A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE ROLE OF SCHOOL LEADERS IN DEVELOPING STRATEGIC PLANS FOR SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS - Abstract and Key Themes

Oct 15, 2026

A systematic literature review examines how school leaders develop strategic plans that enable school transformation during crises, focusing on the period shaped by the Covid 19 pandemic. It argues that strategic planning is a core leadership action supporting achievements and developments over a defined timeframe, while also addressing ambiguity and uncertainty. With scenarios considered in advance, leadership teams can guide smoother responses to changes and challenges, strengthening school and community success.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Background

Problem statement

Purpose of the paper

Research questions

Conceptual framework

A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE ROLE OF SCHOOL LEADERS IN DEVELOPING STRATEGIC PLANS FOR SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS Nour Abuateyh The British University in Dubai, UAE ABSTRACT One of the most important actions that school leaders pay attention to and spend time to develop is setting a strategic plan for their school as it helps in shedding the light on the upcoming achievements and developments that their school aims to and require to achieve in a certain period of time. It is more important at this stage to think about preparing strategic plans that support the schools in times of crisis, as per the current pandemic ofCovid 19 that the whole educational systems in the world got affected by and the leaders worked hard to run their schools in the best ways possible. Schools have faced a very challenging and unexpected time of ambiguity and uncertainty for more than a year now and only good leaderships were able to carry on professionally with high standards and expectations. Having a strategic plan in place that considers the unexpected scenarios is a very positive and valuable step that school leaders do to be ready to face any changes or challenges smoothly, as the role of the leadership team at these times is keen and essential for the success of the school. This paper will highlight the role of school leaders in developing a strategic plan that helps in supporting the school and its community at the times of crisis, this will be presented in a systematic literature review method that will prove the significance of working on such strategic plan and the significant role of school leaders at the uncertain times. Keywords: Times of crisis, Strategic plan, School transformation INTRODUCTION Background: One of the most important actions that school leaders pay attention to and spend time to develop is designing a strategic plan for their school. The attention to having a strategic plan in place at private schools has raised in the last decade, because it helps to shed the light on the upcoming achievements and developments that the school aims and requires to achieve in a certain period preparing strategic plans that support schools in times of crisis, as per the current pandemic ofCovid 19 that the whole educational systems in the world got affected Problem statement: The current pandemic caused schools in the worlds to face a very challenging and unexpected time of ambiguity and uncertainty for more than a year, where only good leaderships were able to carry on successful in handling the situation and therefore they ended closure because of the lack of experience of finding alternative and prompt solutions. Having a strategic plan in place that considers the unexpected scenarios is a very positive and valuable step that school leaders have to do to be ready to face any changes or challenges smoothly, as the role of the leadership team at these times is keen and essential for the school success and development. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role of school leaders in developing a strategic plan that helps in supporting the school and its community at times of crisis and to shed the light on the importance of considering unexpected scenarios in the designed strategic plan. i.e., it is time to think and plan for what may happen not only planning for what we would like to achieve. Research questions: This will be investigated through the following two transformational strategic plan that consider times of crisis? 2. To what extent do school leaders benefit from setting transformational strategic plan that supports the school at times of crisis? This will be explored through highlighting and presenting conceptual and theoretical framework in the next sections, in addition to addressing and identifying the problem as well as analysing and evaluating several theories and views relevant to the topic. The research questions will be answered through a systematic literature

FAQs

Why do school leaders prioritize strategic planning during crises?

Strategic plans help schools focus on upcoming achievements and developments while preparing for unexpected scenarios, enabling leaders to respond smoothly to changes and challenges.

What problem does the paper associate with the Covid-19 pandemic in schools?

The pandemic created ambiguity and uncertainty for more than a year, and some schools faced closure due to limited experience in finding alternative and prompt solutions.

How do the conceptual framework elements relate to strategic planning in the review?

The framework connects strategic planning concepts—such as goal setting and resource use—with transformational leadership, emphasizing new goals and task/behavior adjustments to support consistent school development.

Oct 15, 2026

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