Keyword: post-pandemic

ABSTRACT: It is important to observe the effectiveness of online learning (OL) as a resilient approach for the smooth functioning of the educational systems in the post-pandemic for resilience purposes. This paper defines resilience as learners’ capacity to cope with a crisis like COVID-19 and recover quickly from the challenges and prospects caused by the pandemic. Hence, this paper aims to find out the extent to which the use of OL in higher education institutions (HEIs) has served as a resilient means of accessing education in selected South and South East Asian countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper uses a literature review method and adopts the integrative literature review approach. The reviewed literature was subjected to a content analysis method in order to provide the themes relevant to address the objectives of this paper. The results indicate that in the context of South and South East Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, there are country-specific differences in adopting OL as a resilient approach in HEIs. For instance, in China, OL was a “forced innovation” during the pandemic. However, this paper concludes that nearly all South Asian nations took recourse to OL during the pandemic without a proper understanding of the pedagogical implications of OL. Hence, the recommendation is that OL cannot be fully utilized unless critical issues like learners’ engagement, investments, digital divides, infrastructure, and governmental and leadership support are properly addressed and assessed. Another recommendation is for policy guidance, especially in the South Asian developing countries in the post-pandemic contexts, to consider the best practices of OL as resilient strategies for sustainable education in HEIs.

ABSTRACT: In deep northeast Brazil, pedagogical actions, educational practices, and socioemotional development are at a crossroad. The return to in-person classes after the COVID-19 pandemic was marked by reports of emotional crises, where cases of anxiety and depression prevailed among students. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the dynamic and creative process of pedagogical actions and perceived students’ socioemotional development with teachers working in Itabaiana, a small city 60 kilometers off the coast, in Sergipe state’s backlands. This is a region that has lived with social, economic, and political problems for centuries. The methodology was qualitative and divided into two stages. The first stage consisted of three 90-minute art-education workshops with two groups of ten teachers, where Vygotsky’s mediation was an essential component. In the second stage, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. The data collected in the workshops indicated that reading, whether on psychological topics or other areas of knowledge, is not part of teachers’ daily lives. Paradoxically, participants also demonstrated a strong need for these readings. They also revealed that thinking of the classroom as a zone of proximal development is still a distant reality. This phenomenon is associated with the lack of adequate training on psychology topics in teacher training and the absence of psychologists in schools. This lack of knowledge was also present in the interviews. Of these, three categories emerged as crucial: (a) pedagogical actions in the post-pandemic; (b) knowledge of psychology; and (c) socioemotional development of students. Results showed that pedagogical actions in the post-pandemic marked by readaptation and by an intense emotional burden and socioemotional development of students were perceived as negative emotions. Opportunities for progress are limited to private conversations undertaken without assistance from psychology professionals. Although this study was done with a limited number of
participants, the results point to two recommendations to policymakers: (a) bring psychology closer to schools and (b) provide extensive training in socioemotional development for teachers who work in public schools. These recommendations are of paramount importance for the future of Brazil.