The Research Files Episode 103: Principals leading through crises – what did they learn?

Thanks for downloading this podcast from Teacher. I’m Dominique Russell. 

The past few years have been a challenging time for schools in Australia and around the world. Schools have adapted to the impacts of COVID-19; some have also dealt with natural disasters like floods and bushfires. For school principals – no matter their level of experience – new research shows leading during crises like these has taught them many lessons and led to a transformation of perspectives. 

In this episode of The Research Files I’m joined by Michelle Striepe from Edith Cowan University. She’s the lead author of a new paper titled ‘Lessons from Australasian principals’ experiences with crises: adapting, learning and transforming’. Her research was carried out with colleagues Christine Cunningham, Mohini Devi, David Gurr, Fiona Longmuir, Sylvia Robertson, Adam Taylor and Pauline Thompson, and in our conversation today, Michelle takes us through their findings and, of course, some important implications for school leaders. Let’s jump in.

Dominique Russell: Michelle Striepe, thank you for joining us on this episode of The Research Files with Teacher magazine. I'm really looking forward to unpacking your research that we'll be talking about today. But to kick us off, could you give me a bit of insight into your role at ECU and also what led you to conducting this research?

Michelle Striepe: Thanks, Dominique. It's great to be here. Thanks so much for the chance to speak to you. 

Well, a little bit about myself. I'm a senior lecturer and my role is entirely focused on educational leadership. So, my teaching – I'm focused on leading engagement, leading through crises and challenges, so that's really strong connections with my research on crises. And within those classes I'm working with current and aspiring leaders in early childhood, K through 12, TAFE, higher education. So, a pretty wide range of educational leaders. And then of course, with my HDR supervision, I tend to focus on those topics of crisis and challenges.

DR: And so tell me a little bit about what led you to conducting this research – you obviously had a group of colleagues that you were working with – how did it all come about?

MS: Well, that's a really great story, to be honest. So, of course the COVID outbreak sparked the interest in looking at crisis, and my colleague Christine Cunningham and I started examining the existing literature on crisis in schools and what leaders had done prior to the COVID pandemic; and we published a scoping review on that (Striepe & Cunningham, 2021). 

And at the same time, we designed a really small, qualitative case study to understand what was happening in schools in very different contexts – so Australia, China and Bolivia – and from that we presented our findings at a national conference at the end of 2021. And we discovered, unsurprisingly, that there were several others who were asking very similar questions. 

So, Adam Taylor and Pauline Thompson from the University of Melbourne; David Gurr was also presenting, and he's from Melbourne Uni as well. Fiona Longmuir from Monash University, Sylvia Robertson from the University of Otago (that's in New Zealand) and Mohini Devi from the University of Fiji. And we all listened and asked questions about what we were finding in our work. And we reached out to them afterwards and decided, you know, we need to get something going here. We need to form a research group.

So, our first project was to bring together the findings from all of our various individual studies to understand their experiences (leaders experiences) during the early crisis period, and that led to a paper (Striepe et al., 2023).

And then as we moved forward and the crisis kept going, we wanted to dig a little bit deeper. We shifted our focus from understanding what leaders did, but also exploring what did they learn? How did they change? And it wasn't just about changes in their practice, but it was changes as professionals – what changes did they see for their schools? And so that led to what we're talking about today, which was the study on the longer term impacts, the transformation that occurred through an experience of compounding crises.

DR: Yeah, cause we're now 5 years on from the pandemic, so it's been quite some time now, which is pretty hard to believe. 

MS: It is hard to believe, but it's so, I mean, I think it's so timely because I think we're still having these conversations about, what are we learning from that?

DR: Absolutely. And so can you tell me a little bit more detail about what the study actually involved, then? I'm interested in hearing about who your participants were, because they weren't only based in Australia – like you said, you had colleagues in New Zealand and Fiji too – and what methodology was used for this? How were you actually able to ascertain what these leaders learned from leading during these times?

MS: Well, to give a little bit about the context – because that informed why we did what we did – so between 2020 and 2023, Australasian principals were facing compounding crises, right? So, it wasn't just COVID-19. There were cyclones and bushfires and floods, along with economic impacts that were impacting families, school funding, staffing. And most of the previous research on crisis leadership was focused on single contexts – so typical, one principal, one setting, one type of crisis. So, adopting a comparative approach was going to be really useful to uncovering what kind of leadership approaches or strategies were universal versus what were more context specific. 

