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International Journal of Leadership in Education
Theory and Practice
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tedl20
Resilient leadership in principals: case studies of
challenged schools in Spain
Marta Olmo- Extremera, Andrew Townsend & Jesús Domingo Segovia
To cite this article: Marta Olmo- Extremera, Andrew Townsend & Jesús Domingo Segovia (2022):
Resilient leadership in principals: case studies of challenged schools in Spain, International Journal
of Leadership in Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2022.2052758
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2022.2052758
Published online: 22 Mar 2022.
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RESEARCH
Resilient leadership in principals: case studies of challenged
schools in Spain
Marta Olmo- Extremera
a
, Andrew Townsend
b
and Jesús Domingo Segovia
c
a
Researcher in FORCE HUM- 386, University of Granada, Granada, Spain;
b
Departament of Education,
University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK;
c
Departament of Didactic and Scholar Organization, University
of Granada, Granada, Spain
ABSTRACT
Over the past ten years, principals have witnessed signicant transfor-
mation in their roles and workload, which has challenged their ability
to adapt, be exible and resilient. There is clear evidence that principals
in school play management and leadership roles that determine how
well schools function. Therefore, it is crucial that principals exercise an
eective leadership and develop the ability to adapt to new circum-
stances and overcome challenges. In this sense, ‘resilient leadership’
involves leading in the face of adversity. In this paper, we analyze how
the principals of three challenged secondary schools exercised resilient
leadership. For this, a qualitative methodology was applied involving
case studies and biographical-narrative interviews. The results
obtained show that principals had a strong identity as resilient leaders
and had developed the ability to transform adversity into opportu-
nities thereby fostering growth and improvement that allowed for
institutional success. Motivation, commitment and an attitude of ser-
vice and support are key factors in articulating this process.
Introduction
The previous fifty years of research on school improvement have consistently demon-
strated that educational leadership is effective in achieving that improvement measures
are successfully implemented (Day et al., 2011; Fullan, 2021; Leithwood et al., 2006).
There are evidences of how school leadership must be exercised to be successful
(Leithwood et al., 2020). Based on this, we analyzed the type of leadership schools
exercise and investigated how challenged institutions deal with their particular charac-
teristics and needs (Camarero et al., 2020).
We focused on three schools facing arduous realities and challenges that required urgent
response after they had been rated as serving in a poor socioeconomic and cultural context.
The families had no relationship with the school. They do not participate when there were
parent meetings, or extracurricular activities for students. Also, they did not attend when
there were specific activities, such as book day, science week, etc. Students engaged in
disruptive behaviors (disobedience, poor coexistence, disrespect among peers and toward
teachers), and there was a widespread lack of motivation to learn and participate in
CONTACT Marta Olmo- Extremera olmoextremera@gmail.com Researcher in FORCE HUM- 386, University of
Granada, Granada, Spain
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2022.2052758
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
pedagogical and academic programs. At the same time, most of the teaching staff was
unmotivated and reluctant to even acknowledge the distinct characteristics of the schools
they worked in. This generated internal frustration, thus fomenting vociferous demands for
change.
Within such an arduous panorama, there were plenty of opportunities to promote new
ways to exercise leadership based on abilities such as resilience. The results of this study
demonstrate that resilient leadership allowed schools to face difficult challenges and
implement actions that led to improvements. Similar studies also demonstrate that
resilience enables the positive transformation of schools (Day & Quing, 2015; Pinskaya
et al., 2019; Shirley et al., 2020).
Resilience can be considered as a relative, evolving and dynamic social construct that
seeks the adaptation and positive development of individuals in the face of difficult
circumstances (Day & Gu, 2013). Likewise, our study contributes to the growing body of
literature on school leadership in Spain (Bolívar, 2019; Rodríguez-Gallego et al., 2020;
Tintoré et al., 2020). Thus, it approaches leadership capacity as a facilitator of school
improvement, and resilience as an essential factor in school leaders (Simon & Gibson, 2019).
At the outset, it was important to have a clear understanding of the current situation in
Spain. According to the TALIS (2018) report and the study by González (2020), principals
in Spain lack training in key areas, including leadership and management skills. They have
been found to be inadequately prepared for the difficult tasks of school leadership, such as
encouraging and developing collaboration between teachers; promoting equity and diver-
sity and human resource management; exploiting data to improve the quality of the center,
coping with financial management; and designing career development activities for their
teachers, to name a few aspects. For this reason, it was necessary to accurately define the
particular challenges faced by school leaders within the context of resilient leadership, the
latter resulting from a process where social and personal factors interact to provide a basis
for interpreting how leaders are developed and their leadership (De Bruyn & Mestry, 2020).
To do so, we rely on a set of research questions: 1) What are the challenges for schools
in challenging contexts? 2) What resilient leadership factors are present in the leader-
ship?, 3) Are there changes in resilient leadership factors according to educational
contexts?, 4) How is resilient leadership transmitted in each shool?
As this emergent area of study is still scarce in research specifically related to the
Spanish educational system, we relied on international studies to demonstrate the
importance of leadership as a significant contributor to educational improvement,
particularly in schools facing adversity (M. T. Chapman et al., 2020). Resilient leadership
is widely shown to be an essential element in this process because it can generate
organizational cultures that recognize and overcome challenges. Educator well-being
prospers in environments that embody key principles of sustainability. These environ-
ments generate positive emotions among educators, thereby enabling them to work in
inspiring, purposeful, and collaborative teams (Shirley et al., 2020)
Analysis of the conceptual basis of resilient leadership
Resilience in the context of education has been studied from several approaches. On one
hand, some studies assessed the resilience of teachers working in challenging circum-
stances (Day & Quing, 2015). Other studies placed the focus on at-risk students with
2M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
troubling personal situations (De la Rosa et al., 2015). Resilience has also been analyzed
as a support factor in the management and leadership style of a school principal (Sardar
& Galdames, 2017).
