Navigating Uncertainty: Sensemaking for Educational Leaders

In Navigating Uncertainty: Sensemaking for Educational Leaders, the authors introduce a 5-step sensemaking approach for managing the kinds of challenging problems, dilemmas and crises that occur daily in educational systems. Drawing on complexity theory, social capital, and sensemaking, they make the case that educational leaders can no longer rely on traditional scientific principles or their own instincts to manage complex problems but need a new way to think about their certainties and their relationships. The authors illustrate their approach with scenarios, based on the real-life experiences of principals, superintendents and deans and provide several innovative tools to help educational leaders better understand and navigate the uncertainties they face every day in their jobs.

Shelley Hasinoff, Ph.D. (1998), University of Manitoba, is an Educational Consultant. She has published articles and curriculum support documents, and co-authored books, including Case Studies in Educational Foundations: Canadian Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 2015).

David Mandzuk, Ph.D. (1994), University of Manitoba, is an Associate Professor and Dean of Education at that university. He has published articles on teacher education and co-authored books, including Case Studies in Educational Foundations: Canadian Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 2015).