So, that led us to adopting a methodology that was really going to be able to uncover this. So, we chose an interpretivist approach – and that's all about understanding the leader's perspective. We wanted to know the reality of what they experienced. And in terms of who participated, you know, we have a pretty small participant sample just because we wanted really rich detail, and we had 17 school principals from Australia, Fiji and New Zealand. Some were novice principals; some were more experienced. We also had variances in location, so we had principals from rural, remote, regional and metropolitan schools. 

Now, in regards to the data collection methods, we use semi-structured interviews. Typically, they lasted about an hour, hour and a half, and this really helped us to capture the detailed insights that we needed. And we used an interview guide, so we had some core questions, so that we can compare. But semi-structured interviews also provide us with some flexibility. So, if there was something unexpected or something we found interesting, we could probe that. And this approach helped us to understand not only what they were doing, but why they used that particular approach or strategy; what they learned from their experiences, and also the extent to which their experiences resulted in transformation – transformation for their work, for themselves as a leader, for their school.

DR: And so let's talk in depth about your findings now. In your paper, you spoke about what changed for the principals and also what they learned from the crises. In terms of, firstly, what changed for the leaders, you speak about a 3-pronged leadership approach, which I found really interesting. Could you describe to our listeners what that is exactly?

MS: Yeah, yeah, it was actually – how interesting that this approach was so strikingly similar, you know, despite different countries, school types, experience levels. You know, that really was an interesting ‘aha moment’, I think. 

So the first aspect is about being directive. So, initially principals felt compelled to be much more directive than usual. Some were a bit uncomfortable with being this directive. Some of the words they used to describe this was that they had to decide, they had to call the shots. They had to tell the staff exactly what to do. And that was because they felt staff wanted, needed clear, decisive direction, even for the small things. One Fijian principal commented: ‘Everybody depended on the school principal for the nitty gritty. I felt the importance of my role as the school head.’ 

So the thing is, is that this just wasn't staff that wanted them to be directive, the community was looking to them. An Australian leader who was actually in a small community talked about how they felt they were the source of truth. You know, the community expected clear messaging from them. But principals realised they couldn't do all of this alone. A New Zealand leader said, which I thought was a bit ironic: ‘It would have been a disaster without any help’.

So this is the second prong of what we found, and it's an approach that was leveraging expertise and utilising the relationships they had in place. Now in this case, there was a little bit of difference based on context, which is probably not all that unsurprising. So they all relied on their community – external community, internal stakeholders – but some had emergency teams that were community based that they could, you know, call upon. Some used community members who had a lot of stature, such as the village heads or religious leaders in Fiji. And, of course, school staff really played an important role to help the leaders across these compounding crises. 

And that leads to this third prong, which is about how the principals shifted their focus. They needed to start prioritising the wellbeing and caring for students and staff and families. And these principals all shared how they spent significantly more time on emotional support, which I'm sure the listeners can all relate to. But some, wasn't just about that emotional support, there was physical needs, right? Basic needs. Sometimes they had to provide shelter, clean water. There were cases where, you know, food or, you know, basic necessities might need to be delivered. So there was a lot of aspects that were common across, and I think that is very interesting to see across a wide region. 

And the other thing that I'd like to point out is that even though we've got these 3 different prongs, it wasn't necessarily sequential, it wasn't planned. It's probably better to think about it as a foundation, right? So this was a foundation for their practice, and they had to balance, you know, what was the thing that was needed for at that moment over the course of these crises.

DR: You're absolutely right. It is so fascinating that they all these leaders in such different contexts had such similarities with their approach when they were leading through crises. It's really, really interesting. I think now looking at what the principals learned from leading during this time, there's so much to unpack. So I'd really like to focus on that now. And I particularly liked one of the quotes that you included in the paper from an Australian principal who was leading at a large regional school, and they reflected, saying: ‘I think this has taught me to slow down and to work out what is important for our community and what is important for our kids … I can prioritise what is important for my staff and what is important for my kids?’ Can you tell me a little bit about, then, what the principals learned? What did they all tell you?

MS: Oh, that's a great quote. I think, you know, that really captures how these experiences cause them to think differently about their work and their priorities. So, in our research, the learning is broken down into 3 themes: insights about care and wellbeing; discoveries about their professional role; and new directions for their school and how it operates. 

So, in regards to what they learned about care and wellbeing – these principals learned to be much more personable in their communication. And that's not just how, you know, the messages or, you know, how they spoke, it was also about listening, right? So one New Zealand principal said they ‘became really good at talking about our feelings and our stresses’. They recognised that it was a part of their job to support staff and students with their wellbeing. But taking on this role, they also learned the limits, right? So, many reflected – and these are their words that they used – that they weren't trained to be counsellors or doctors or psychologists. And some of them worried that they might be doing some damage trying to, you know, support particularly their staff. And so, there was some lessons there that they were trying to deal with and trying to make sense of.