Nevertheless, resilience can be understood as ‘a dynamic process that encompasses
positive adaptation within a context of significant adversity’, Luthar et al. (2000, p. 4) or
a ‘set of social conditions, group relations, cultural manifestations and community values
that make up the basis of a collective resilient process’ Melillo (2004, p. 17).
In this sense, and based on previous research reports, resilience is an attitude that is
nurtured by the personal characteristics that make up the core of someone’s being and
their interaction with the environment. Thus, a principal who exercises resilient leader-
ship ‘knows’ (cognitive), ‘does’ (behavioral) and ‘is’ (emotional). A resilient principal
knows the school internally, its strengths, weaknesses, identity, goals, and objectives, to
name a few. They are also aware of the context of their school and developing fair,
relevant and effective measures to cope with it. In the same way, a resilient leader
constitutes leader’s identity as a leader.
The above conditions enable leaders to exercise critical, transformational leadership
by adapting their functions within the educational context while they approach chal-
lenges as an opportunity to grow and improve (Sammons et al., 2014). In challenged
schools, a resilient school culture is developed through resilient leadership, which allows
transformation. This leadership style requires management teams that generate high
expectations, create positive learning environments, and build a supportive social com-
munity and strong and robust peer relationships (Douglass, 2017).
Resilient and engaged leadership make it possible to improve the climate, culture,
school promotion, and interpersonal relationships among members of a school commu-
nity. However, resilient leadership does not guarantee that all problems can be unilat-
erally overcome to achieve a school with dignified, fair, and balanced results. Resilient
leadership helps decision makers face complex realities in a more adjusted, relevant, and
successful way (Hairon & Tan, 2017), thereby providing a vision for the future and
a desire to transform. It creates awareness of ‘being’ resilient and ‘developing resilience’.
Educational institutions that benefit from the resilience of their principals will posi-
tively influence everyone involved, since they reinforce protective factors in the lives of
community’s stakeholders. They also contribute to building and maintaining high aca-
demic standards. One of the responsibilities of principals is to detect potential threats to
their institution and either remain one step ahead or respond in the most resilient way as
possible. They tend to be exemplary people, mediators, and facilitators who have positive
expectations and exhibit strong social commitment and support for their school com-
munities (Towers, 2020). From this position, they are also seeking to increase the social
and professional capital of their school for the benefit of the school and to make more
sustainable improvements. It involves a set of strategies and actions to exercise leadership
effectively, partnered and mediated by individuals, organizations and local contexts (Day
& Grice, 2019).
Resilient leadership requires the mastery of a set of personal, emotional, professional
and communicative competences that facilitate the development of this kind of leader-
ship. In turn, these competencies are constituted by resilience factors that drive action for
the development of resilient leadership within a school. In the Table 1 shows the
relationship between competences and resilient leadership factors.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 3
Table 1. Competences and resilient leadership factors of principals.
Competences Resilient leadership factors
Personal competences
The set of behaviors, abilities and strategies that enable someone to build his/her own
identity, act competently, relate successfully to other people, face challenges and
difficulties in life, value him/herself, adapt to his/her environment, obtain personal and
interpersonal well-being and live a fuller and more satisfying life (Megías-Lizancos & Castro-
Molina, 2018)
Reflection: The ability to reflect on moments of adversity in order to respond as effectively as
possible. Reflect to become aware of one’s own behaviors and attitudes. Unlearn what has
not been successful and adopt new habits of thinking and reflective skills that lead to
collective and participatory reflections by a school community (Tait, 2008)
Optimism: The ability to have a positive sense of self, influence others positively, create
scholar environments of supportive, and optimistic responses facing the challenges
(Pittaluga, 2014)
Sociable: The ability to promote constructive social relationships, build affective and
interpersonal ties with the school community and education institution (Pittaluga, 2014)
Creativity: Capacity composed of knowledge and affection that causes a set of behaviors such
as exclusivity, fluency and organization that allow solutions (intrinsic and extrinsic) to be
found in the face of difficulties (Guillera, 2011)
Emotional competences
A set of knowledge, abilities, skills and attitudes that enable activities to be carried out with
a level of quality and efficiency. It is an active, personal and concrete process (López-Cassá
et al., 2018)
Hope: Attitude in the face of difficulties. Hope provides strength and impetus to improve and
infect a school community that it is possible to move forward and make another kind of
school (Day, 2014)
Empathy: Attitude and ability to connect with the environment, with oneself and with others
(Stoltz, 2004)
Confidence: A very important element in the development of leadership and the transmission
of resilience in a school community. Trust is a multidimensional and reciprocal factor
between leaders and teachers. It is composed of professional capacities and affective
aspects that allow building safe and loyal educational spaces (Louis & Murphy, 2017)
(Continued)
4M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
Table 1. (Continued).
