The best of times, the worst of times: Continuities in school leaders' work in uncertain times

Thomson, Pat; Greany, Toby

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic created new challenges for school leaders. They worked very long hours in difficult circumstances. Improvising and responding quickly to poorly timed central guidelines had an adverse effect on their health and wellbeing. Our mixed methods studies show that leaders’ pandemic work was largely directed to establishing new management routines as well as dealing with people. Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis allows us to see that leaders managed their pre-, during and post-pandemic work by working ‘after hours’. The analysis suggests that tackling wellbeing and workload and developing more sustainable leadership careers requires a fundamental redesign of the ways in which leaders’ work is carried out.

Citation

Thomson, P., & Greany, T. (in press). The best of times, the worst of times: Continuities in school leaders' work in uncertain times. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231218544

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 18, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 17, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 3, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2024
• Journal: Educational Management Administration and Leadership
• Print ISSN: 1741-1432
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-1440
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432231218544
• Keywords: Pandemic; time; leaders’ work; routine; wellbeing
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/28135370