ABSTRACT

When we think about making a change, sometimes as educational leaders we strategise from a position of static pausing. It is easier to think simplistically about stopping, or as Kurt Lewin suggested, defrost, change, and refreezing a situation. These still moments rarely apply to a school day, or within a system of education. If children or staff were statues, or if curriculum stood still, we may be able to take pause. At the same time, reflexivity is required for such meaningful work as leading education. Reflexivity combines thought with action and purpose. Sometimes reflexivity is a slow action, taken during moments of retrospective thought. Most often, I found as a school principal that reflexivity in educational leadership was artfully performed in the moment, between the meeting, the event and the crisis! In times of uncertainty, a special type of reflexivity is required. Salvaging is a sustainable action that comes from the recognition that we are leading in a momentous moment when need to make quick and certain value decisions about where we are, who we are, and what matters, as we seek to use the best resources to rebuild for the future in our context, for our communities. During times of external uncertainty and internal turmoil, educational leaders need to consider what we are ready to salvage. Our role as educational leaders is to learn to salvage together: to work out how we will salvage, what we will salvage, and why, based in our shared purpose. Part of salvaging is also knowing what aspects of educational practice to let go. To me, and other theorists, educational leading is a practice, not a role title. Theorising leading as an action frees us from restrictive notions of position, hierarchy, and identity, inviting diversity. It positions educational leaders as learners, rather than experts, thereby salvaging leading learning itself.