Abstract:
School leaders can be abruptly forced to deal with catastrophic events which require very specific crisis leadership skills tools, strategies and practices. The experiences of those who have faced these challenges in the past offer an insight into not just what works well, and what resources need to be developed. The research question addresses the features of school leaders’ communication that are required in times of crisis. The objective of the study was to map the extant literature on how school leaders communicate during crises and explore the features of communication of school leaders who have experienced catastrophic bushfires. When a major fire occurs in a school, the impact can be felt for years to come and how school communities rebuild depends on strong leadership. The research provides an snap-shot of the experiences of school leaders who led their schools through catastrophic bushfire events. The collective case study spans four school sites where bushfires have taken place. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews with school leaders, as well as the examination of documents relating to the fires and social media grabs. The researchers conducted inductive analyses in order to generate themes. School leaders filter messages to reassure teachers and parents and, in turn, they are responsible for brokering information to the community and public. It is well acknowledged that context significantly impacts leadership practices and therefore there are nuanced findings in this research. The findings highlight the important of effective communication in fostering both trust and resilience among school communities.