Competences Resilient leadership factors
Professional competences
A set of professional actions that combines different resources and criterion for carrying out
a task or dealing with a situation. It also allows the construction of educational projects that
seek efficiency and improvement within a school institution (Bernard, 2014)
Dimensioning problems: Prioritize problems, adjust objectives and developing practical
intelligence which understands and resolves concrete conflicts (Pittaluga, 2014)
Self-efficacy: To be self-effective is to seek successful results despite school and personal
challenges (Longstaff, 2005)
Motivate/Commitment: Positive and participative attitude in leadership development. Be
open and flexible to new school realities and be committed to institutional educational
development (Stoltz, 2004)
Leader identity: Identity is constructed from various integrated components of the self.
Understanding how an individual constructs his or her visions of self and how those visions
enable, and respond to, processes such as attention (self-awareness) and regulation (self-
assessment and improvement) can be useful in understanding how identity contributes to
readiness for leader development (Priest & Middleton, 2016)
Professional collaboration: Building collaborative professional development involves
making all educational agents (families, teachers, students, including the educational
administration) aware of importance of learning, knowing and approaching the other, in
order to understand, empathize and develop attitudes that give rise to a culture and
collaborative work (Bolívar et al., 2013)
Knowing the environment: Be rooted in the context, the environment, the institution, the
teachers, the school culture (Robinson, 2007)
Purpose educational improvement: A school’s capacity for improvement depends
significantly on leaders and their active contribution to energizing, supporting and
encouraging the school to learn and develop, always aiming for school success (De Bruyn &
Mestry, 2020)
Service/support: To be ready and willing to serve and supporting the school community
(Lazaridou & Beka, 2015)
Communication skills
Communication skills are key to coordinating activities within a school organization.
Communi-cation plays the role of sharing information and presenting facts, data,
instructions and directions within an institution. Communication is essential for developing
professional and personal relationships and building trust and acceptance in the recipients
of information, in this case, its function is to establish social and working relationships
within the organization (Wikaningrum & Yuniawan, 2018)
Communication, dialogue and active listening: A good communicator achieves his
interpersonal goals while helping his receivers to achieve theirs (Mikkelson et al., 2015).
Dialogue is an art form: it is more than talking and more than arguing. Dialogue involves
a set of skills; listening, empathizing, open-mindedness, understanding and cooperation
(Gounden, 2007). Active listening builds relationships and increases trust. It invites internal
reflection and shared reflection. Active listening is understanding, empathizing and
knowing (Baker et al., 2019).
Assertive: Challenging situations generate tensions between one another, thus
necessitating open, free, and respectful communication (Townend, 2007)
Source: Our own preparation
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 5
These characteristics facilitate principal’s understanding and identification in order to
sustain resilience, and it is influenced by the vocation and quality of the environment in
which each of them works (Day & Quing, 2015). Furthermore, principals with resilience
have courage, humor, optimism, and commitment when facing challenging situations
(Lazaridou, 2020). They maintain open attitudes and a sense of hope, and they interpret
changes as opportunities. They can establish constructive social relationships, dimen-
sioning problems, and taking the initiative.
A resilient leader exercises leadership in a way that enables them to achieve success
despite adversity. This type of leadership is not intended to contradict current knowledge
about educational leadership. The concepts of any form of leadership – whether classified
as effective, pedagogical, pro-social justice or inclusive – remain unchallenged. However,
a greater sense of resilience has emerged to develop these important traits in schools,
teachers and principals.
Methodology
The aim of this study was to assess the resilient leadership of principals in three
secondary schools in the province of Granada, Spain, all of which were engulfed in
challenged circumstances. The study was developed between 2018–2020. According to
Flick (2011), qualitative research is most appropriate for this purpose. The objective was
complex, dynamic, and contextual; therefore, it seemed appropriate to adopt a case study
approach (Stake, 2016) using biographical narrative and communicative-dialogical
research (Bolívar & Domingo, 2019). Attempts were made to understand and give
voice to all participants. To that end, subjective information was collected to better
understand the points of view of different stakeholders regarding the situation under
study (Flick, 2011).
Sample selection
Cases were selected intentionally (with the help of Educational Planning Service of the
local governments, the ‘Provincial Delegation of Education’). These authorities provide
us with data on the school studied through documents such as; PISA Economical, Social
and Cultural Status (ESCS) report and Andalusian Agency for Educational Evaluation
(AGAEVE) report. Are schools with low socioeconomic and cultural, but are actively
engaged in internal reforms to achieve their educational improvement goals.
Each of the schools had context and scholar cultural characteristics that made them
worthy of study as successful examples of resilient leadership. These are schools that,
throughout their history, have developed the ability to respond successfully and effec-
tively to difficulties (improving school performance, reducing absenteeism, motivating
students to study, encouraging families to take part school activities, building respectful
school coexistence and mutual acceptance among others) through a commitment and, an
inter-relational trust with perseverant and resilient in their work practices. All were led
by principals who exhibit characteristics of resilient leadership.
In order to understand each situation, we approached each case from a holistic
and exhaustive viewpoint and assessed how schools functioned, how principals
exercised leadership, and evaluated the specific characteristics of resilience of each
6M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
principal. At the same time, we considered the voices of all school community
members (teachers, principals, members of the management team, pedagogical
coordinators, etc.). Therefore, to get an insight of how resilient leadership was
exercised in these schools, principals were not the only key informants, but also
the people who worked with them.
Table 2 provides an overview of the three educational institutions and their
challenging circumstances. These are public compulsory secondary schools depen-
dent on the education administration and serving the 12–16 range age. The schools
also offer post-compulsory education of baccalaureate and vocational training.
