9 minute read
Covid Leadership: Lessons learned for the future Sarah Pearce
Covid Leadership
Lessons learned for the future
By Sarah Pearce
In Winter 2020, this magazine referred on its front page to ‘Coming through the Covid-19 crisis’, with several articles devoted to the topic. Unfortunately, as I write this in Winter 2022, we are still ‘coming through’ the crisis; globally, regionally, locally and individually. Although there have been moments of hope that feel as though we are progressing to a level of normality, the imminent threat of the pandemic is always looming; ready, at the very least, to inconvenience us and, at its worst, to wreak havoc on our lives.
Schools have borne a significant brunt of the burden during this crisis. In many countries, schools have still not returned to face-to-face learning in what is now not months, but years. Other countries have pages of requirements for schools to follow, including maskwearing, isolation and quarantine, social distancing, where the children can eat lunch, and if PE is allowed. Schools have had to close and move to online learning with only hours of notice, re-open with safety guidelines in place, ensure parents are following the rules and, most importantly, to act as a haven of safety and security for the young people in their care, as well as for the families of those young people. It has been a momentous task, to say the least, and one which has been in many cases judged, criticised and condemned from all corners of our communities and social media.
Through all of this, school leaders around the world have stayed the course for their staff, students and wider communities, ensuring that the health and wellbeing of all is paramount in every decision. Connolly et al (2019) refer to the rock-filled rucksack of educational responsibility that school leaders must carry; I am sure
that even they would not have imagined the size of the boulders that leaders lug with them every day during this crisis. ‘Leading in the context of a pandemic is no easy feat’ says Wilson (2020) and the weight of that leadership has been inescapable.
Difficulties aside, it is important that we reflect on the experiences of this pandemic and glean lessons that can be taken forward, once the world returns to normal. Below are a few of the lessons I have learned that I hope will influence my future leadership practices.
Leadership vs Management
Many a leadership trainer or consultant has stood in front of a group of middle leaders and discussed the difference between these two terms. Usually, the answer is something around leadership being ‘good’, positive and what staff are looking for, and management is ‘bad’; it is task-driven and can be authoritarian But is it that simple? Whilst they are not synonymous terms, the idea that one can exist without the other in a functional school is unfounded; the downplaying of management as part of running a school is to minimise its importance in the organisation (Connolly et al, 2019).
Rost and Burns suggest that leadership is a relationship of influence, and management is one of authority (1993); both are required in different contexts when running a school. Influence is part of the language of leaders and followers, of creating scalable and sustainable change to achieve mutual goals; it is more aligned to our educational ethos. Management, on the other hand, is unidirectional and more concerned with the organisational aspects of school.
As I reflect on leading a school during the pandemic, I’m aware there were times when leadership was needed to motivate the staff to act in a manner that suggested they were on board with the multitude of changes, processes and rules that needed to be embedded. However, management, with its ‘top-down’ hierarchy, was also essential, as when health and safety are on the line there are severe consequences for tasks not being completed; a commanding approach is necessary to ensure the functioning of the school, and for the safety of the community.
In bringing these two aspects together we learn that, especially during a crisis, one cannot just be a manager, or a leader – we need to be both; they are two sides of the ‘school leadership’ coin. When used effectively and in the right context, both build trust in leadership and foster a feeling of safety and security for the community.
Not knowing is okay
Often a school leader is the last stop for the community; they are the person who makes the final decision. With information constantly changing and we, as leaders, being asked to make decisions based on knowledge of a disease that even scientists were struggling to keep up with, there were times when we weren’t sure of the answer. Admitting when we aren’t sure, and subsequently fostering a culture of ‘admit[ting] to others when [we] had made a mistake’ (Harris and Chapman, 2002), is an essential characteristic of leadership during a crisis, and
one which should be a regular part of leadership in normal times; Stephen Munby (2019) calls this part of ‘imperfect leadership’.
In this connection, Wilson (2020) suggests that during a crisis leaders need to avoid defensiveness in the face of criticism or mistakes. This is by no means an easy feat but is one that, for any school leader, will ensure that – moving forward – we continue to have the trust of the communities we serve. A principal I once worked for led by the motto that ‘the school is bigger than one person’; let’s leave our egos at the door and make sure that, even when we haven’t made the correct choice today, we strive to do better tomorrow.
