How to Run an Empty School: The Experience of Slovenian School Heads During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In mid-March 2020, Slovenia declared the COVID-19 epidemic, which led to the closure of schools and the transition to remote education. This article presents the findings of a study conducted during the lockdown among school heads in primary and secondary schools. The authors identify the challenges and issues the school heads faced in the first weeks of the epidemic and examine the positive experiences that may represent examples of good practice for dealing with similar problems in the future. The study was carried out through an online questionnaire containing 12 single-answer and multiple-choice questions and one Likert-type scale. The school heads were free to write their answers to two open-ended questions. The findings show that schools responded quickly to the changed circumstances and continued to deliver education to their students without interruption, although their approaches differed significantly. A great deal of improvisation was observed, as was to be expected, as the state did not have a pre-prepared plan and was not able to provide a quick and adequate response.

A Lesson on Mutual Collaboration for School Counsellors, Principals, and Teachers Given by the COVID-19 Pandemic in Slovenia

“…Perhaps the higher scores are the result of more intensive cooperation between the counsellors and the principals with many of the initial questions related to the organisation of distance education. Concurrently, research among principals (Kalin et al, 2021;Skubic Ermenc et al, 2021) showed that, in unpredictable and emergency situations, there was a significant need for a calm, decisive and proactive leader who could effectively manage the situation and provide support to educators. Even in the present research, the counsellors see the principal as a source of support, and, at the same time, they notice a high level of willingness on the part of both principals and teachers to collaborate and to tackle the challenges that have been brought about by remote education together.…”

The relative effect of job demands, resources, and personal resources on teaching quality and students’ engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Another thing to consider is the quality of the (organisational) support received. While the assessment of quality was not part of the study (REDS was merely asking about its presence), it is possible that the teacher might be dissatisfied with the support, which could contribute to its varying relationship with the outcome variables, and it is conceivable that the support offered might be suboptimal given that the educational system as a whole was ill-prepared for the significant changes to distance learning (Ermenc et al, 2021). Indeed, the insignificant contribution of organisational support to outcome variables within the JDR model during the pandemic is not unprecedented (Karaca et al, 2022), making it an interesting avenue for future research.…”

“…In practice, these often meant swift and all-encompassing moves to distance learning with ill-defined timelines. In Slovenia, for example, the school closures were comparably long-lasting and happened with little-to-no preparation for either students, teachers, or schools (Ermenc et al, 2021;Klemenčič et al, 2022). Consequently, teachers faced challenges as they had to adapt to working from home, change their instructional methods and/or materials to fit remote learning, and deal with problems their students faced in terms of access and use of ICT -or learn how to use these tools themselves (Kasprzak and Mudło-Głagolska, 2022).…”

Unleashing the Power of Community Animators

“…The d igi school initiative, which targets socially disadvantaged pupils, was another Ministry effort to address technical equipment issues. Donors helped collect more p c s for low-income distance learning students (Ermenc et al, 2021). Schools around Slovenia let kids borrow computers.…”