Although, the study focuses on the secondary level. Teachers are civil servants
with degrees in specific curricular areas (mathematics, physics, chemistry, English,
etc.,) and work full time.
Similarly, Table 3 provides a description of the leadership experience and features of the
school principals studied.
The number of informants varied across schools because staff sizes differed. Thus,
a cutoff number of informants was established that allowed to reach the information
saturation point, as shown in Table 4.
Table 2. Characteristics of the educational institutions.
Schools Characteristics
A 200 students Located in a dry geographical area suitable for agriculture and livestock, with a high proportion of
elderly population. Young people seek to explore horizons beyond the village. Families have
low socioeconomic and cultural status. The teaching staff is itinerant, thus making it difficult to
establish solid and lasting institutional projects. Students are academically unmotivated.
B 843 students School located in a disadvantaged social and cultural context. It is an area of day laborers. This
greatly impacts the functional illiteracy of the community. In the school, students from nearby
annexes and neighborhoods in marginalized sectors of the population coexist on the fringes of
educational and social exclusion. There are high rates of truancy. Teachers are also unmotivated
and resistant to recognizing the type of school they work in or its distinct characteristics and
requirements.
C 769 students School located in a central area of the city in a neighborhood with a large proportion of residents
at risk of exclusion. There is a high rate of immigrants and persons with low socioeconomic,
cultural, and educational levels. Families do not participate in the school. There is no team spirit
among teachers and there is high mutual distrust, the latter resulting from unsuccessful efforts
of previous leadership.
Source: Own preparation
Table 3. Characteristics principals.
Characteristics Principal A Principal B Principal C
Principals He has held the office for seven
years and has worked in the
school for fifteen. He had
previous experience as
a manager and coordinator.
Self-efficacy and optimism
define him, and he has
developed a leadership style
featuring strong pedagogical
traits.
He has held the office for ten
years. He was selected
principal by imposition
(delegation of education),
making first years difficult. He
considers himself a helpful
person who transmits trust.
He is positive about
overcoming adversity. His
leadership is strongly
influenced by the need for
social justice.
She has been in office for only
one year but has experience
in previous managerial
positions. She sees herself as
a positive, team-minded
principal, a fighter, resilient,
and passionate about her
job. Her leadership mandate
is to transform, improve, and
grow.
Source: Own preparation
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 7
We provide a brief description of the positions of professionals working in schools
to help our readers get acquainted with their functions within the Spanish education
system. First of all, it is worth mentioning that principals do not only exercise
managerial but also teaching functions. Similarly, the management team performs
both, managerial and teaching functions too. A pedagogical coordinator guides,
supports and accompanies students throughout their learning process and promote
career development activities among teachers. They also collaborate with the school
management team in relation to pedagogical aspects. On the other hand, the social
educator is an external stakeholder who collaborates with the school in regard to the
socio-emotional aspects of the pupils. At the same time, they are a communication
bridge between families and school. Other professionals involved in school life
include curricular coordinators, who take part in the design, formulation and execu-
tion of the institutional educational project, and teachers, who are in charge of
teaching curricular subjects. Finally, there is an external staff made up of stake-
holders belonging to municipal institutions such as the city hall, associations, the
education department, among others. These stakeholders work in collaboration with
the school.
Data collection and analysis process
Once the schools had been identified as institutions operating under challenging circum-
stances, an interview protocol was designed for educators and other participants. First, an
initial meeting was held with the principals of each school.
The steps to be undertaken were presented. Authorization was requested to work with
the principals and other school representatives to formulate a comprehensive vision of
the issues to be investigated. In subsequent meetings, principals were on- site interviewed
based on an introductory interview schedule that enabled us to discover more about each
school, students, teaching staff, family environment, weaknesses and strengths of the
school, as well as the culture and identity of the organization, etc.
Similar interviews were conducted to determine the role of each position in the school
(e.g. teacher, pedagogical coordinator, area coordinator, or member of the management
team) and collect personal information from the professionals involved. Interviews were
performed without overlooking the primary goal of compiling additional information
about the resilient leadership style of their school principals.
As research progressed, principals were interviewed two or three more times to get
a deeper insight into their roles, functions, responsibilities, leadership, and capacity of
resilience both as principals and as individuals.
Table 4. Study participants.
Participants Number No. of Interviews Total duration
Principals 3 9 287 minutes
School support staff 19 19 300 minutes
Teachers 34 34 305 minutes
External stakeholders 3 3 113 minutes
Source: Own authorship
8M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
The instruments used in this study included an interview with a biographical-
narrative character (Keddie & Holloway, 2019), which allowed participants to
narrate their professional history and career and enabled us to comprehend their
personal and professional leadership. We also used communication and dialogue to
gather their interpretation of and opinions about their context and environment,
which facilitated our understanding of the school background (Macagno & Bigi,
2017).
Similarly, interviews were structured into three levels of information; understanding
school, school participation, school belonging, school leadership and school resilience.
Further details are shown in Table 5.
A narrative and paradigmatic analysis (Bolívar & Domingo, 2019) was used to allow
unfolding stories to express their own meanings and extract and summarize information
based on units or categories of significant meaning.
For data analysis, interviews were transcribed and coded to inductively generate
categories of meaning. Finally, we established a set of central themes and concepts,
which allowed us to interpret the discourse in relation to the resilient leadership factors
featured by the principals of three challenged educational institutions.
