Leading in A Crisis

Anna Mai Rooney

Deputy Director Primary at the Centre for School Leadership

At 12 noon on March 12th 2020, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD announced that all schools, pre-schools and further and higher education institutions would close for a fortnight until March 29th to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus. This closure took effect from 6pm that evening. There ensued a day of mayhem for every school as staff members rushed to prepare for a fortnight’s closure. Should books be sent home? How would a fortnight’s work be prepared in a couple of hours? How would the needs of younger children be dealt with and those with specific needs? How best could the most vulnerable be provided for? How about the new extension under construction? Or the long awaited work being done on the school’s pitch? What about the teacher due back after a long illness the next week? Or the substitute teachers booked for upcoming events? It was a day of question after question with no time to think, all hands were on deck to send children home for a fortnight prepared in the best way teachers could manage until everyone re-united again on Monday March 30th. If only we knew then what we know now!

Teachers, leaders, support staff, parents, pupils and boards have ‘circled the wagons’ to protect their schools from the effects of this dangerous virus, to do their very best for the children in their care, and to continue teaching and learning in a time of crisis.

Although unprecedented, and unlike any crisis or emergency we have seen before, schools rose to the challenge, like they always have, with courage, strength, determination and goodwill that seems to consistently emanate from school communities. Teachers, leaders, support staff, parents, pupils and boards have ‘circled the wagons’ to protect their schools from the effects of this dangerous virus, to do their very best for the children in their care, and to continue teaching and learning in a time of crisis. The element of care is synonymous with teaching and involves a connection between the carer and the cared-for. Nel Noddings wrote extensively on care in education, seeing it as an attribute of good practitioners. We hope our pupils feel our care every day as they adjust to education at home. Knowing that we all think of them often, miss them and worry about how they ere managing in their new reality will support their well-being, and give them this sense of being cared for. How can we assure them of this? How can we balance managing our own worries and stresses to offer them this assurance? How can we remain strong and positive during ‘lock down’ and how will we present a new form of normality to them when they return to school?

We can still hear the advice of flight cabin crew telling us to position our own oxygen masks before those of our children and vulnerable ones. As Oprah Winfrey suggests, you must nurture yourself so you can nurture those who most need you. The last few weeks have been surreal but they have also been highly stressful, demanding and problematic. Although as school leaders you have been worried about your pupils, particularly your vulnerable pupils, you have access to something you didn’t have in school, a little more time. Only a little, in the sense that many of you have busy households in a wide variety of circumstances, but this little extra space should be used wisely to nurture yourself. Take exercise, - more than you usually do - stop and take in your surroundings, chat to friends and relations on the phone and online, take time to bake, cook, DIY, garden, knit, read, write, paint, pray, meditate - whatever it is you enjoy. Many believe that the world cannot return to normal until a vaccine against the virus is ready or drugs to treat it are available but, whatever form the new normality takes, it will zap your time, reduce your access to the things that matter, and bring you towards the madness we all lived in before the virus. Make sure you concentrate on yourself now, when time and circumstances allow.

We can still hear the advice of flight cabin crew telling us to position our own oxygen masks before those of our children and vulnerable ones. As Oprah Winfrey suggests, you must nurture yourself so you can nurture those who most need you.

Communication within your school community has no doubt presented many challenges. People are still the people they were before this crisis, and you still have the same mix of personality traits on your staff. Some of the more negative traits will be exacerbated by fear, isolation, illness, anxiety, financial hardship, and many other practical considerations like IT expertise, broadband access, care of the young, the vulnerable and the elderly, and association with those on the frontline. Keep all of this in your mind as you meet them online. Consider their personal situations, their personalities, their strengths and their anxieties. Allow those with knowledge and expertise in online learning to lead. Consider ways to support those who lack these skills. Allow people to work at their own pace, within reason. Accept that some have found basic ways to communicate with their pupils which are working well. Don’t try to ‘repair’ what is already working. Consistency and collaboration are great ways of working but you will need to make exceptions for some, trust them to do their best in a different way, and ask them to share their learning with everyone. Give good notice of online meetings and take feedback on the best dates and times so that everyone is accommodated. Listen and ask for the opinions of others rather than reacting when people exhibit signs of stress and anxiety at these meetings. If appropriate, make time for a follow-up chat with these members of staff. Consider the mission, vision and values of your school, reflect on them and again, if appropriate, mention them during online gatherings. Acknowledge the hardship and sacrifices being experienced, and the efforts being made; acknowledge the uncertainty that prevails and articulate positivity for the future. Your school community needs to hear this from you, it’s your responsibility. If you properly nurture yourself, you will be able to achieve this for them.

Leadership in crisis requires a different form of leadership practice. As Alma Harris posits, it demands a distribution of leadership so that those abler than ourselves can lead aspects of our practice and share the burden of this crisis

Leadership in crisis requires a different form of leadership practice. As Alma Harris posits, it demands a distribution of leadership so that those abler than ourselves can lead aspects of our practice and share the burden of this crisis. It demands appreciation of our people at school, acknowledgement of the loved ones we have and acceptance of the uncertainty we find ourselves in. Relax when you can, reflect on the good, believe in the future and be the leader that you truly are.

‘Anyone can lead when the plan is working. The best lead when the plan falls apart’ - Robin Sharma

Harris A (2013) Distributed leadership matters: Perspectives, practicalities, and potential. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Harris, A. (2020) ‘Leading a school during lockdown’. Available at: https://my.chartered. college/2020/04/leading-a-schoolduring-lockdown/.

Noddings, N. (2002). Starting at Home: Caring and social policy. Berkeley: University of California Press

Winfrey, O. (2019) ‘What I Know for Sure’ Available at: https://www. goodreads.com/quotes/8674097-ionce-taped-a-show-in-which-a-lifecoach