Crisis communications: A timely lesson for schools, colleges and universities
It wasn’t so long ago that the only time schools and other educational establishments explained their position to journalists or other stakeholders was to lament the impact of disappointing levels of government funding on their provision.
As schools return for the new term, the reality is that these days the spotlight is just as likely to swing on to schools, colleges and universities, because of the conduct of their pupils or staff, or leadership or because fault is found with their culture.
Serious allegations may follow when accusations of a toxic culture trends on social media.
Added to this mix is the risk created because every current pupil or student is a digital native, while many of the leadership team are not and their social-media fluency remains patchy at best.
The digital age has unleashed a cultural and social revolution created by a young population enabled to share their thoughts and feelings, and directly criticise the establishment through social media in a way that wasn’t possible in an earlier time when all our news came from papers and the TV.
Educational establishments, like most highly regulated organisations, have struggled with this changing media landscape, which is complicated by serious turbulence from macro and micro issues.
The last two years have been unprecedented in the nature and volume of issues that educational organisations are grappling with. Impacts of the pandemic on learning, Brexit, cancelled public exams and a disastrous attempt by the Government to use a flawed algorithmic model to calculate students’ grades left principals reeling. Rafts of negative headlines followed.
Simultaneously women and girls began to find their voice calling out institutional misogyny which meant inappropriate behaviour and sexual abuse within educational communities was tolerated or even excused.
Everyone’s Invited is a social movement set up by Soma Sara, 23, in 2020. She wanted an end to the complacency that perpetuates the misogynistic status quo that meant she, and countless others like her, endured years of humiliation and degradation at the hands of boys while a schoolgirl and student.
Sara, a Gen Z digital native, only had to post to Instagram to start her campaign. It would have been unthinkable 20 years ago when Sara would have to get past traditional media gatekeepers to achieve her aims.
Her campaign quickly transferred to national media. Thousands of women and girls have now used her simple website tool to report their experiences and trauma. An avalanche of negative headlines resulted with schools struggling to respond to the issue engulfing the sector.
These testimonies prompted Government to task Ofsted to carry out a rapid review of peer-on-peer sexual abuse in schools and colleges with a focus on safeguarding and the voice of the victim.
Ofsted visited 32 schools and colleges, speaking to over 900 children and young people. It found sexual harassment and online sexual abuse is prevalent, with some children no longer reporting it because it was so frequent. It found teachers underestimated online sexual abuse and had significant actions for government and schools.
So how can principals prepare for crises better?
As ever preparation is key.
Many educational establishments are excellent at promoting the good news: stellar grades from high-achieving and hard-working GCSE and A level students; universities sharing their record offers for disadvantaged young people; uplifting insights into charity and public-service by young people, and landmark personal achievements such as Duke of Edinburgh award-winners.
Some are still unprepared for the worst with principals or vice-chancellors issuing ill-judged or bland statements when faced with allegations against staff or pupils, or accusations from parents.
Sound advice from seasoned crisis communications practitioners to every client is always to plan and prepare, and then crucially to practise regularly, and in the event of a crisis follow up with a recovery plan.
Crises gather pace rapidly and there’s no time to formulate a plan and be sure of the best outcome.
Good preparation should include regular workshops with the senior team and governors to test the plans with scenarios created from real-life events and issues that have affected other schools. It’s important that participants have an equal voice and they are facilitated, ideally by an experienced crisis communications practitioner.
Every organisation should have a current, detailed stakeholder map and understand who their key influencers are. They should reflect on how issues look differently to each of these groups and be prepared to acknowledge the real differences between the corporate and the stakeholder view.
Reputation management should be part of the risk register.
Good governance is a watch-word in education as the consequences otherwise can be damaging to the reputation of a school as Repton School in Derbyshire found to its cost recently.
Crisis communications experience needs to be considered essential in a governing body and reputation management must be part of the organisational culture. For example, at a minimum this means including it on a risk register which is regularly reviewed.
The importance of having governors with expertise in legal, HR, accountancy and teaching is widely understood, but how many educational establishments actively consider crisis communications as essential knowledge to have within its governing body?
Times have changed, so it’s time for change.
‘Crisis communications: A timely lesson for schools, colleges and universities’ was originally posted by the CIPR Crisis Communications Network.
Image by LeoPatrizi on iStock