Wellbeing is crucial
Staff, student and community wellbeing should be at the forefront of all decisions that we make during a crisis such as Covid-19. During the early stages of the pandemic, I was constantly being asked, or asking myself, what more can we do for staff? What more can we do for the students and parents? The thing we forgot to ask was, what more could we do for ourselves? Many of us, as leaders, place ourselves at the back of the wellbeing queue – not through martyrdom, but usually through lack of time and resources. However, as Harris (2020) states, ‘self-care and consideration must be the central concern for all leaders to ensure that they remain healthy and well-enough to help others’. I am sure many of us learned this whilst leading a school through a pandemic, and I do hope it is one lesson we will take forward into future endeavours. The backpack is heavy, and perhaps cannot be put down permanently, but taking some of the weight off temporarily is essential to ensure we can keep carrying it for our communities.
Final thoughts
The pandemic continues to influence both our professional and personal lives, though the light at the end of the tunnel is certainly becoming brighter. I am sure that if we were to collectively reflect on our experiences we could have a list of hundreds of leadership lessons learned, and I have no doubt that leadership scholars around the world are actively researching this as we speak. School leadership is hard, it is exhausting and often it is thankless, but it is also one of the most rewarding and meaningful jobs we could have. It is my hope that, once the world returns to normal, we will take the insights gained during the experience and, to the benefit of our communities, become better school leaders. ◆
Sarah Pearce is currently completing a doctorate in Education, having worked in leadership of schools in Dubai, Malaysia and, until recently, the USA. ✉ sktp20@bath.ac.uk
References
• Connolly M, James C and Fertig M (2019) The difference between educational management and educational leadership and the importance of educational responsibility. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. 47(4): 504–519. • Harris A and Chapman C (2002) Leadership in schools facing challenging circumstances. Management in Education. 16(1): 10–13. • Harris A (2020) School leadership in lockdown. My College. Available from: my.chartered.college/impact_article/school-leadership-in-lockdown/
Accessed 22 February 2022. • Munby S (2019) Imperfect leadership: a book for leaders who know they don’t know it all. Bancyfelin: Crown House Publishing Ltd.
• Rost J C and Burns J M (1993) Leadership for the twenty-first century. Westport, Conn: Praeger. • Wilson S (2020) Pandemic leadership: Lessons from New Zealand’s approach to COVID-19. Leadership. 16(3): 279–293.
SCHOOL
MANAGEMENT
Leading, teaching and learning plus
THE HOME OF INDEPENDENT AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL JOBS AND CAREERS
Recruit the best teaching talent with us
ONLINE INDEPENDENT AND INTERNATIONAL JOB BOARD
STANDARD LISTING FEATURED
POPULAR PREMIUM
POPULAR UNLIMITED
45,000+ independent & international professionals
15,000 social media reach accross six channels
Included in weekly jobs newsletter Standard listing PLUS
Featured listing at the top of the Careers Section
Advertising alongside relevant content throughout the site Featured listing PLUS
Free listing if the vacancy is not fi lled
Included on magazine digital distribution to 150,000 readers
Included in school directory Listing experience hosted on Kampus24 Premium listing PLUS
Unlimited job listings throughout the year to our audience
Newsletter presence every month for your school
Exposure and features on your school in main careers section
Print adverts for your listings each term Listing experience hosted on Kampus24
ATTRACT THE BEST STAFF WITH THE LEADING DIGITAL PLATFORM FOR INDEPENDENT AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PROFESSIONALS WORLDWIDE
School Management Plus is the leading print, digital and social content platform, for leaders, educators and professionals within the independent and international education sector worldwide. Our readership spans every stakeholder within fee paying education worldwide from Heads, Governors, Bursars, Admissions, Marketing, Development, Fundraising and Educators – to catering, facilities and sports. Our jobs & careers center is the natural meeting point for those already in the sector, aspiring to join it, or hiring from within it.
office@schoolmanagementplus.com
The rst 100 schools to sign up will receive 20% o a year’s unlimited package
• Social following of 15k across 6 channels • 60% annual growth in web tra c • Core readership of Heads, Senior Leaders,
Heads of Department, Bursars and Finance managers, Marketing and Admissions, and
Development across the sector
