Adopting to the virtual workplace: identifying leadership affordances in virtual schools

• Published in: The journal of workplace learning Vol. 35; no. 9; pp. 22 - 37
• Main Authors: Willermark, Sara, Islind, Anna Sigridur
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 2023; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Administrator Attitudes; Affordances; Arbetsintegrerat lärande; Community Relations; COVID-19; Digital technology; Digitalization of work practices; Educational Change; Educational leadership; Educational Technology; Environment; Experience; Foreign Countries; High Schools; Instructional Innovation; Instructional Leadership; Leaders; Leadership; LeaDS - Learning in a Digitalised Society; LeaDS - Lärande i ett digitalt samhälle; Literature Reviews; Meetings; Pandemics; Pedagogy; Productivity; Schools; Secondary Education; Teleworking; Virtual communities; Virtual leadership; Virtual School; Virtual Schools; Work Integrated Learning; Sweden; Digitalization of work practices; Affordances; Virtual leadership; Virtual School
• ISSN: 1366-5626; 1758-7859; 1366-5626; 1758-7859
• DOI: 10.1108/JWL-05-2022-0052

Purpose
This study aims to explore virtual leadership work within educational settings in the light of social disruption. In 2020, a global pandemic changed the way we work. For school leaders, that involved running a virtual school overnight. Although there is a stream of research that explores leadership in solely virtual communities, there is a gap in the literature regarding practices that transition from analog to virtual practices and the changes in leadership in those types of work practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The data gathering method constitutes a questionnaire to explore school leaders’ experiences of virtual work and virtual leadership in light of social disruption. One hundred and five Swedish school leaders answered the questionnaire covering both fixed and open questions.
Findings
The results show that school leaders’ general experiences of transition to virtual school have worked relatively well. We show how the work changes and shift the focus in the virtual workplace.
Originality/value
The author’s contributions include theorizing about leadership affordances in virtual schools and providing implications for practice. The authors summarize our main contribution in five affordances that characterize virtual leadership, including a focus on core activities, trust-based government, 1:1 communication with staff, structure and clarity and active outreach activities. The results could be interesting for understanding the radical digitalization of leadership in the digital workplace.