There are also some interesting lessons in regard to wellbeing that they were putting on themselves, their own wellbeing. What were they learning about that? One particular principal from Australia – and they were from a rural small community – they shared how they read the definition for burnout in the dictionary and they're like: ‘yeah, I'm there. That is me. I am burned out’. And the leader talked about, and this is their quote, how ‘it took all of my physical, emotional and mental resolve to get through’. So I think, you know, those are powerful statements and really shows, you know, what they needed to work through over this extended period of crises. 

But it's not all bad. I mean, there were some – we call them silver linings in our paper. When it came to learning things about their role, there were some principals – particularly with the newer ones, but there were some experienced ones too – who gained confidence. So, some of the novice principals talked about feeling, you know, the imposter syndrome (they used those words). And they talked about how, you know, getting through this, they found ‘I can do this. I can handle unprecedented challenges. I can do this’. On the other hand, there were others who questioned, like, ‘can I keep sustaining this over the longer term’? One left the profession. There were principals who hastened retirement. There was another who moved schools. And they're all asking the question, ‘can I do this job over the longer term?’ Because it's not getting any easier.

And so, when we talk about these discoveries in terms of the professional role, it's really, you know, underpinned by how they realised the expectations that are placed on schools and themselves in times of crises. I think one of the other quotes that are in the paper that kind of helps to see this is an Australian principal who commented: ‘Your community turned to you probably before the health department’. You know, and I know that's a little bit tongue in cheek, but it's true – they were looked to as the source of truth, as one of the other participants commented. 

And then the third learning goes to the school, you know, and this is all about how do we move forward from this? And it was interesting that the principals, many of them, were reminded about something. They were reminded that relationships are the key ingredient of any school (and that was a quote from one of the New Zealand principals). And they were also, in terms of the direction, they started to understand that sometimes it's better to prioritise wellbeing before the academic outcomes. Again, calling on, one of our participants from Australia talked about Maslow before Bloom, right? So, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it's about basic needs, sense of belonging, and then you can start putting in place those things about focusing in on learning.

Others, when moving forward, because there was this sense of prioritising the community's needs – although they understood that there's always things that the system wants or the state government needs me to do, but (as your quote that you pointed out) it taught them to slow down, right? Maybe to put that to one side, deal with that later and focus in on ‘what do I need to do now?’ and I'll think about that as we move forward. So, that's kind of the big picture stuff. 

But then, you know, there's also just the changes in how they interact on a day-to-day basis. So one principal talked about how they were more accommodating. They were building in more flexibility for students and staff when they were dealing with some sort of challenge or an issue. So, I think, you know, a key insight here – and going back to that quote that you referred to earlier – is how crises really taught them to slow down, to think through, identify what matters for that community, and prioritise accordingly, even if it meant, you know, kind of putting to one side maybe something that was expected or required and putting that school needs first.

DR: And now let's talk about the ‘so what’ of all of this, which is exactly how you frame it in the paper. What is it that you hope school leaders who are listening to this podcast will take away from this research of yours?

MS: Well, I've got 3 – I like to work in 3s a lot of times with my ideas! So, the first one is what I hope they take away from our research is you need to adapt your leadership to the crises’ demands. Don't rely on one style. Don't think that what you usually do is going to work. You're going to have to shift based on those changing demands, based on the duration of the crisis, what your community needs are at that given moment. It isn't about following some sort of predetermined sequence or framework. When you're leading through crises, it requires constant recalibration. It's about being responsive to, you know, what is an organic, unpredictable nature of how crises unfold, they compound – so what worked yesterday may not work later.

So the second point I would say is make relationships and wellbeing non-negotiable priorities. Think of it as a primary crisis response. So our research shows that in crises, prioritising care for both the physical and mental wellbeing of your staff, your students, the families, it's key. Relationships are key. Those relationships are going to not only help you get through the crisis, but it's going to help you recover from crisis, it's going to help build a more resilient school community for future crises. And this goes back to again, that Maslow before Bloom, you know, when we're thinking about relationships and wellbeing. And use communication as your tool, you know, you need to understand what is happening with your community. You need to ease their fears. People need to know that they're going to get through the crisis together. So I think that non-negotiable is a key point. 

The third: prepare for the personal and professional toll of crises. I think our findings are showing, you know, it doesn't matter how many years of experience you have; crises, particularly when they're compounding, are going to level the playing field. So principals need to understand you are going to go far beyond your normal work responsibilities. It's going to all just intensify in ways that can be quite overwhelming. So it's important that leaders have strategies or understand strategies that they can use to manage their own wellbeing. And also, you know, understand how they can access support services if and when they need them.

