"A Different Lens, a Different Drive": Critical Place-Conscious Crisis Leadership in a Rural School District

• In Event: New Leadership Strains: School Leadership and the COVID Crisis

Abstract

District superintendents play a critical leadership role within the K-12 education system, while often navigating complex political pressures within their communities. These roles became even more challenging throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic as district leaders were suddenly tasked with shuttering their school buildings and pivoting to remote instruction, many for the first time. In this qualitative case study, we explore the experiences of the Sun Ridge School District and suggest that rural school districts may be uniquely situated to weather the storms of crises. Drawing on prior understandings of crisis management and critical place-conscious leadership we propose a framework for critical place-conscious crisis leadership and demonstrate how a rural superintendent embodied this critical form of crisis leadership in practice.

Authors

• James Bridgeforth, University of Southern California

• Hayin Kimner

• Julie A. Marsh, University of Southern California