For coding, we used an emergent theory category system (set out in the theoretical
framework). This ensured that all relevant aspects of pedagogical knowledge to be
addressed in the stories and interviews were analyzed. the contents and centers of interest
in the discourse of participants were identified by means of a word frequency analysis,
yielded definite ‘units of meaning’.
The development and analysis of results were conducted using a qualitative analysis
program named Nvivo. This way, a final analysis of the interviews was performed by
crossing matrices of the different categories and obtained the 17 factors that describe
resilient leadership.
Results
As a first set of evidence, we show the frequency (expressed as percentages) of occurrence
of units of meaning related to resilient leadership factors in the discourse of key
informants from the three schools (see, Table 6).
Table 5. Contents of the interviews.
Levels Contents of the interviews
Level I How is the school, its characteristics, organization, management, leadership? How is the student
community, the faculty, the management team? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
institution? Identify school culture, goals, objectives, values, identity, etc. How do you define
resilience in this school? In school administration? The principal?
Level II Identify the functions of a teacher, principal, counselor, head of studies, secretary, etc. How do they
deal with adversity within their respective roles? How do they work with other colleagues? What
do they like most and least about their jobs? If you could change certain aspects of the school
from your position, what would they be and why?
Level III Person-centered. You as a person, as the person you are, what can you contribute to the school?
How do you feel when you come to work at this school? Do you feel that the school is a part of
you and your life, and vice versa, etc.? Are you a resilient person?
Source: Own authorship
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 9
As the table above shows, the most frequent units of meaning related to resilient
leadership were those related to ‘professional’ competences, both, in the discourse of
leaders and ‘significant others’ who know, share or assume their leadership.
We also identified factors related to ‘personal’ and ‘emotional’ competences, which
indicates that self-identity as a leader (embedded in professional competence) was the
main resilient leadership factor. Nevertheless, we should not forget other emotional
factors related to the caring and emotional closeness required in educational leaders
(Louis et al., 2016; Smylie et al., 2020).
Regarding leaders’ opinions (school principals), our results show a certain balance and
coincidence among the principals of the three schools studied, while differences are
perceived across schools in the opinions of teachers, management team, pedagogical
coordinators, and other professionals involved. In particular, all three cases agree that
resilient leadership factors related to professional competences are key to the develop-
ment of resilient leadership. However, the relevance attributed to these factors differs
across the three schools, being very high in case B, dropping significantly in case C and
medium-high, or medium in case A.
On the other hand, School A and B give more weight to the personal competence of
their leader than School C, which attributes less relevance to this competence. In contrast,
emotional competence is given more weight as a factor of resilient leadership in Schools
B and C, as compared to School A (much lower).
Among the commonalities, all professionals of the three schools rank the factor groups
associated with resilient leadership in the same order of relevance.
Notably, all professionals of the three schools agreed on the order of relevance and
weight of the ‘professional competences’ of their leaders (although other key informants
gave it more relevance), as well as personal competences (more balanced between
principals and other key informants). However, there was a greater gap between princi-
pals’ opinions and those of other informants, with the former giving more relevance to
communication and emotional factors. This could denote that leaders (principals) are
Table 6. Resilience leadership factors.
Competences Resilience Leadership Factors
Teachers/ schools Principals
A B C A B C
Personal 1. Reflection 10.86% 11.6% 3.13% 6.3% 3.4% 7.2%
2. Optimism 5.6% 6.69% 5.29% 3.2% 3.6% 6.5%
3. Sociability 3.79% 2.34% 1.2% 5.2% 3.2% 1.3%
4. Creativity 4.9% 2.67% 1.44% 4.3% 4.2% 2.4%
Emotional 5. Hope 3.06% 1% 3.72% 7% 2.2% 2.5%
6. Empathy 4.5% 6.7% 8.89% 3.2% 5.7% 6.7%
7. Confidence 3% 7.2% 5.53% 6% 8.1% 8%
Professional 8. Dimension problems 4.46% 7.2% 4.61% 2% 5.8% 5.5%
9. Self- Efficacy 3.13% 4% 2.89% 5.5% 3.6% 6.6%
10. Motivate/ commitment 7.24% 8.7% 12.26% 8.3% 7.2% 9.4%
11. Leader Identity 12.17% 10.53% 15.56% 8.7% 9% 8.2%
12. Professional collaboration 7.9% 6.19% 4.86% 5.8% 6.3% 2.1%
13. Knowing the environment 4.28% 3.56% 3.44% 6.3% 7.5% 7.3%
14. Purpose educational improvement 7.9% 8.07% 12.5% 10.5% 10% 7.1%
15. Service/ Support 8.28% 7.39% 9. 86% 7.3% 11% 9%
Communication 16. Communication, dialogue and active listening 7.59% 5.2% 3.82% 6.8% 7.2% 5.6%
17. Assertive 1.34% 0.96% 1% 3.6% 2% 4.6%
Source: Own authorship
10 M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
more aware of and verbalize more frequently the importance of communication and
caring for group’s emotions as key to resilience in challenging contexts. In contrast,
although the other informants did not downplay the relevance of these factors, they
placed more emphasis on the professional competences of their leaders.
I like dialogue and I try to listen to what they ask for or need. I have been in this centre for
many years and empathy is part of my daily life. Without it, it is difficult to understand this
centre (Principal, B)
This principal, whenever you come, whatever you need, always helps you, listens to you,
gives you shelter, that’s a gift. (Teacher, school A)
We analyzed the discourse of the key informants of each school about factors associated
with resilient leadership to identify clues that show the relevance credited to these factors
in challenging contexts.
