Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic
Norwegian schools received a few days’ notice in March 2020 before closing in response to the COVID19 pandemic. The complexity of school life was suddenly compounded by a serious and unstable situation. Amid this was the implementation of the updated Norwegian national curriculum. This research ex...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Aberdeen, School of Education
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Education in the North |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.abdn.ac.uk/eitn/journal/673/ |
| _version_ | 1819095410247991296 |
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| author | Mari-Ana Jones Erlend Dehlin Kristin Skoglund Carl F. Dons |
| author_facet | Mari-Ana Jones Erlend Dehlin Kristin Skoglund Carl F. Dons |
| author_sort | Mari-Ana Jones |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Norwegian schools received a few days’ notice in March 2020 before closing in response to the COVID19 pandemic. The complexity of school life was suddenly compounded by a serious and unstable
situation. Amid this was the implementation of the updated Norwegian national curriculum. This
research explored how schools coped with this complexity through the gathering of school leaders’
perspectives. The views of school leaders were collected first through an anonymous survey. Following
an initial analysis of the survey results, focus groups were conducted with school leaders. The data
reveal diverse experiences. Whilst challenges were acknowledged, leaders reported strengthened staff
collaboration, more insight into teaching and learning activities and a greater sense of community. As
the crisis eased, some respondents reflected that teachers’ will to collaborate lessened, others reported
that their schools continued to be enriched by the experience of the pandemic. Several leaders were
keen to build on the positives, viewing the crisis as an opportunity to redesign and develop learning and
leading. This research suggests that through an exploration of the experiences of school leaders during
the pandemic, it is possible to understand the kinds of co-creative practices needed to continually build
schools as learning communities in ‘ordinary’ times. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T23:42:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-820982eb5aab4dbfba948cb15056dec6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0424-5512 2398-0184 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T23:42:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Aberdeen, School of Education |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education in the North |
| spelling | doaj.art-820982eb5aab4dbfba948cb15056dec62022-12-21T18:46:12ZengUniversity of Aberdeen, School of EducationEducation in the North0424-55122398-01842021-12-01283274292https://doi.org/10.26203/pnqv-m135Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemicMari-Ana Jones0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3833-6138Erlend Dehlin 1Kristin Skoglund 2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1849-979XCarl F. Dons 3 Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayNorwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayNorwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayNorwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayNorwegian schools received a few days’ notice in March 2020 before closing in response to the COVID19 pandemic. The complexity of school life was suddenly compounded by a serious and unstable situation. Amid this was the implementation of the updated Norwegian national curriculum. This research explored how schools coped with this complexity through the gathering of school leaders’ perspectives. The views of school leaders were collected first through an anonymous survey. Following an initial analysis of the survey results, focus groups were conducted with school leaders. The data reveal diverse experiences. Whilst challenges were acknowledged, leaders reported strengthened staff collaboration, more insight into teaching and learning activities and a greater sense of community. As the crisis eased, some respondents reflected that teachers’ will to collaborate lessened, others reported that their schools continued to be enriched by the experience of the pandemic. Several leaders were keen to build on the positives, viewing the crisis as an opportunity to redesign and develop learning and leading. This research suggests that through an exploration of the experiences of school leaders during the pandemic, it is possible to understand the kinds of co-creative practices needed to continually build schools as learning communities in ‘ordinary’ times.https://www.abdn.ac.uk/eitn/journal/673/school leadershiplearning communitiesschool developmentcovid-19mixed methods |
| spellingShingle | Mari-Ana Jones Erlend Dehlin Kristin Skoglund Carl F. Dons Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic Education in the North school leadership learning communities school development covid-19 mixed methods |
| title | Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Crisis as opportunity: experiences of Norwegian school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | crisis as opportunity experiences of norwegian school leaders during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | school leadership learning communities school development covid-19 mixed methods |
| url | https://www.abdn.ac.uk/eitn/journal/673/ |
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