Flattening the Hierarchy Curve: Adaptive Leadership during the Covid-19 Pandemic – A Case Study in an Academic Teacher Training College

Yonit Nissim,Eitan Simon

doi:10.5539/res.v13n1p103

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic forced institutions of higher education to adopt agile leadership behaviors. The current research aims to examine how the leadership at the Ohalo teacher training college in Israel dealt with the crisis caused by the pandemic. The research hypothesis, predicting a positive relationship between the college leadership&rsquo;s decisions and lecturers&rsquo; positive evaluations regarding these decisions, was confirmed.  Previous research has given scant attention to the relationship between running an academic institution and applying principles of adaptive leadership during a crisis. This article presents a case study of adaptive leadership at an academic institution during the Covid-19 pandemic. The conclusions suggest that ensuring the continued functioning of an organization during a crisis requires skills and competencies reflecting multifaceted and adaptive leadership, agility, and direct channels of reciprocal, cooperative communication. Opportunities for initiative taking should be provided, and a consistent policy must be maintained that aims to &ldquo;flatten the hierarchy curve.&rdquo;

Highlights

The Covid-19 pandemic forced numerous organizations to undergo significant transformations and changes
The current article seeks to make a modest contribution to this research gap by presenting a case study that demonstrates, in practical terms, what has been described in the theoretical literature on adaptive leadership
We demonstrate how the leadership of an academic institution for teacher and educator training operated in a deep and adaptive manner

Summary

Introduction

The Covid-19 pandemic forced numerous organizations to undergo significant transformations and changes. The current article seeks to make a modest contribution to this research gap by presenting a case study that demonstrates, in practical terms, what has been described in the theoretical literature on adaptive leadership It examines adaptive leadership at a teacher training college as it addressed the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. All activity was moved from classroom learning on campus to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) This dramatic and agile transition affected the leadership team of 6 senior college officials, 700 courses, 130 lecturers, 40 members of the administrative staff, and 1500 students. To the best of our knowledge, there have been few, if any, previous studies examining adaptive leadership processes in an academic organization during a global pandemic We believe that this unique situation provides fertile ground for reflective research and learning in this field. What traits were expressed by the Ohalo College leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic?

How did the lecturers evaluate the steps taken by the college administration?

Research Methods

Summary, Discussion and Conclusions

Study Limitations