How Schools Withstand Crisis: Organizational Conditions to Support Principal Leadership for Organizational Learning

• In Event: Leading Through Crisis: Lessons From School Principals' Leadership During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested schools’ abilities to rapidly pivot their modes of teaching and learning--revealing how equipped, or ill-equipped, our school systems and school leaders are to respond to adapt to change. Previous research finds that school leaders can leverage conditions within their organization, such as strong relationships, shared decision-making, and professional communities in order to support organizational change (Bryk & Schneider, 2002; Fink and Resnick, 2001; Fullan, 2002). Less is known, however, about the conditions that enable principals to lead change in times of crisis. We ask: What are the key organizational conditions that enabled principals to pivot their leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic? Our findings shed light on how to support school leaders adapt to organizational change more broadly.

Framework

We draw on organizational learning (OL) theory and literature on school working conditions. OL theory highlights organizational norms and routines as key conditions that can either enable or hinder organizations’ abilities to “learn” and adapt to shifting external conditions (Horn & Little, 2010; Levitt & March, 1988). Literature on school working conditions identifies relational trust, professional capacity, community ties and context, and instructional guidance as key enabling conditions for school leaders to enact organizational change (Bryk, 2010). Drawing on both theories, we consider how the internal conditions of schools, as well as the broader district contexts they operate within, shape principals’ work and influence school leaders’ ability to drive organizational change.

Data & Methods

The data for this analysis come from a large qualitative study of principal leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the spring and summer of 2020, a cross-institution team of 18 researchers conducted 120 interviews from a purposive sample of school leaders across the US. To contextualize interviews by principal’s backgrounds and their school contexts, we also surveyed interviewed principals and collected descriptive school demographics on their schools from NCES. We coded the interview data in two phases: first, we applied an a priori coding scheme grounded in our conceptual framework, and took note of additional emergent codes; then, we coded using both the a priori and emergent codes. Finally, we synthesized themes across interviews to generate key findings.

Results

Our emerging findings highlight five key organizational conditions which school principals leveraged to “pivot” their work in support of organizational learning during the pandemic: (1) relational trust; (2) professional community; (3) structures and routines--e.g., distributed leadership, spaces for teachers to have an influence on decision-making, and professional learning communities; (4) external community relationships and communication; and (5) technical infrastructure. We find that principals frequently attempted to cultivate new structures and routines during the pandemic; however, those with longer-standing practices were better positioned to pivot their practices to meet the demands of the crisis.

Significance

These findings provide insights to policymakers, researchers, and practitioners on how organizational conditions enable principals to adapt their leadership and support organizational learning, both during moments of crisis and more generally. Investing greater attention towards these conditions can support schools in more effectively navigating organizational change in the future.

Authors

• Maya Kaul, University of Pennsylvania

• Meghan Comstock, University of Pennsylvania

• Nicole S. Simon, City University of New York