In School A, the principal provides a balanced description of resilient leadership
factors, especially in relation to professional competence. Special relevance was given
to ‘Knowing the environment’, ‘Purposeful educational improvement’ and ‘Sociable’.
While, the perception of their teaching staff and other informants is focused on
‘Leader Identity’, ‘Reflection’ and ‘Service/ Support’, followed by ‘Professional colla-
boration’, ‘Motivate/ commitment’ and ‘Communication, dialogue and active
listening’.
In School B, the principal emphasized the importance of ‘Service/ Support’, ‘Purpose
educational improvement’ and ‘Leader Identity’, which is consistent with the opinions of
his teaching staff and other informants. However, whereas the principal emphasizes the
resilient leadership factor ‘Confidence’, his teaching staff and other informants empha-
sized ‘Reflection’.
Finally, in School C, the principal and teachers agreed that factors such as ‘Motivate/
commitment’, ‘Leader Identity’, ‘Service/ Support’ and ‘Empathy’ are resilient leadership
factors. However, they disagreed on the weight given to each factor. For example, the
principal identifies ‘Assertive’ and ‘Reflection’ as the most decisive factors for the devel-
opment of her resilient leadership style, followed by ‘Confidence’ and ‘Self- Efficacy’,
whereas ‘the others’ found that the factor ‘Purpose educational improvement’ was more
present in her leadership than the principal herself perceived.
Key resilient leadership factors emerging from the case studies
The resilient leadership factors most valued by informants were ‘purpose educational
improvement’, ‘motivate/ commitment’, followed by ‘leader identity’ and ‘service/sup-
port’. These are described in more detail below.
Motivate/commitment
Motivation and commitment are defined as attitudes that a principal adopt to face and
successfully overcome adversity. Considering motivation as an intrinsic aspect, it allows
for the pursuit of command, interest and the inquire into cognitive, social and personal
development of the individual (Trigueros et al., 2020). In this sense, it can be considered
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 11
that principals may be able to develop resilience in a multidisciplinary way through the
achievement of tangible challenges, as well as by overcoming adverse or stressful situa-
tions (Ortín-Montero et al., 2013).
I am excited every day and because it is vocational, I like my job very much. The manage-
ment team helps a lot to maintain this spirit of motivation (Teacher, school A)
At the moment I feel quite encouraged, because if I wasn’t, it sinks you. If I didn’t have the
incentive to say, ‘you can achieve things here’, I would have quitted. I feel optimistic and
I trust the people in my team and the teaching staff. Little by little we have achieved
objectives that have improved the school (Principal, B).
Similarly, engagement needs to be holistic, inviting to act, to take up challenges and to
establish trust and collaboration between the educational staff in a school community
(Finol, 2019). Engagement in the development of resilient leadership takes place when
the leader is aware, consistent, and overcomes and approaches challenges from the
possibility (Pinskaya et al., 2019). In turn, commitment has to be transmitted as
a feeling, a value and an objective of a scholar institution, in such a way that it gives
rise to a committed educational culture.
You have to be prepared for other things here. You have to come with a dose of joy and love.
And it sounds like a Sunday church song, but that’s what it’s all about. Knowledge is not
enough here. You have to be motivated and empathise with the context and in that, principal
is to be congratulated (Teacher, school C).
We have faced many challenges in this school, sometimes we have managed to overcome
them successfully and other times we have not achieved the expected success. However,
what keeps us alive, strong and hopeful is the motivation to keep improving and the
commitment that I, as principal, have to my school community. If I didn’t feel this
commitment to improve, advance and evolve, I wouldn’t be in this leader position for the
years that I have been here (Principal, B).
Leader identity
The identity of leaders is influenced by the context. Context is considered the historical,
geographical and social background of a school. It can also be a professional space that
hosts an educational and professional culture. Similarly, there is the physical context of
infrastructure, as well as the external context of political and social pressures and
expectations (Ball et al., 2012). With these preliminaries, it can be considered that, in
the construction of a leader’s identity, the context is an essential factor that determines
a specific and particular style of leadership (Spies & Heystek, 2015).
Considering the results of our study based on the opinions of teachers, management
teams, pedagogical coordinators, among others, the identity of the leaders (how is feel,
how is perceive, how is define personally and professionally) was reflected in the leader-
ship they exercised. This leadership is open to support, collaboration, possibility and
trust. Similarly, resilient leadership was alluded to as reflected in the principals and their
commitment as principals. This is how the different stories were told it.
In this school, leadership is strong. The principal has an identity of being a pedagogical and
resilient leader (Pedagogical coordinator, school A)
12 M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
Personally, I like to know that the management team and especially the principal is there
whenever I need him. That gives me peace and confidence to deal with some of the tough
situations we face here (Pedagogical coordinator, school B).
At the same time, principals themselves feel useful when they contribute to the growth,
progress and advancement of their school. In other words, they feel that they are leaders
who serve their educational community (Lazaridou, 2020).
