Educational Practices during the COVID-19 Viral Outbreak: International Perspectives

The collection of chapters in this special book examines educational practices during the COVID-19 viral outbreak. This special book brings together a variety of studies and scholars in an effort to exemplify how the COVID-19 shapes the learning and teaching processes in different countries. The twelve chapters selected for this special book present diverse vantage points on the circumstances that influence students, teachers, parents, and schools. The focus of this book is on education, but in the context of broader global effects. Education processes, practices, and outcomes in the time of COVID-19 do not occur in a vacuum. Disruptions to the normal processes and practices of education associated with the novel coronavirus are directly tied, among other considerations, to the societal risk of having students congregating in close quarters, the economic problems encountered by their families, difficulties of food availability, and loss of family cohesion due to death, illness, and lack of proximity and diminished support structures due to social distancing. Any return to “normal” education opportunities and the hope for improving (or at least sustaining) positive student outcomes likely will be impossible without a vaccine that is available worldwide at low or no cost, together with effective repair of the global economy, and the ability of students and adults to engage in larger-group activities. Until that situation becomes reality, many children will be unable to learn effectively and will not be equipped to realize their potential. In summary, the twelve chapters cover the topic of educational practices during the COVID-19 viral outbreak. The chapters are authored by scholars from 10 different countries: the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Spain, Bhutan, Indonesia, Morocco, India, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. The chapters provide readers with a wide range of international perspectives on educational practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reported studies involve research findings from students, teachers, parents, and school administrators at different levels of students’ education experience.

Dr. Ismail Sahin, Dr. Mack Shelley
Editors