School leadership, communities and crises: a collaborative autoethnographic exploration of humanism as professional and community capital

Purpose This article bridges research and practice spaces to consider diverse school leadership experiences and expertise, through a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) of a sextet of contributors, to explore humanist approaches as foundational to leaders’ professional capital and their engagement with community during crises. Design/methodology/approach We use CAE as a methodology to explore the relationship of school leaders and their communities, impacted by crises and considered through a lens of Freirean humanisation. Findings Dialogic collaboration generated discussion on the nature of professional and community capital in the context of crisis. Key themes include the significance of humanism in accounting for the temporality of preparedness, the fragility of social connections and the sustainability of human thriving within schools and across communities. Originality/value This paper decentres the dualism in leadership research, between practitioner and researcher spaces, to inform a more nuanced understanding of the strengths inherent in a humanist approach to school leadership, which in turn supports community capital in the face of crises.