Swimming In The Deep End: School Board Members Making Sense Of Their Roles And Responsibilities

Little has been dedicated to the experience and potential support for local educational policy actors, school board members, that were at the heart of unprecedented decision and sensemaking during the Covid-19 pandemic. Employing sensemaking theory and an interpretivist case study design, this study conducts interviews with four school board members in a Missouri school district. The study explores their motivations for candidacy and perceptions of the role's responsibilities, especially as individuals elected during the pandemic. The findings highlight that candidates' decisions to run are influenced by personal and professional experiences, shaping their initial understanding of the position. However, post-election, a transformative process unfolds in the actual enactment of the role, signifying an evolution in their sensemaking journey. This study contributes to the limited but growing literature on school board members who play critical roles in education and whose roles and responsibilities have often been overlooked in the scholarship.

鲜有研究关注新冠疫情（COVID-19）期间身处史无前例的决策与意义建构（sensemaking）核心的本地教育政策参与者——学校董事会成员（school board members）的履职经历与潜在支持。本研究采用意义建构（sensemaking）理论与解释主义个案研究设计，对密苏里州某学区的四名学校董事会成员开展访谈。本研究探讨了他们的参选动机以及对该岗位履职职责的认知，尤其聚焦于疫情期间当选的这一群体。研究结果显示，候选人的参选决策受个人与职业经历影响，并由此形成对该岗位的初步认知。然而，当选后，在岗位的实际履职过程中会发生变革性的转变，这标志着他们的意义建构历程实现了演进。尽管现有相关研究仍较为有限，但本研究为不断增长的教育领域相关学术文献作出了贡献——这些文献聚焦于在教育领域发挥关键作用的学校董事会成员，而他们的岗位与职责在过往学术研究中常被忽视。