Section

Educational leadership and management

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of work from home (WFH) on language educators in Malaysian universities gauging specifically their perceptions on its advantages and disadvantages during the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed-methods research design was employed involving 152 language educators. The results revealed that although the overall mean scores were rather neutral, language educators were more inclined toward positive effects of WFH, most notably in terms of saving communing time and being closer to family. However, the negative effects were missing colleagues and feeling glued to the computer. The results also shed interesting insights into Malaysian language educators’ high confidence in focusing on their tasks and using tools to fulfill their teaching and work-related responsibilities. The outcome from this study is a guiding model that not only informs the literature on the feasibility of WFH in the higher education context but also highlights pertinent areas of concern for its future planning and implementation.

Practitioner Notes

  1. The study informs the literature on the work from home (WFH) policy and practices in the Malaysian higher education contexts which is similar to those within Southeast Asia.
  2. The study ventures into an underrepresented domain by sampling university language educators during the COVID-19 pandemic to substantiate the feasibility of WFH beyond the pandemic.
  3. The study provides university management with a viable WFH policy that can be folded into the fabric of institutional practice.
  4. A model is proposed to guide university leaders/educators in planning, implementing, and continue assessing future WFH policy.
  5. Future studies are encouraged to assess the effectiveness of the proposed model across different learning and cultural settings.

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