Abstract:

Education systems worldwide have undergone three reforms: The first focused on “the child in the center,” the second focused on standards and assessments, and the third is focused on the effects of information technology on patterns of online teaching and learning. The current study analyzes a case study of Belarus and the country’s stage in educational reform during the global Covid-19 pandemic. Belarus is one of the world’s 30 most developed countries, heading the list of CSU countries. The current study examined the attitudes of 70 teachers and 77 students from Belarus on good e-teaching, specifically the cognitive-reasoning and the affective-emotional dimensions of e-teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on a model developed by Hativa et al. (2010) of measures of good teaching, as well as teachers and students’ personal preferences. Approximately 60% of the teachers and 40% of the students have the technological means that support remote learning. Students expressed a stronger preference for online learning compared to teachers, due to savings in time, increased convenience, and teachers’ availability. Interactions were more important to teachers than to students. Both groups had similar attitudes toward the organization, interest, and clarity of online lessons. Findings of the study indicate that pedagogical organizational, and technological changes to the education system and to online learning are necessary if the Belarus education system is to succeed in the third wave of educational reform and prepare a generation of students for the skills needed to attain achievements in the twenty-first century. An education system that does not rejuvenate itself becomes irrelevant for its students, and its graduates will find it difficult to integrate in the world outside the school. Such a goal requires rethinking of the contents, pedagogies, modes of learning and assessment that are required for graduates of the education system in the twenty-first century.

Keywords:

Covid-19, education, distance learning