Abstract
In the current educational climate, enormous expectations have been placed upon
principals as well as their staff worldwide. Additionally, principals have overwhelming
workloads, and the global pandemic merely magnified these challenges.
Covid-19 caused schools to close around the world in 2020. Leadership was practiced
virtually. On the 8th of March 2020, the Ministry of Education in the United Arab
Emirates announced that all public and private schools were to be closed. This forced
teachers to adapt and administer a new teaching platform for students to continue their
education.
The findings of this report generated a framework that can be used for future
change management within the school context. A qualitative research design was
adopted which made use of phenomenological research and a case study to analyse
school management during the pandemic through crisis management and change
management. This research examined leadership through Lewin’s theory on change
management.
The methodology involved interviewing 16 candidates. Half were regular teachers and
the others held leadership positions. Respondents were selected from three
elementary schools from the Abu Dhabi Emirate. Data was scrutinised by transcribing
the interviews and themes were identified by breaking the data into chunks. Peer
review was initiated.
The study found that the following practices aid the change process: staff who believe
in the need for change; using communities of practice so that teachers can learn from
teachers; introducing tools to execute change; that the setting of new school rules and
policies need to align with the current climate; and that parental support is required.
Taking time to prepare the staff, students and parents for the change was found to be
the fundamental component. Inspection was also found to be beneficial in identifying
who needed additional training.
Keywords: Leadership, Change Management, Covid-19, Crisis Management, School
Leadership.