If I have to define my identity as a leader, it would be ‘helpful’. Also, I consider myself
a person who is critical of myself and open to listening to other colleagues about my work as
a leader. I try to be resilient, but I don’t know if I can be 100% resilient, it is difficult to
remain resilient (Principal B)
The Principal is always willing to help. She always has good words, listens to you and
supports you when you need it (Coordinator peace space project, school C)
In this sense, for an educational community leadership based on support, collaboration,
possibility and trust and exercised from the point of view of service offers the possibility
of walking and building a resilient school culture (Simon & Gibson, 2019). Through
resilient attitudes, values and behaviors that demand a development process based on
trust, empathy, support and hope.
Aiming to improve educational objectives
Improving educational objectives depends on the specific and particular action of each
school based on the circumstances and challenges faced at any given time. Leaders must
act accordingly by reflecting, problem-sizing and re-orienting the school in pursuit of the
intended improvement. The schools studied confirm that, through leadership, they sought
effective learning experiences determined by the circumstances of the school, adapted the
curricular content to the needs and educational level of students, and implemented social
and human rather than just academic and curricular initiatives (DeMatthews, 2018).
To improve is to move forward, to overcome. It is resilience in the face of adversity. It is
about achieving what you set out to achieve and providing fair and adequate responses to
needs. This sounds very good, but it is very difficult in practice. If you don’t have a team that
is all rowing in the same direction, it will be difficult for the boat to reach the desired
destination (Principal, B)
The schools studied strove in a relentless pursuit of their objectives. School A worked for
improving results through pedagogical and resilient leadership based on teamwork and
turned adversity into opportunities.
On the other hand, School B was moving toward the construction of spaces with social
justice from collective reflection on the impact of learning and equity of the school
practices. In the same way, in these processes of reflection was also present a resilient
educational culture, where support and commitment to serving the scholar community
were present in day-to-day actions.
At this school we have a meeting every week between the tutors of each educational cycle, the
pedagogical coordinator and principals. At the meetings, we talk about students, their perfor-
mance, behavior, how we are acting, what needs to be improved, etc. Thanks to these meetings,
we reflect, think and debate. Always looking for the best for the student. (Teacher, School A)
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 13
Many times, it is not about teaching these students, but it is other thing . . . it is about
connecting and being aware that in a few years these kids will have to make a living and they
must have enough skills to do so. You have to talk to them, listen to them, give them love
and affection, etc. (External school agent, school B).
Likewise, School C relied on inclusive education and multicultural coexistence.
Resilience was present through optimistic outlooks and a leadership of possibility and
care for the whole school community (Lazaridou & Beka, 2015).
Often working with these students is not just about getting good results, it is about
connecting with them, empathizing with them, listening to them, knowing what they feel
and what they need. Sometimes this is achieved and sometimes it is not. However, the
management team promotes these objectives in order to influence the development of
students (Head of Studies, school C).
Attitude of service and support
Being of service to a school community requires leaders who seek and provide help.
A leader with an attitude of service and support must possess specific attributes that
enable them to grow and progress in changing and challenging environments. Hence,
(Shek & Lin, 2015) highlight aspects such as attentiveness, problem-solving skills, and
logical and analytical skills. Nevertheless, the results obtained reveal that the principals
of the schools studied shared this set of attributes, which made them be considered
leaders with service and supportive attitudes. At the same time, they were leaders with
the ability to recognize their own and others’ emotions, had positive attitudes in the
face of adversity or unexpected situations, built opportunities for growth, and main-
tained hope.
Our principal is exemplary. She never gives up. She is always fighting for what she wants to
achieve. She listens. She smiles, helps and gives support when someone needs it. I am
grateful because we didn’t have a principal like that before. And that will do a lot of good for
the school (Head of study, school C)
One of my strengths is the complete opposite of discouragement. In other words, there is no
such thing as giving up. We don’t let ourselves be defeated. To keep fighting, to keep moving
forward (Principal, B)
In addition, the discourse of principals revealed that the experiences of others are
enriching and when one relies on teamwork in the face of adversity, adversities are
overcome more strongly and collaboratively. Supporting, accompanying and having
a ‘being there’ attitude benefits and strengthens interpersonal and professional relation-
ships and builds trust. Trust is a consequence of establishing supportive bonds; therefore,
for there to be support there must be trust.
I consider myself a person capable of motivating others, with enthusiasm, a desire to work,
I raise issues and projects that seek to improve the school. If you have a position of support,
of motivating and being there, people get involved. Also, if I have an objective, I put my
heart into achieving it and I try to infect the scholar community so that they can also achieve
it. In the end, if you give yourself to what you do, people will also give themselves to it
(Principal, C)
14 M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
I like it, I like it. I like to think positive. I like to believe that it is possible to achieve things.
That everything has a solution. And that problems are better dealt with from an optimistic
rather than a pessimistic point of view. At least the soul doesn’t suffer so much (Principal, A)
On the other hand, support is a protective factor in resilient leadership (Grané & Forés,
2019). Resilience needs external factors to develop; therefore, it requires support from the
management team to the scholar community and vice versa; finally, support from
teachers to the management team and the rest of the scholar community is key to
generating and transmitting resilience.
Proximity can be appreciated in this school. The principal is very close to the families and
pupils. She gives off affection and humanity (Pedagogical counsellor, school C).
Everything is going well, everything is flowing . . . and suddenly, wham, you have to start all over
again. New plans for improvement are very unstable in this school, you have to be vaccinated so
as not to fall into pessimism and I sometimes suffer from that, but there are people in the team
who give you strength and energy to keep fighting. We are making progress, yes, but very slowly.
If I didn’t believe in this, I wouldn’t be here (Management team, school, B).
