School leadership in lockdown

Leading in difficult, challenging or worrying times requires a different type of leader, a different type of leadership, a different form of leadership practice. Without question, we are in such times. COVID-19 is shaking up everything we know, everything we take for granted and everything we hold most dear. In this global lockdown, education has been rebooted as a home-based, technology-enabled, remote activity with zero physical contact. What we know about good teaching has suddenly been redefined and repositioned into screen time, apps, Google Classroom and lessons online. School leadership has also been radically remodelled through lockdown. We know that the best school leaders develop other leaders and build positive cultures where the professional talent, capability and knowledge of all educators can be fully expressed, enhanced and extended (Leithwood et al., 2020). Leading in a virtual world is not impossible, but it will require extra effort to remain connected with othe