Introduction to the special issue

[...]the core concerns of human resource development (HRD) – organisation, training and career development – must be given renewed consideration in order to build up organisational, group and individual aptitude during challenging times. [...]this special issue aims to provide insights on several relevant issues and recommendations for HRD practice on how to address opportunities and challenges of HRD in today’s dynamic and complex environment. Organisations are increasingly dependent on knowledge workers as they compete through their employees’ know-how. Since knowledge becomes a prominent source for organisational competitive advantage in an uncertain environment, organisations should create a supportive culture for knowledge sharing.

How Do Self-Esteem, Dispositional Hope, Crisis Self-Efficacy, Mattering, and Gender Differences Affect Teacher Resilience during COVID-19 School Closures?

(1) Background: The closure of schools and the transition to online teaching because of the COVID-19 pandemic's restrictions have resulted in significant changes in the workplace. Consequently, several resilience strategies have been implemented, and chief among them focus on the topic of burnout and coping abilities; (2) Purpose: Thus, this study investigates the influence of self-esteem, dispositional hope, and mattering on teacher resilience, and how crisis self-efficacy and gender differences mediate and moderate the relationships among associated variables. (3) Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a cluster random sampling. A total of 248 secondary school teachers in Malaysia participated in this study. Questions were first transferred and formatted using a template of a commercial internet survey provider. Then, the university's online learning platform was used both as a questionnaire distribution channel and a data collection method. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) with a partial least squares method; (4) Results: The findings of this study revealed that self-esteem, dispositional hope, and mattering significantly influence teacher resilience, and crisis self-efficacy mediates the impact of self-esteem and dispositional hope on teacher resilience. In some instances, the results also showed that gender has a moderating effect on teacher resilience during the pandemic; (5) Conclusions: This study used psychological factors to understand teacher resilience and incorporated crisis self-efficacy into teacher resilience research. It is one of the very few studies in resilience literature to investigate the moderating role of gender on teacher resilience.

Perceived Consequences of Extended Social Isolation on Mental Well-Being: Narratives from Indonesian University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Despite several recent studies reporting on young people's well-being during COVID-19, few large-scale qualitative studies have been carried out that capture the experiences of young people from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) undergoing extended social restrictions. The challenges faced by young people from LMICs during COVID-19 are likely to be amplified by their countries' large populations, resource constraints, lack of access to health care, living conditions, socio-spatial contexts, and the pandemic's ramifications for communities. This study explored how youths perceived their well-being after being isolated for one-and-a-half years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative narrative research was employed as a method of inquiry. One-hundred and sixty-six university students in Jakarta, Indonesia, between the ages of 17 and 22 wrote reflective online essays on the consequences of extended pandemic isolation on their mental health. This data collection strategy offered an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon through the narratives of those who experienced it. Seven themes expressing the youths' perceived well-being were identified through inductive reflective thematic analysis: (1) the anguish of loneliness and estrangement; (2) a state of "brokenness" resulting from emotional agony and distress; (3) frustration, confusion, and anger; (4) the experience of conflicting emotions; (5) uncertainty about both the present and future; (6) a sense of purpose and fulfillment; and (7) turning to faith. The findings provide important insights into Indonesian youths' well-being following extended social restrictions following the outbreak. Their collective experiences can be used to inform policy and practice regarding the nature of support mechanisms required both during and following the pandemic, and in the future if such a situation were to occur again.

Development of a Haddon Matrix Framework for Higher Education Pandemic Preparedness: Scoping Review and Experiences of Malaysian Universities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Managing education and research during pandemics has increased in importance since the onset of epidemics such as avian flu, SARS and now CoViD-19. Successful management in times of crisis ensures business continuity and institutional survival, making preparedness preceding an impending pandemic essential. Institutions of higher education (IHEs) must maintain balance between academic continuity and preventing morbidity during a pandemic crisis. To date, however, no general pandemic preparedness frameworks exist for IHEs. The aim of this paper is to report on the development of a Haddon matrix framework for IHE pandemic preparedness based on a scoping literature review of past IHE responses including pre-, during and post-pandemic phases. First, a review of previous global responses by IHEs during past pandemics was carried out. The review findings were then collated into a new IHE-centric Haddon matrix for pandemic preparedness. The content of the matrix is then illustrated through the documented responses of Malaysian universities during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting IHE Haddon matrix can be used by universities as a general guide to identify preparedness gaps and intervention opportunities for business continuity during pandemics.