Abstract

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools across the United States to close their buildings and educational professionals transitioned to working from home. This paper explores how K-12 principals leading schools serving high numbers of students from racially and socioeconomically minoritized backgrounds made sense of and responded to the pandemic. In particular, we examined how principals made decisions in the immediate aftermath of the school closures to best support their students and school communities during the transition to remote/virtual learning. Guided by sensemaking theory, findings indicate that principals understood the broad, societal effects of the pandemic on their students, beyond the impact of school closures. Findings also show that principals needed to navigate and make sense of policies and guidelines created by top officials and other influential external stakeholders while also engaging in sensegiving with their teachers. Finally, findings reveal that principals implemented changes and create new organizational routines in order to support their students, especially for students receiving special education services. We close with directions for future research as well as implications for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on school leadership and organizational culture.

摘要

2020年3月，COVID-19大流行迫使美国各地的学校关闭其建筑物，教育专业人员过渡到在家工作。本文探讨了K-12校长领导学校如何为来自种族和社会经济少数族裔背景的大量学生提供服务，并理解这种流行病。特别是，我们研究了校长如何在学校关闭后立即做出决定，以在向远程/虚拟学习过渡期间为他们的学生和学校社区提供最佳支持。在有意义的理论指导下，研究结果表明，校长们理解了大流行对学生的广泛社会影响，而不仅仅是停课所造成的影响。调查结果还表明，校长需要导航并理解高级官员和其他有影响力的外部利益相关者制定的政策和指导方针，同时还要与他们的老师进行感官交流。最后，调查结果表明，校长实施了变革并创建了新的组织惯例，以支持他们的学生，特别是对于接受特殊教育服务的学生。我们以未来研究的方向以及对理解COVID-19对学校领导和组织文化的影响的指导作为结尾。特别是对于接受特殊教育服务的学生。我们以未来研究的方向以及对理解COVID-19对学校领导和组织文化的影响的指导作为结尾。特别是对于接受特殊教育服务的学生。我们以未来研究的方向以及对理解COVID-19对学校领导和组织文化的影响的指导作为结尾。