JREPT: Vol 4 No 2

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https://bspace.buid.ac.ae/handle/1234/1925

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Browsing JREPT: Vol 4 No 2 by Subject "COVID-19"

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    The Attributes of School Leaders in a Time of Crisis: An Exploratory Case Study of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia
    (The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2021-11) Alomair, Latifah; Fernandes, Venesser
    The Coronavirus pandemic is a crisis that has fundamentally changed the fabric of school leadership globally. School leaders are required to work to mitigate the effects of this crisis through their demonstration of effective leadership attributes. Currently, a few western studies highlight the attributes of school leader’s desirable in a time of disruption, but their findings have little relevance to middle-eastern contexts. This study addresses such gap by focusing on the exploration of leadership attributes of Saudi Arabian school leaders demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on the importance of human leadership as a part of school crisis leadership. Using an exploratory case study approach, a qualitative open-ended questionnaire was administered to a sample of Saudi Arabian school principals to explore their school leadership attributes exercised during the crisis. It was found that the circumstances imposed by the pandemic had a strong influence on their leadership attributes and their responses to the crisis. Nine leadership attributes found that leaders have: become more eager for development, learnt to remain calm, endured stress and difficulties, become more compassionate, supportive, strategic, emotionally intelligent, intuitive and better communicators. They found that these attributes helped them succeed in managing the crisis by better understanding micro and macro aspects of their schools. The findings highlight leadership qualities required for stronger school leadership within Saudi Arabian schools during periods of rapid change, and may benefit those involved in school leadership development and principal preparation in Middle-eastern contexts.
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    Implications on Educational Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2021-11) Alfalasi, Khulood; David, Solomon Arulraj; Tamim, Rana M.
    Education sector faced a significant transition recently, shifting from face-to-face classes to online classes due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic's consequences affected teaching and learning and negatively influenced students' psychological well-being. This study aimed to explore the pandemic's impact on undergraduate students' academic stress, especially as related to their academic performance. Furthermore, the students' coping strategies during the pandemic, if any, were investigated. The researcher used a mixed-method approach, and surveyed 191 participants from the College of Education (COE) and students from other colleges enrolled in elective courses in the COE in one selected university in the UAE. The qualitative data was collected through a focus group discussion with seven COE undergraduate students doing their internship. The key findings showed that the xenophobia factor (the fear of strangers) causes the highest stress levels, and students reported that workload and time constraint factors were top stressors. Also, A-range students (students with a GPA of 3.7 and above) were significantly less stressed than B-range students (GPA of 2.7–3.3). First-year students were significantly more stressed than second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students. It was found that internship students expressed their stress and anxiety due to the change to online education caused by the pandemic. Single site focus was a key limitation of the study and it was recommended to increase the number of sites and samples. In conclusion, this study helped educational leadership and psychologists to better understand students' needs and create innovative educational platforms.