School Leaders' Decision-Making in Complex Organisations

About the Project

The proposed project will focus on the complex decision-making which school leaders and leadership teams undertake in their roles and the implications of this for professional development. School leaders and leadership teams are responsible for the healthy functioning of the organisation and the individuals within it (Connolly, James & Fertig, 2019). Much of the enactment of these responsibilities is demonstrated through the decisions leaders make (Biddulph & Gilbride, 2024) which can have a significant influence on a number of processes and outcomes, including student progress (Robinson & Gray, 2019), colleagues experience of the workplace (Day, Sammons & Gorgen, 2020), and staff retention (Urick, 2016).

In undertaking these decisions, school leaders and leadership teams face challenges. One such challenge is that schools are complex organisations; complex systems are deeply interconnected environments where various components interact in relatively unpredictable ways, leading to emergent behaviours that cannot be easily predicted from the individual parts. These systems are characterized by their dynamic nature, where small changes can have significant impacts, and the relationships between elements are often non-linear (Stacey, 2000; Hawkins & James, 2018). As a result of these features, leaders and leadership teams can encounter problems which can have multiple valid perspectives, no fixed solutions and can make them difficult to predict and resolve (Rittel & Weber, 1973). Working in relative unpredictability, handling multiple perspectives and multiple connections requires much from school leaders – such as collective sense-making, the development of psychological safety and tolerance of ambiguity (Drago-Severson, 2012).

Theory and research at the intersections of complexity sciences, psychology and educational leadership is a new emerging area of discourse. Some have recognised how the demands of school leadership place greater demands on the psychological processes of sense-making (Ganon-Shilon & Schechter, 2017). Other approaches have exposed a developing interrelationship between adult ego development and how leaders undertake decisions in complex contexts (Drago-Severson, 2011; Gilbride, James & Carr, 2021; 2023). However, further empirical research is needed to advance and evolve both the theoretical foundations of this new field and the practical recommendations for working conditions, retention and recruitment, and professional development.

Supervisory team

• Director of Studies: Professor Alison Kington
• Supervisors: Dr Neil Gilbride & Dr Marie Stephenson
• Research Group: Social Psychology of Education

Application Process

To begin the application process please go to: https://www.worc.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/applying-for-a-phd/.

The Interview

All successful applicants will be offered an interview with the proposed Supervisory Team. You will be contacted by a member of the Doctoral School Team to find a suitable date. Interviews can be conducted in person or over Microsoft Teams.

For further information or an informal discussion on this project, please contact Prof Alison Kington: a.kington@worc.ac.uk