Session Information
26 ONLINE 19 A, Social Justice and Educational Leadership: A Symposium in Memory of Kadir Beycioğlu
Symposium
MeetingID: 870 8579 1295 Code: y4Waif
Contribution
It is well accepted that leadership in times of crisis must function as a beacon of light, as a model, taking on new roles / responsibilities and extending its scope to new directions, relying on new data, remaining calm and developing a realistic sense of empathy, equality and justice for all school actors (Beycioglu and Wildy, 2015). Moreover, from the first moment of the development of a crisis and, in order to support and guide, school leaders need to exhibit a high level of trust and a positive school climate, which are considered fundamental building blocks for any organization, especially under conditions of crisis and uncertainty (Rayner, 2018; Twyford and Le Fevre, 2019). Thus, through the method of shadowing, a school principal from an urban elementary school in Cyprus was systematically shadowed and observed, utilizing the Pashiardis-Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Model as the theoretical driver and organizer for the whole period of observation (Brauckmann and Pashiardis, 2011; Pashiardis and Brauckmann, 2019). Thus, some actions, based on the Structuring Leadership style, were intended to bring stability to the school organization and redefine new roles and responsibilities (e.g., responsible webmaster). However, the primary concern was for the safety of the members of the school community and the sense of belonging to it. Equally important were the pedagogical actions of the school leader (Pedagogical Leadership style) in order for distance teaching and learning to be effective. In this context, attending online training seminars organized by various organizations, participating in online meetings with colleagues, finding and exchanging digital material are just a few examples of efforts to train teachers. Looking back it is clear that school leadership in times of uncertainty can play an essential role towards establishing strong feelings towards equality and social justice, as this principal stressed the fact that her main concern was that no students were left behind because of lack of internet and equipment at home during the school closures. Moreover, she employed the services of bilingual persons so as to quickly communicate with children whose mother language was not Greek in order to further facilitate their access to quick distance education. Instantly, she was able to achieve a satisfactory degree of certainty in order to reassure the educational continuity, recognizing that dealing with a crisis requires a long-term view where leaders need to envision what is coming next week, next month and even next year (Kafa and Pashiardis, 2020).
References
Beycioglu, K. and Wildy H. (2015). Principal preparation: The case of novice principals in Turkey. In Beycioglu, K. and Pashiardis, P. (Editors). Multidimensional Perspectives on Principal Leadership Effectiveness, (pp. 1-17). Hershey, Pennsylvania (USA): IGI Global. Brauckmann S and Pashiardis P (2011) A validation study of the leadership styles of a holistic leadership theoretical framework. International Journal of Educational Management, 25(2), 11-32. Kafa A and Pashiardis P (2020) Coping with the Global Pandemic COVID-19 through the Lenses of the Cyprus Education System. International Studies in Educational Administration 48(2): 42-48. Pashiardis, P. and Brauckmann S (2019) New Public Management in Education: A Call for the Edupreneurial Leader?, Leadership and Policy in Schools, 18 (3), 485-499. DOI: 10.1080/15700763.2018.1475575. Rayner SM (2018) Leaders and leadership in a climate of uncertainty: A case study of structural change in England. Educational Management Administration and Leadership 46(5): 749-763. Twyford K and Le Fevre D (2019) Leadership, uncertainty and risk: how leaders influence teachers. Journal of Professional Capital and Community 4(4): 309-324.
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