LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES OF SCHOOL HEADS IN MANAGING SCHOOL AMIDST COVID-19 PANDEMIC:BASIS FOR RESILIENT TRAINING PROGRAM

By GLAFFY B. CUREG,
Principal 3,
Santa Isabel Sur Elementary School,
SDO-City of Ilagan

Resiliency is the name of the game as a school head has a tough job. Leadership entails great responsibility, commitment and passion for excellence.

Take for instance COVID 19 pandemic which made difficult for school heads to execute their leadership due to restriction and IATF protocols. Leadership strategies used by the school heads amidst the pandemic are collaborative strategies, management techniques, learning modalities metamorphosis, and performance monitoring and safety compliance. They curbed challenges through effective leadership communication, utilization of new modalities, and adherence to guideline.

Leadership means capacity to “lead,” influence, or direct other individuals, teams, or organizations. School administrators are essential to the achievement of educational institutions. Due to the lockdown, educators were “forced” to adapt and relocate teaching, guidance, study, and support operations to online environments.

Educational leaders in education needed to make rapid choices and act swiftly to manage huge academic communities while meeting the demands of students, professors, and staff, as well as the needs of society.

Kruse, Hackmann, and Lindle (2020) found out that the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an existential challenge, posing significant problems for institutions of higher learning throughout the world. Faculty and administrators were challenged to reorganize their processes and ensure instructional quality while working with considerably reduced budgets. The intricacy of this dilemma is compounded by core leadership literature, which describes the efficacy of leadership as a collaborative encompassing the shared and different abilities of teachers, learners, and program stakeholders.

According to Villar et al. (2021), school administrators in the Philippines and worldwide are confronted with increasing adversity today. They are challenged with dangers that have plagued several, but not all, school groups for decades.

It is one of the most challenging and perplexing periods in my profession’s history. Due to the pandemic’s ever-changing circumstances, teachers and schools are constantly compelled to adjust to educating pupils safely. And, to be fully candid, this process has also been draining for the principals.

Students have shown their desire to interact, learn, and develop. School leaders fearlessly step up to lead and develop new, ever-evolving strategies to guarantee students have profoundly meaningful learning experiences.