID-19 global pandemic. The paper draws on a qualitative study of the subjective experiences of eight school leaders and uses a sensemaking theoretical approach applied to crisis leadership to contribute to understanding leadership in unprecedented situations. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews undertaken in the middle of 2020. At that time participants were working through significant changes resulting from community lockdowns that required their schools to move to remote provision of education. The findings revealed these school leaders engaged in rapid processes of sensemaking and change implementation. They assessed and managed risks, relationships and resourcing in environments where usual processes of change leadership were not available to them. They reported that their attention was predominantly directed to the well-being of their communities. They noted an increase in the community leadership aspect of their role and the requirement of effective, timely and honest communication. They also demonstrated prospective sensemaking orientations in their capacity to reconfigure for a positive and productive future that could emerge from these disruptive experiences.

Preschool staff perceptions of leader capabilities during COVID-19 early stage in Iceland

“…However, some struggled to set boundaries or were unable to organise or prioritise information, for example. They showed similar character as school leaders in many other countries (Beauchamp et al, 2021;Bush, 2021;Logan et al, 2021;Longmuir, 2021;Thornton, 2021).…”

“…They further point out that crisis management is, by definition, about planning, managing and implementing decisions, and the person in charge can be both a leader and a manager, a duality that is well known to school leaders. These are issues that have been under pressure testing during the COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world, as has been shown in some leadership research done through the early stages of COVID-19 (Beauchamp et al, 2021;Bush, 2021;Logan et al, 2021;Longmuir, 2021;Thornton, 2021). Logan et al (2021) argues that leadership approaches that aim to support educator well-being are needed to protect the early childhood sector in the case of crises.…”

“…Logan et al (2021) argues that leadership approaches that aim to support educator well-being are needed to protect the early childhood sector in the case of crises. Longmuir (2021) declared that the work of leaders was complex and that leaders prioritised compassionate, humanising goals as a grounding for all other actions. They mobilised communication practices that were reassuring, as well as open and honest.…”

Identifying the Leadership Challenges of K-12 Public Schools During COVID-19 Disruption: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Distributive leadership is the capability to initiate strategic transformation in an institution as demanded by the crisis situation. In a nutshell, leadership makes a transition from controlling to empowering others to mobilize collective strength and navigate different institutional challenges ( Longmuir, 2021 ). Leaders must delegate some responsibility and authority to their followers so that leaders can focus more on work for things that tend to be strategic, and the organization can be agile to keep up with changes in the digital era ( Astadi et al, 2022b ).…”

“…It is no exaggeration to say that schools have become resilient fortresses against the onslaught of the pandemic. In the face of unpredictable developments of COVID-19, resilience, flexibility, adaptability, compassion, and trust are key for school leaders to being able to live with the pandemic ( Beauchamp et al, 2021 ; De Martino and Weiser, 2021 ; Longmuir, 2021 ; Oplatka and Crawford, 2021 ). School leadership and management in this context have also become necessarily synonymous with ongoing support, collective collaboration, and distributed leadership ( Harris and Jones, 2020 ; Rogers and Sabarwal, 2020 ).…”