UC Berkeley

This chapter highlights the building of resilience by following the stories of school leaders as they developed their leadership skills during a global pandemic. By elevating experiences of school leaders from their own perspectives, the authors attempt not only to present the struggles the leaders experienced, but also to highlight the strategies used to open new pathways in challenging times for public education in California. The authors’ study employed socio-ecological system theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) and risk and resilience theory (Edwards, 2007; Moos et al., 2011) to examine how principals’ resilience and wellbeing were developed through interactions with their surrounding systems. The study data was collected from open-ended questions in a broad survey of 209 school leaders, as well as qualitative data in the form of interviews. Explanatory mixed method design was used to examine the risk factors and protective factors the leaders used. The voices of the school principals are heard throughout in conjunction with sharing ways in which they cultivate resilience in unusual and challenging times to assert more socially just educational possibilities. School principals seemed to struggle to harmonize performance in their roles as effective leaders by overcoming the external risk factors created by the school, district and policy contexts along with individual risk factors. The school principals’ experiences are examined in order to inform school and district leadership practices and explore ways in which protective factors can be put into action to support teachers and school principals.