Educational Leaders Making Sense of and Leading Through Turbulent Times

This essay describes a leadership domains and capabilities framework and a futures thinking framework that educational leaders can use to help them navigate successfully through turbulent times. The leadership framework includes seven stable domains, and 37 associated capabilities. For this essay, the focus is on the domains associated with setting directions and understanding contexts (sensemaking). The futures framework uses past, current, best and next practices, and prediction pathways, to consider near and distant futures. The use of these frameworks is illustrated through consideration of three pressing issues facing educational leaders across the world: improving student feedback, developing future-ready capabilities, and adopting artificial intelligence (AI). Educational leaders are encouraged to have a view of leadership and futures, so they are better able to set direction and act as sense makers for their organisations, and ultimately lead a more successful organisation.