Cogent Education

The COVID-19 epidemic has drastically changed the educational environment globally, affecting every facet. Teachers, decision-makers, and executives confronted unheard-of issues when schools shuttered their doors and students moved to virtual settings. Thus, it is crucial to critically evaluate the role of education policy and leadership in influencing the future of learning as we leave the epidemic and move into a new age. This collection of articles examines the difficulties and complexity of educational policy and leadership in the post-COVID era.

The COVID-19 epidemic has made already existent educational system disparities worse. The digital gap has made access to high-quality education more unequal, leaving behind students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The usage of technology in education has also accelerated as a result of the epidemic. Educators are under pressure to manage the hurdles of efficiently integrating technology as hybrid and online learning grow more common. This calls for creating cutting-edge policies, infrastructural investments, and digital literacy abilities among educators and students. Thus, the need for effective policies and strong leadership has become even more critical in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Education systems have both possibilities and problems in the post-COVID-19 environment, and it is crucial that we carefully plan ahead to guarantee that we rebuild more effectively.

The effectiveness and accessibility of education systems are significantly influenced by educational policy and leadership. Despite the fact that we have witnessed our frailty's terrible dangers and weaknesses, COVID-19 has reminded us that fragility also fosters awareness, sensitivity to our interdependencies, and the potential for hope (UNESCO, 2020). The post-pandemic world calls for a reimagining of education systems. We have an opportunity to rethink what to teach and how to teach and promote student-centred pedagogies and nurturing skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability. Education policy and leadership must drive these transformative changes to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Leading interdisciplinary open-access publication Cogent Education publishes excellent, peer-reviewed papers across the scope of educational research. With a broad and interdisciplinary focus and under various socio-cultural educational systems, Cogent Education's education policy section covers all facets of educational policymaking, debate, development, implementation, and impact on all levels of education and teaching. It is also encouraged to do original research that examines how ideas and practises in educational policy apply to global applications and cross-disciplinary fields, including sociology, management, economics, and political science. As a result, a collection of essays on educational policy and leadership in the post-Covid world will be interesting to worldwide researchers who can offer new perspectives on these topics. Both educators and policymakers will find the collection of essays beneficial, informative, and practical. The intended collection of articles in Cogent Education Journal will focus on the following general subject areas. Certain issues should be concentrated on inside each of the larger areas.

1. Curriculum innovation and educational leadership

This area explores what to teach in the post-covid world. It includes curriculum innovation and reimaging educational leadership, e.g. community participation and collaboration, and students’ and educators’ well-being.

2. Reducing educational disparities in post-COVID-19 and educational leadership

This area covers educational disparities and education leadership. The key subareas include interventions in policy to close the digital gap and provide equal access to education, methods for assisting underprivileged pupils and bridging achievement disparities, and leadership strategies to support diversity and inclusiveness and social justice and equity in educational institutions.

3. Utilising technology to improve learning and educational leadership

This area focuses on technology and education policy and leadership. It considers issues including policies for integrating technology into education systems, leadership strategies for implementing and sustaining technological innovations, and digital literacy development for educators and students.

4. Transforming education for the future and educational leadership

The final area covers the teaching-learning process and education policy and leadership. It will consider papers in policy frameworks for fostering student-centred learning and personalised education, leadership approaches to promote innovation and creativity in teaching and learning, and strategies for developing future-ready skills among students.

The collection will take a variety of articles kinds, such as:

1. Research articles: Outlining empirical analyses and conclusions about education policy and leadership in the post-COVID-19 period.
2. Review articles: Providing in-depth reviews and insightful evaluations of already published works on the topic.
3. Case studies: Presenting actual instances of effective leadership techniques and policy implementations in the post-Covid period.
4. Policy evaluations: Investigating and assessing the impact of certain educational policy and their implications for leadership

Arif H. Kabir, PhD (Monash University, Australia), has taught sociology of education and teacher education at the Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka, since 2006. He also works as a sessional academic at the School of Education, Deakin University, Australia. His research interest includes postcolonialism, neoliberalism, higher education governance, education policy and practices, comparative and international education, and critical pedagogy. His manuscript (co-authored) entitled The Privatisation of Higher Education in Postcolonial Bangladesh: The Politics of Intervention and Control has been published by Routledge.

Disclosure statement: Dr. Kabir has no conflicts to disclose related to this work.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review. Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 12th January 2024.

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