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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2934-0282

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally reshaped educational leadership, especially in rural school settings where leaders confronted unique resource constraints, geographic isolation, and heightened community interdependence. This conceptual study reexamines rural educational leadership in the post-pandemic era through a synthesis of findings from Author’s (2023) dissertation, The Rural Education Leadership Experience Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, and current leadership theory. Drawing on the McREL Balanced Leadership Framework alongside adaptive and servant leadership models, the analysis identifies four interrelated dimensions that define post-pandemic rural leadership: communication as community cohesion, relationships as infrastructure, adaptive leadership as necessity, and well-being as a leadership priority. These dimensions together form the Post-Pandemic Rural Leadership Framework, a conceptual model depicting how resilient, community-centered leadership arises from the interaction of relational and adaptive capacities. The framework posits that sustainable rural leadership depends on transparency, empathy, and collective well-being as much as on technical expertise. Implications are discussed for leadership preparation, policy development, and future research. Preparation programs must integrate social-emotional learning and adaptive problem-solving into leadership curricula, while policymakers should invest in relational and wellness infrastructure to support rural education systems. This study contributes a theoretically grounded model of rural leadership resilience that informs both scholarly discourse and the daily practice of educational leaders navigating ongoing uncertainty.

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