Publication Date: 2023/12/15
Abstract: The study reported in this paper examined leadership practices and experiences of school principals during a pandemic. The critical question was: ‘How have Eswatini primary school principals experienced leading schools under a pandemic?’ This is a qualitative paper embedded in the interpretative paradigm employing a case study design and sense-making theory in which data was generated through semi-structured interviews with purposively and conveniently sampled Eswatini primary school principals. Data was analysed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed several leadership practices that reflected diverse experiences of leading a school during a pandemic such as adaptation, collaboration, and learning from colleagues. From the narratives of principals, I deduced three conclusions, which are significant for understanding leading a school during a pandemic which is; creativity and innovation, adapting and coping with change, and that effective leadership is about the identification of what works in a given context rather than sticking to rules and regulations. The study further recommends that training and support should be provided for school principals to enable them to effectively lead a school during a pandemic.
Keywords: Challenging Contexts, Pandemic, Remote Learning, Coping, Compliance.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10390765
PDF: https://ijirst.demo4.arinfotech.co/assets/upload/files/IJISRT23DEC074.pdf
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