Leading through crisis

What practices have kept leaders going when challenges are even greater than usual?

These last two years have brought unprecedented crises to schools across the country. They’ve had to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and the heated debates about school closings, vaccines, and mask mandates; at the same time, many districts have faced pushback on equity and culturally responsive education initiatives. School and school system leaders have had to figure out how to respond to these controversies, all while continuing the already difficult work of providing the best education possible for their students.

As facilitators of professional learning for principals, central office staff, and department of education leaders, my colleagues and I at The Leadership Academy lead sessions focused on building leaders’ capacity to coach teachers, offer actionable feedback, or promote culturally responsive practices. Since March 2020, these sessions have inevitably pivoted to discussions on how to lead through crisis. The leaders we support have experienced student walkouts, COVID hospitalizations, and frequent requests for information from the press and community members. And they’ve had to spend their days filling in as classroom teachers and bus drivers to deal with staffing shortages. Leaders have shown up to our sessions angry, exhausted, and in tears. It’s perhaps no surprise that so many are resigning, planning their retirement, and in some cases being fired, in great numbers (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2021).