School leaders not only play an important role in the context of digitalization-related school development processes (Håkansson & Pettersson, 2019; Tulowitzki & Gerick, 2020), their own everyday life, tasks and actions are also affected by digitalization-related transformation processes (Krein, 2024). This includes requirements from various areas of school development (e.g. organizational development, teaching development, personnel development, cooperation development or technology development) (Eickelmann & Gerick, 2018), but also tasks such as school administration or cooperation with stakeholders in- and outside the school (Schiefner-Rohs, 2019). In the context of digitalization, overarching phenomena also come into focus when considering the actions of school leaders: These include phenomena of the dissolution of boundaries (e.g. between professional and private spheres of life), which are constitutive components of a profound mediatization through the technological differentiation of the media, their ubiquity and the increasing networking of people (Krotz, 2001; Hepp & Hasenbrink, 2017). For the work context, Dehmel et al. (2023) also point out that "due to the permanent availability of the internet, more and more work tasks can be carried out with current mobile devices without being tied to a fixed location - for example an office building - or to certain time constraints - such as core working hours from morning to afternoon" (p. 59; translation by the author). Looking at the school context, alongside the actions of teachers (Dehmel et al., 2023), the actions of school leaders are also characterized by phenomena of dissolving boundaries (Krein, 2024). At the same time, it can be assumed that the professionalization of school leaders will become increasingly relevant against the background of the challenges associated with the dissolution of boundaries - for example, dealing with remote working and thus less free time. Nevertheless, little attention has so far been paid to the dissolution of boundaries in everyday school leadership, both theoretically and empirically. 

Based on this desideratum, insights are provided into the phenomena of dissolving boundaries within the actions of school leaders in the context of digitalization. The focus is on challenges for the actions of school leaders and implications for their professionalization. Since mediatization is not a national phenomenon, the contribution also aims to highlight implications for the international research community. Accordingly, the article is based on the following research questions:

1. Which phenomena of the dissolution of boundaries can be identified in the actions of school leaders? 
2. What challenges are associated with these phenomena of the dissolution of boundaries for school leaders?
3. What implications can be derived from this for the professionalization of school leaders as well as future research?            

To answer these questions, the results of an empirical-qualitative study (Krein, 2024) are used, which was conducted in several phases using a multi-method approach: First, explorative expert interviews (N=7) were conducted (Meuser & Nagel, 2009) to provide initial insights into the everyday work of school leaders and digitality-related transformation processes. This was followed by a comparative case study using shadowing in a second phase (Krein, 2024). Shadowing is an ethnographic approach, which central element is a participant observation and the recording of conversations, anecdotes and episodes. As part of the study, two school leaders from secondary schools in Germany were each accompanied in their daily work for three weeks. In addition to the participant observations, reflective interviews were conducted with the school leaders during the shadowing, which were recorded and then transcribed. The data obtained were analyzed and triangulated using qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz, 2018) and phenomenological analysis (Brinkmann, 2015). The results of these analyses are now linked back to the existing international state of research on the (digitalization-related) dissolution of boundaries. By presenting the empirical results and contextualizing and discussing them in the light of existing research, a theoretically grounded, comprehensive insight into the individual challenges for the actions of school leaders is offered.

The results of the analyses show various challenges in the everyday life of school leaders that are directly related to digitalization-related phenomena towards the dissolution of boundaries. Thereby, the digital communication of school leaders has proven to be particularly relevant: The data indicate that there is a (perceived) obligation on the part of school leaders to communicate with those involved in the school; however, defined rules for digitally mediated communication, especially with actors outside the school, were not (yet) visible during the shadowing. As a result, school leaders also engage in professional communication on evenings and weekends. Thus, a dissolution of boundaries between work and private time was observed. Depending on the context and the direction of the dissolution of boundaries, it was perceived either as a burden or as a benefit. The tendency to dissolve boundaries, which was initiated by school leaders and thus to a certain extent carried out from the inside out, was not articulated as a burden. On the other hand, tendencies to push boundaries from the outside, such as required communication from external school stakeholders such as parents, were clearly identified as intrusive and stressful. This (perceived) obligation, the (anticipated) demanding attitude of school stakeholders, undefined communication rules and a lack of recovery phases ultimately result in an increased experience of stress. These results also link to various discourses and international research in the context of the dissolution of boundaries and offer a variety of implications for the professionalization of school leaders, which will be presented and discussed during the presentation at ECER 2024.

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