Conclusions
The selected cases provide particular and significant evidence of how resilient leadership
develops in different contexts. The data are not transferable to other schools, but they
provide a set of dimensions and aspects that merit consideration.
Despite this limitation, in this study we identify the resilient leadership factors
featured by the principals studied. Overall, there is consistency in terms of the main
factors of resilient leadership, as discussed in the previous section. At the same time,
differential factors have been detected across schools and contexts. There was also
a consistent response among principals, with a balanced view of multiple factors. In
contrast, we observed differences in the resilient leadership factors featured and most
valued in these schools based on the discourse of teachers, management team, pedago-
gical coordinators, etc.
It can be concluded that resilient leadership in the challenging contexts studied was
associated with the social, personal and educational commitment of principals and
schools. Resilient leaders were committed to a set of improvement goals and to an
educational project, among others, which guided them in how to cope with challenges.
The complexity of the challenges faced by the schools studied required a strong dose of
care, support and service to the scholar community. Other relevant factors were the
ability to reflect, analyze difficulties, become aware of goals, adjust possibilities, investi-
gate, collaborate and perform team building for the good of a scholar community
(Mitchell & Sackney, 2016)
The three cases described here share a set of capabilities associated with caring
leadership (Louis et al., 2016) but with differential nuances determined by context. All
of them, as argued by Shirley et al. (2020) and Smylie et al. (2020) generate positive
emotions in the school through the teaching staff. In the three schools studied, teachers
face their challenges together with empathy, optimism and looking for realistic possibi-
lities. This approach is intended to make improvement efforts sustainable for the scholar
community to be able to cope with changes and challenges.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 15
Based on the resilient leadership factors of these principals, our findings coincide with
those of Day and Quing (2015) who stated that when educators and principals are able to
discover their own sources of resilience, they can help students and colleagues find theirs.
To accomplish this, it is necessary to accept that everyone can overcome adversity
through the enhancement of three factors: supportive professional relationships,
demanding and positive expectations, and increased opportunities for meaningful
participation.
On the other hand, the capacity to improve challenged schools depends on the ability
of management teams to develop an active leadership that dynamizes, supports, and
fosters alternative problem-solving approaches in a manner that improves school culture
(Bolívar, 2019). As stated by (Heifetz et al., 2016), instead of looking for saviors, school
communities should look for leaders who drive the school community to confront
problems from an alternative approach. Hence, successful leadership is determined by
the ability of principals to exercise critical, resilient, and transformational leadership,
promote change, adapt their functions to the educational context, and understand the
psychosocial context of the population being served.
In this sense, through resilient leadership principals become masters in front of
complexity. This leadership style invites us to reflect on how to respond effectively to
complex and uncertain environments and adapt positively to changes in the social and
economic environment. To this end, a resilient leader must be able to contribute to
people’s personal and social growth (LobdellKevin & RoseGeoffrey, 2020) through
relational leadership (Otero, 2019). These aspects coincide with the results obtained by
(De Bruyn & Mestry, 2020) in a study on the resilience of school principals in southern
Africa, where resilience was found to be the capacity of achieving personal and social
transformation for the common good.
For these aspects to be stronger, there is a need for strong internal relationships within
a school, which are influenced by productive communication and cohesion among its
members (Gonçalves, 2017). This is a complex issue because it involves human beings and
their unique ways to relate to one another, combined with various factors that can benefit
or harm relationships. Nevertheless, resilient leadership needs to foster support, trust and
collaboration among the staff that makes up a school community (Collet & Tort, 2016).
Similarly, resilience needs to be part of a leader’s identity and provides leaders with
tools to cope with challenging circumstances (Chikoko et al., 2015). Likewise, the identity
of a resilient leader exhibits strategic and conceptual thinking, achievement motivation,
coping with adversity, influencing, coping and empathy (Ferrer & Caridad, 2017), as well
as a positive outlook on problems.
Based on these results, resilient leadership enables principals to be architects of their
school organizations (both emotionally and intellectually). Similarly, they lead with
agility (Buffone, 2021), managing human and material resources effectively, being proac-
tive in the face of change, promoting knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the
school community to improve and prioritize progress toward the desired objectives.
In addition, our results reveal that schools also tend to transform through committed
and servant leadership, a collaborative and supportive culture, and the motivation to
move forward and grow, overcome and improve despite adversity. It is through trust,
hope and perseverance that a different kind of school is possible.
16 M. OLMO-EXTREMERA ET AL.
Future research could advance how resilient leadership is built and developed. This
would be aided by longitudinal studies of the experiences and life stories of resilient
leaders that show the development of resilience in specific school contexts.
Acknowledgments
This paper was supported by the R+D+i Projects “Identidad de la dirección escolar: Liderazgo,
formación y profesionalización” [School head teacher identity: Leadership, training and professio-
nalisation] (Reference: EDU2016-78191-P) and “Comunidades de práctica profesional y mejora de
los aprendizajes: liderazgos intermedios, redes e interrelaciones. Escuelas en contextos complejos”
[Communities of professional practice and learning improvement. Middle leadership, networks
and interrelations. Schools in complex contexts] (Reference: PID2020-117020GB-I00) Ministry of
Economy and Competitiveness of Spanish Government within the State Programme for Scientific
and Technical Research and Innovation.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
ORCID
Marta Olmo- Extremera http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6282-4038
Andrew Townsend http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2589-9433
Jesús Domingo Segovia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8319-5127
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