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ERIC Number: EJ1456024
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1741-1432
EISSN: EISSN-1741-1440
Middle Leaders' Sensemaking of Their Leadership Practices in Response to Educational Disruption: A Q-Methodology Study
Youmen Chaaban; Rania Sawalhi; Adrian Lundberg
Educational Management Administration & Leadership, v53 n1 p65-82 2025
Middle leaders were required to navigate the complexities of educational disruption and respond to internal and external demands throughout the pandemic. This shifting educational context necessitated a sensemaking process to better understand and act on the issues which gave rise to ambiguities in their school environment. This study investigated the sensemaking processes employed by 27 middle leaders from 20 government schools in Qatar, at a time when COVID-related restrictions had been lifted and face-to-face learning had resumed. To collect and analyze data, Q-methodology was applied. A 34-statement Q-sample was developed based on a proposed conceptual framework of sensemaking during times of disruption which included three dimensions: intrapersonal, relational, and institutional. Q-factor analysis revealed two significantly different viewpoints regarding how participants enacted certain practices in response to educational disruption. These were (1) sensemaking as a relational endeavor and (2) sensemaking as an agentic endeavor. The two viewpoints differed in sources of sensemaking and its mechanisms. Sensemaking offered a useful theoretical construct as it revealed middle leaders' perceptions and enactments, and their struggles in maintaining a balance between structure and agency. The study has implications for middle leadership policy and practices in times of educational disruption and beyond, with its distinctive methodological and contextual contributions.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Qatar
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A