Abstract
This research aims to explore educational leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of higher education students and to develop a guiding model of educational leadership for ‘new normal’ with the novel emerging components. This research is conducted using grounded theory method and social network analysis. The first study group includes 32 participants, second study group includes another 26 participants, and final group includes 12 participants. Participants in all groups are university students studying in a higher education institution in Turkey. Written documents, personal interviews and group discussion are used for data collection. Based on analysis, a guiding model is developed which illustrates the concept of educational leadership for the new normal, which is composed of “networking, enhancing educational practices, calmness & compassion, analytical & strategical thinking, and transparency”. Also, the social network analysis shows that “encouraging online communities, promoting social interaction, creating a safe and inclusive learning environment, providing learning resources, leading under pressure, emphasizing optimism, making data-driven decisions” are cornerstones in terms of educational leadership for the new normal. In addition to those substantially noted key concepts, some higher education students also seem to be in need of some other aspects of educational leadership such as inspiration for learning, open dialogue, risk planning and leveraging capacity of community. The participants also indicate that successful educational leadership is about understanding others’ perspectives, rather than sticking to leader’s perspective.
Highlights
In the 21st century, the world has witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic which forces humans of all colours and ages to a new style of living which is called as the new normal (Akbari & Pratomo, 2021; Fleming & Millar, 2019; Francisco & Nuqui, 2020; Strack, Kugel, Dyrchs & Tauber, 2020) and this new normal reflects unfamiliar changes in social life, economy, health and in educational institutions (de Moura, 2020; Murashkin & Tyrväinen, 2020)
This grounded theory research is focused on exploring educational leadership from perspectives of higher education students during COVID-19 pandemic; and this study attempts to develop a guiding model with identifying the newly emerged components of leadership for new normal in education
When all findings of this study are considered in detail, there are crucial insights for understanding educational leadership for new normal. This grounded theory research focuses on the educational leadership for the new normal in higher education during the COVID-19 crisis
Summary
In the 21st century, the world has witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic which forces humans of all colours and ages to a new style of living which is called as the new normal (Akbari & Pratomo, 2021; Fleming & Millar, 2019; Francisco & Nuqui, 2020; Strack, Kugel, Dyrchs & Tauber, 2020) and this new normal reflects unfamiliar changes in social life, economy, health and in educational institutions (de Moura, 2020; Murashkin & Tyrväinen, 2020). There is a need for a full understanding of what has changed in students’ perceptions of educational leadership during COVID-19 crisis and creating necessary educational policies for addressing students’ needs in this globally alarming threat. Social distance principle and students’ making use of digital and virtual platforms lead to a change in educational leaders’ role of leading, inspiring and transforming (Unesco, 2020). This change is felt in higher education (Harris, 2020; Marshall, Roache & MoodyMarchall, 2020; Varela & Fedynich, 2020). The role of educational leaders is of considerable importance in higher education for many reasons, as explained by Amey (2006) that educational leaders create learning environments with cultural awareness, serve as collaborators in developing knowledge and engagement, serve as facilitators who promote collaboration, collective responsibility, an interest in common good; and serve as leaders via partnerships in web-like and non-hierarchical systems
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