Educational leadership in times of pandemic: Education will not ever be the same

Abstract

Objective: To identify the educational leadership styles that emerged during the first year of the COVID19 pandemic in the context of Ecuador.

Originality/contribution: The contribution of this work lies in the generation of reliable information regarding the educational leadership styles that, during the pandemic, made possible the continuity of teaching-learning processes, research and community outreach in the institutions participating in this study. The information provided here can be considered to improve decision making in  Ecuadorian universities and other Latin American countries. 

Method: Based on the critical-reflective paradigm, we opted for the qualitative approach of socio-educational research. The participants were 120 professors from public and private universities located in the three provinces with the highest incidence of COVID-19 in Ecuador.

Strategies/information collection: The techniques used were in-depth interviews, focus groups and document review. The voice of the participants is presented in the results. They were organized into the following categories: governance and management of the health crisis, conciliation in the face of changes in the educational system, and the challenges that confinement posed to educational leaders.

Conclusions: During the pandemic, the participants strengthened shared, adaptive, resilient and transformative leadership styles to enhance the management of educational communities and at the same time projected themselves towards the new normality.