Congratulations to Erik Van Gunten who on Monday, November 17, 2025, successfully defended his dissertation.
The title of Erik’s dissertation is, "HOW PIVOTING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACTED THE ROLES AND LEADERSHIP STYLES OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS."
Overview of Problem: The COVID-19 global pandemic was a disruption so powerful and complete that it shook the educational system to its core (Azorin & Fullan, 2022). In the process, principals across the globe changed their roles and leadership styles (Pollock, 2020).
Research Purpose: This study examined how elementary school principals in public urban school districts pivoted due to the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and how that experience changed them as leaders. Specifically, the study examined how the roles of the school leaders changed during the school closure and remote learning eras of the pandemic and how those experiences may have changed their roles and leadership styles long term.
Research Design: This qualitative interview inquiry included interviews with principals and drew upon Lewin’s (1951) change model theory as a theoretical lens.
Sample: Interviews were conducted with 13 elementary school principals in urban public schools in New York City.
Data Collection and Analysis: Semi structured interviews were conducted with open-ended questions. Yin’s (2016) five-step process was utilized for the analysis of qualitative data.
Findings/Results: Themes that emerged from the findings of this study included that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants acted as lead connectors in attempting to connect and engage school stakeholders. The participants developed a greater sense of empathy and trust in stakeholders during the pandemic, and they demonstrated an increase of use of distributed leadership.
Conclusions/Implications: The participants were impacted long-term by the experience of leading their schools through the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants continued to use distributed leadership to a greater degree, show higher levels of empathy, and act as lead connectors well after the school closure and remote learning phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CHAIR:
Dr. Kenneth Mitchell
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBER(S):
Dr. Joanne Marien
Dr. Martin Fitzgerald
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