Instructional Boundary Management during COVID-19

Instructional Boundary Management is an area of school leadership comprising activities that simultaneously involve instructional leadership and boundary management. This study explores principals’ Instructional Boundary Management during COVID-19. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews with a diverse sample of 33 Israeli elementary school principals. Data analysis indicated that principals felt an increasing need to carry out most Instructional Boundary Management activities during COVID-19. The findings suggest that COVID-19 influenced principals’ needs through the following three factors: the challenges that COVID-19 posed to teachers, the challenges that COVID-19 posed to students and parents, and the transition from face-to-face instruction to distance learning. These findings reveal the mechanisms through which COVID-19 affected Instructional Boundary Management activities, explaining how and why COVID-19 has led to a greater need for principals’ Instructional Boundary Management.