Inclusive Leadership in Times of COVID-19 Crisis: The Role of District and School Leaders in Fostering School Sense-Making Processes within a National Inclusion and Integration Reform

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 requires educational leaders to collectively make sense of their inclusive practices. This qualitative study explores how COVID-19 crisis shaped Israeli superintendents’ and principals’ role in fostering school sense-making processes during a reform based on Amendment No. 11 to the Special Education Law. Data were collected with 22 Jewish and Arab district and school leaders via Zoom interviews. Data analysis yielded three major themes: (1) Developing a shared vision and direction; (2) Building school capacity for inclusion: (a) nurturing a culture of collective responsibility (b) maintaining mental-resilience skills and well-being; and (3) Fostering school collaboration and trust with stakeholders.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sherry Ganon-Shilon

Sherry Ganon-Shilon, Ph.D, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ono Academic College. Sherry’s research interests include Principals’ and Teachers’ Sense-Making Processes in Policy Implementation and Leadership in Educational Reform. [email protected]

Idit Finkelstein

Idit Finkelstein, Ph.D, Vice Dean, Head of the graduate program in Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ono Academic College, Israel. Idit's research interests include multicultural academic teaching, learning and assessment, cultural competence in higher education, leadership, and management in education in times of change, stress and [email protected]

Revital Sela-Shayovitz

Revital Sela-Shayovitz, Ph.D., Professor, is vice-dean for research, Faculty of Humanities and social Sciences, Ono Academic College. She is also a professor at the Hebrew University's Institute of Criminology. Her research focuses on education, self-efficacy, and youth and crime. Her research has been published in leading journals in Europe and the US, such as Teaching and Teacher Education, the British Journal of Criminology, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Feminist Criminology, Violence against women, Crime and Media. [email protected]

Chen Schechter

Chen Schechter, Ph.D., Professor, leadership, organizational development and policy in education, School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Chen is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Educational Administration. He heads the MOFET National Institute for Research and Development in Education. Chen’s research interests include leadership development/preparation, educational change/reform in accountability systems, learning from success, collaborative learning strategies, and systems thinking leadership. [email protected]