Understanding school leaders' response to health crisis
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
Traditional conceptions of crisis have assumed crisis as acute, bounded and follow a predictable progression of linear stages or phases (Boin and Hart, 2003; Boin and Lodge, 2016; Liou, 2015; Smith and Riley, 2012). Such assumptions are reflected in school emergency planning and protocols for dealing with crisis, which entails getting the facts, enacting the plan, being decisive in decision-making, showing concern, communicating and returning to normal (Boin and Lodge, 2016; Smith and Riley, 2012, p. 63–4). However, such understandings fail to capture the complex and nonlinear nature of modern crises (Boin, 2009; Liou, 2015). As we argued in Chapter 2 (‘The Mosaic of Leading Schools During Crisis’), crisis leadership is better understood as a mosaic of key components, practices and personal attributes that school leaders employ depending on the nature and context of the crisis. This conception recognizes that no one-size-fits-all model exists; school leaders must tailor their approaches to the specific conditions of each crisis.
Keywords
crisis leadership, school leadership, health crises, Covid-19, educational leadership, crisis management
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Publication
2026
Publication Title
The Bloomsbury Handbook of Crisis Leadership and Management in Education
Publisher
Bloomsbury Academic
School
School of Education
RAS ID
95227
Copyright
subscription content
Recommended Citation
Striepe, M., & Kafa, A. (2026). Understanding school leaders' response to health crisis. In A. Kafa, M. Striepe, & P. M. Virella (Eds.), The Bloomsbury handbook of crisis leadership and management in education (pp. 333–349). Bloomsbury Academic. https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/bloomsbury-handbook-of-crisis-leadership-and-management-in-education-9781350536685/