“Managing Staff WFH in Crisis Times” - How Are Teacher Education Managers Supporting Staff Working Remotely at an Odel College?

The sudden onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic changed how university managers operate. Staff working from home (WFH) needed support and teacher education managers (TEM) played an important role in giving such support. This study is underpinned by the crisis leadership theory and ubuntu-oriented management style. The aim of this exploratory study is to ascertain the support strategies provided by TEM to staff WFH during the Covid-19 pandemic. To achieve the aim, this study investigates motivational support TEM provided to staff WFH during the pandemic. The aim included establishing which stress management techniques TEM used to support staff WFH and explore communicative tools used to support staff WFH.  The constructivist-interpretivist lens is foregrounding the qualitative single case research, exploring the kind of support that six distance managers provided to staff WFH at an open distance e-learning university. Results revealed that staff WFH were acknowledged and rewarded for hard work and excellence. Several web-based video-conferencing sessions were offered through online Teams webinars, seminars, workshops and stress management techniques. Further research needs to be undertaken to determine, through a mixed-method design, how TEM employed stress management techniques for staff WFH, which may yield different results

The Responsiveness of Teacher Education Managers at an ODeL College to Resilience and the Well-Being of Staff Working from Home During COVID-19

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has increased anxiety and stress among teacher education managers and has given rise to the question of whether they have the competencies to execute their operational responsibilities productively. The theories of resilience and transformational leadership underpin this study in which teacher education managers’ resilience and their responsiveness to the well-being of staff executing their operational practices in an open distance e-learning context were explored. A qualitative approach was adopted and virtual video conferencing interviews with teacher education managers were used to explore how they mitigated their strategic and operational roles and their managerial functions to ensure the well-being and organisational performance of staff working from home. Results revealed the experiences of distance managers to have been positive in that they implemented organisational strategies to mitigate the challenges faced to ensure wellness and performance among staff working from a distance. Further research applying a mixed-method design should be undertaken to determine how resilient managers and staff working from home are. That may yield different results