Educational Leadership in Wartime Lebanon: Responding to Crisis with Resilience and Adaptability

• In Event: AER Roundtable Session Friday 1:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Crisis as a Catalyst in International Education

Abstract

This study investigates how school leaders in Lebanon navigate the complex demands of educational leadership during wartime. Drawing on crisis leadership, resilience, and adaptive theories, it examines how principals support staff, sustain learning, and engage communities amid armed conflict and large-scale displacement. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 principals operating in conflict-affected regions. Thematic analysis revealed key leadership practices including ethical decision-making under uncertainty, emotional and logistical support for teachers, institutional memory use, and cross-sector collaboration. The findings contribute to crisis-sensitive leadership scholarship and inform global discourses on education in emergencies by centering the lived experiences of leaders in marginalized, conflict-affected settings.

Authors

• Julia Mahfouz, University of Colorado - Denver

• Rana Ziad Bassaj, University of Colorado - Denver