Date of Conferral
3-6-2024
Date of Award
March 2024
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Dr. Jamie Patterson
Abstract
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and showed how unprepared school principals were for such a rapid pivot to online. According to recent studies, principals’ roles were managerial rather than instructional, and the pivot away from the manager role toward instructional leaders, specifically related to technology, revealed many principals were unprepared to support teachers. Research has yet to establish the specific challenges related to technology implementation that occurred in this role shift for principals. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore K–5 school principals’ perceptions about the challenges they faced relating to technology leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and what K–5 school principals suggest to improve technology leadership training and resources. This study was grounded in the crisis management lifecycle framework. Eleven U.S. K–5 school principals participated in semistructured, online interviews. The findings of this study showed that some participants were comfortable with basic technology skills, but many lacked a strong technology background. Participants who attended online college courses felt prepared as technology leaders; however, during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis of 2020, previous technology experience was a limited asset for supporting teachers through distance education. Also, it showed that participants’ technology leadership expanded to technology distribution, problem-solving technology issues, helping teachers through distance education, and developing sustainable programs for distance learning. The findings could result in positive social change by helping to improve training and resources to build a foundation of technology leadership and crisis management for principals, who could then better lead the use of technology during a crisis and ensure the smooth functioning of education delivery.
Recommended Citation
Mlodzik, Catherine Marie, "K–5 Principal Challenges Supporting Classroom Teachers in Emergency Distance Education" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15435.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15435