And that relates to a couple of other things about recognise the limits of your role and set boundaries. And I know how hard that can be. But recognising the limits and setting boundaries are about protecting your own wellbeing during crises. You know, you can't sustain the kind of leadership required during crises without that support. So for me, you know, leaders need to understand there are extraordinary demands – and I'm sure they're well aware of that – but crises are becoming more frequent. They're becoming more complex. So, understanding the kind of leadership that is required. Understanding the importance of care and strong relationships is really important to building that strong community that will be able to get through crisis.

DR: And so just finally then, Michelle, I'm interested if there is any room for further research or work in this area?

MS: Look, you know, coming from a researcher point of view, there's always something to research! But I mean, a couple of things that I, you know, we've touched on in the paper and I'd point out today is … more longitudinal studies, you know, understanding the long-term impact of crises on leadership; principals’ wellbeing, career trajectories, retention (which is already an issue anyway). I think there's some interesting work to be done about, is there any difference between the kind of leadership for an acute crisis versus a prolonged or a compounding crisis? Is there different knowledge, skills or dispositions that are needed?

You know, while I'm a qualitative researcher at heart (and the rest of the team is as well) larger scale studies would be useful – you know, they just test generalisability and make our findings stronger. So, I think that's helpful. 

Now on the practical side, I think you know, from my point of view as someone who's helping to prepare, you know, current and future leaders (as my colleagues are doing as well) we know that we're doing things to include these kinds of ideas into our units. But I think, you know, there's always a chance for everyone to think about, ‘OK, how am I helping to prepare leaders for leading through crisis?’ You know, what can systems do? You know, re-evaluating policies, procedures, crisis support systems is a really important thing to continually do. 

And so I think as a team, we've got a chapter coming out where we'll be helping to further understandings on the kinds of leadership that can be used across crises in general. And then I think moving forward, you know, an interesting thing that's, you know, being in the news as we're kind of heading towards the 5 years since the onset is, you know, there's more and more in the news about governments looking back. And so, I'd be curious to see in terms of these 3 countries, what has changed at system levels, state government levels, national levels, in terms of how are we preparing for future crises and what role do schools play? Because schools and school leaders and staff, they're placed on the frontline and it would be interesting to see, you know, what sort of lessons were taken from that.

DR: Absolutely. It's been so amazing to listen to your insights today, Michelle. Was there anything else that you wanted to mention before we wrap up?

MS: Look, just a couple of points. I think the reality is that crises are now a recurring feature, they're not isolated anymore, and school leaders really need to shift from thinking about crises as an exception and thinking about how are they building resilience and adaptability into their practice. You know, we can't expect individually principals to carry responsibilities during crisis without that system support. So I think, you know, we need to keep thinking about, revisiting, how we are developing our leaders, preparing our leaders, and thinking about policy. 

And to end, I'd really like to point out one of the quotes that we have in our paper, because I think it sums up what we all need to think about, and this is from a Fijian principal, and this principal said: ‘We as leaders should change the way we lead schools and have an open mind to accept new changes in this century, because anything is possible now’. 

And I think anything is possible now. And principals were the anchors for their communities during this unprecedented time, and they will continue to be those anchors. And we need to make sure that we're supporting them so that they can build a school and a school community that can adapt and thrive in a very complex and increasingly, you know, dare I say it, uncertain world. So thanks, it was great to speak with you and share a little bit about our research.

That’s all for this episode. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please take a quick moment to hit follow on your podcast app (if you haven’t already) and leave us a review. Both of those things help more people like you to find our podcast and are a big help to our team. We’ll be back with a new episode very soon! 

References and related reading

Striepe, M. & Cunningham, C. (2021). Understanding educational leadership during times of crises: a scoping review. Journal of Educational Administration, 60(2): 133–147. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2021-0057

Striepe, M., Thompson, P., Robertson, S., Devi, M., Gurr, D., Longmuir, F., Taylor, A. & Cunningham, C. (2023). Responsive, adaptive, and future-centred leadership in response to crisis: findings from Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand. School Leadership & Management, 43(2), 104–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2023.2171005

Striepe, M. & Kafa, A. (2024). School leadership during the COVID-19 crisis: a scoping review of empirical research. Journal of Educational Administration, 63(1): 48–62. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2024-0062

Striepe, M., Cunningham, C., Devi, M., Gurr, D., Longmuir, F., Robertson, S., Taylor, A. & Thompson, P. (2025). Lessons from Australasian principals’ experiences with crises: adapting, learning and transforming. School Leadership & Management, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2025.2546094