Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies

This qualitative single-case study examined how adaptive leadership was manifested in disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) within a State College in the Davao region. The study focused on four dimensions of Adaptive Leadership Theory: emotional intelligence, organisational justice, development, and character. Data were gathered through interviews with educational leaders who were directly involved in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities. The data were analysed thematically to identify institutional challenges and leadership practices across the disaster management cycle. The findings showed that the institution encountered infrastructure disruption, instructional disruption, resource constraints, preparedness gaps, and leadership strain during disaster events. These challenges affected learning spaces, academic schedules, technological access, personnel capacity, communication processes, and decision-making under uncertainty. Adaptive leadership was evident in the leaders' efforts to provide psychosocial support, communicate risks, allocate limited resources fairly, maintain transparency, learn from previous disaster experiences, and uphold ethical accountability. The prominence of leadership dimensions varied across phases of DRRM. Development and organisational justice were more evident during mitigation and preparedness, where leaders emphasised planning, capacity building, and fair procedures. Emotional intelligence and character were particularly visible during response, as leaders managed stakeholder concerns and acted responsibly under pressure. During recovery, all four dimensions converged through efforts to restore academic activities, strengthen institutional systems, support stakeholders, and integrate lessons learned. The study concludes that adaptive leadership is context-dependent and dynamic in disaster situations. Within the case institution, it supported continuity, resilience, and ethically grounded decision-making without eliminating the operational limits faced by higher education leaders. The findings offer a grounded description of leadership practice in a disaster-prone higher education setting. Higher education institutions face increasing challenges from disasters and crises that disrupt educational operations and institutional stability. Adaptive leadership has emerged as an important approach for enhancing organizational resilience by enabling leaders to respond flexibly and effectively to changing conditions. Despite the growing importance of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) in higher education, limited research has examined how adaptive leadership is applied during disaster situations. This study explored the application of four dimensions of Adaptive Leadership Theory, namely emotional intelligence, organizational justice, development, and character, in disaster risk reduction and management operations in State College. The study was designed using the qualitative single-case study method, with data collected from interviews and analyzed thematically. It was found that State College faced issues including infrastructure damage, disruptions to instruction, technology-related problems, resource shortages, and leadership pressure. Adaptive leadership was consistently evident through psychosocial support, fairness and transparency, continuous learning, and ethical accountability. The prominence of leadership dimensions varied across phases, with development and organizational justice more evident in mitigation and preparedness, emotional intelligence and character in response, and all dimensions converging in recovery. The study concludes that adaptive leadership is dynamic and context‑dependent, enabling resilience and the sustained delivery of educational services during disaster events.