ACADEMIC STAFF ADAPTATION TO THE CHALLENGES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CASE OF PAVLO TYCHYNA UMAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Oct 15, 2026

Higher education’s shift under the COVID-19 pandemic intensified pressure on institutions and academic staff, making personal adaptability crucial. This paper examines challenges faced by academic staff at the English Language and Methods of Teaching Department of Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University and evaluates preparedness and adaptation to continuously emerging pandemic conditions. Using predominantly quantitative, occasionally qualitative, analysis, it finds growing lecturer readiness for online and blended teaching. It also highlights prospects for further adaptation and professional activity re-evaluation amid changing global and local circumstances.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature review

Research findings and discussion

DOI: 10.20535/2410-8286 .252683 ACADEMIC STAFF ADAPTATION TO THE CHALLENGES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CASE OF PAVLO TYCHYNA UMAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY Oleksandr Bezliudnyi, Oleh Komar, Anhelina Kolisnichenko, Tetiana Kapeliushna Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University [a.kolisnichenko@udpu.edu.ua](a.kolisnichenko@udpu.edu.ua) Currently, higher education system is characterized by the growing role of personal ability to adapt to the challenges of COVID-19 and finding opportunities for further development considering the global changes in all spheres of life. It puts pressure on the institutions in general and academic staff in particular. This paper aims at studying the challenges academic staff of the English Language and Methods of Teaching Department of Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University has faced during the COVID- 19 pandemic and staff’s preparedness and consequent adaptation amid new conditions that are constantly appearing because of the pandemic. The article presents a case study research to answer the following questions: What is the level of academic staff readiness to teach under conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic from a diachronic perspective? In what ways has academic staff adapted to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic? The study uses predominantly quantitative and occasionally qualitative analysis to gain insights into our researched issues. The research has shown a steady increase in the number of department lecturers who feel ready for the challenges of online and blended teaching caused by the pandemic and comfortable with their professional competence due to sustainable adaptation to the current situation. The research prospects are clearly seen in the further process of adaptation and professional activities paradigm re-evaluation under the constantly changing global and local conditions as well as researching the issue in a broader context of similar or corresponding cases. Keywords: adaptation; challenges; academic staff; pandemic; higher education;, online teaching; blended teaching. Introduction The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning and teaching is huge because of the transition from face-to-face to the distance/blended/online format and education has become one of the most affected areas. The impact of COVID-19 on universities and other higher education institutions around the world was analyzed and shared by UNESCO in IAU Global Survey Report (2020) . It is mentioned that “one particular issue that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown is the need for increased international and global perspectives to analyse the various impacts of COVID-19 in the short, medium and long term “(Marinoni Van’t Land & Jensen, 2020, p. 6) . Indeed, pandemic affects all of us and touches every sphere of life. For sure, it had an immediate effect on higher education, such as “emergency online education” and caused all the challenges that followed. In general, the educational process has been transformed and changed the direction to distance mode (Watermeyer et al., 2021) . The world will never be the same and humanity must learn to adapt to new realities and current conditions. Literature review In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature about teaching and learning peculiarities in higher education in different countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, e.g. China (Bao, 2020; Zhu, 2020), Romania ([Coman et. al](Coman et. al)., 2020), Turkey (Aksu, 2020), Ghana (Owusu-Fordjour, Koomson & Hanson, 2020), Georgia ([Basilaia et. al](Basilaia et. al)., 2020; Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020), Brazil (Salvagni, Wojcichoski & Guerin, 2020), Pakistan (Dogar [et. al](et. al)., 2020), India (Chugai & Pawar (2021), Ukraine (Melnychenko & Zheliaskova, 2021) . Much of the current literature pays particular attention to the challenges to implement remote education in a pandemic context (Salvagni, Wojcichoski & Guerin, 2020; Toader et. al., 2021; Piotrowski & Kin

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study on academic staff during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The study examines the challenges academic staff faced in the English Language and Methods of Teaching Department and assesses their preparedness and adaptation to new pandemic conditions.

What research methods does the paper use?

The study uses predominantly quantitative analysis and occasionally qualitative analysis to investigate staff readiness and adaptation.

What does the research find about lecturers’ readiness for online and blended teaching?

The research shows a steady increase in the number of department lecturers who feel ready for online and blended teaching and comfortable with their professional competence due to sustainable adaptation.

Oct 15, 2026

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