Institutional Pressures on School Leadership and Innovation After Pandemic-Related School Closures: A Phenomenological Study

The COVID-19 pandemic was a phenomenon that caused immediate change to global institutions, including education. As schools created new systems during the pandemic, as restrictions began to be eased, many divisions felt pressure to continue virtual options after schools fully reopened to students. This pressure influenced the decisions made by school leaders, with internal and external pressures dictating how leaders navigated the decisions made regarding virtual learning after pandemic-related school closures. In the presence of the widespread phenomenon of the pandemic, school leaders faced pressures to reimagine learning through innovation or revert to institutional structures normalized prior to pandemic closures. This phenomenological study examined the relationship between internal and external organizational pressures on division school leaders' decisions on virtual learning. Criterion sampling was used to select division-level school leaders’ participants. Interviews were the primary source of data collection and were transcribed using in vivo, descriptive, and causation coding. Study findings were consistent with previous findings on isomorphic pressure in organizational management. However, the role of internal pressures, student achievement, and political pressures emerged as factors that influenced leaders in ways not previously suggested in research. These pressures directly influenced decisions made by leaders to either push against institutional logics in new structures in student learning or revert to preexisting logics longstanding as legitimate structures of traditional schooling. Implications for future research are discussed suggesting future research in rural educational settings, the role of third-party virtual learning programs, and the rise of homeschooling as opposed to public schooling after the school closures of the pandemic. By understanding how internal and external pressures influence the decisions of school leaders, their influence can be understood and navigated in a more purposeful way in future phenomenon.