MANAGING SCHOOLS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: SOME ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CONSIDERATIONS

Abstract

The Corona virus pandemic has led to a global lockdown which resulted in schools closure and interruption on teaching and learning. For health-related reasons schools have to adhere to recommendations that limit the spread of the virus and these include; social distancing,  limiting the use of cooperative learning strategies in classrooms as well as strict regulation of collaborative working teams in schools. These changes to how work is carried out in schools indicate a need to adapt school organizational cultures to the new way of "doing things". Changes to how schools are managed, to curriculum and instructional design, and to how performance is measured in schools are a starting point. This paper looks at some of the changes that need to be implemented on school cultures in order to keep schools safe from the virus, as well as to maintain high levels of efficiency particularly during times of uncertainty.