Adaptability Quotient: Challenges in Keeping Quality Education in the Pandemic

Abstract

The shift to the online modality during the pandemic caused academic institutions to reckon their best practices to adapt to the new normal, and this shift is undeniably studded with challenges. Through the existing body of literature that clarifies the need for teachers to be adaptable, and the connection between adaptability and effective delivery of instruction, the researcher is attracted to explore the challenges in keeping a healthy adaptability quotient (AQ) among educators. Following a qualitative design, the researcher employed an online group interview with 11 Senior Highschool English teachers at the University of the Cordilleras, using a total enumeration sampling. Results yielded that these challenges can be generally described as restrictions, mismanagement, inconsistencies, negative emotions, and insufficiencies. There are indeed varied challenges that the teachers have faced in relation to the different aspects of their adaptability quotient—some have been formidable at the onset of the transition to virtual education, while others remain challenging but under control at this juncture.