Twenty-third International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic affected educational institutions globally and highlighted the need for greater resilience in schools, students and systems. While no country was ready for the requisite changes to online teaching, etc. some were better prepared than others. In the case of Japan, the pressures of the pandemic on the education system have illuminated growing gaps between private and public education institutions, a lack of flexibility in schools and resilience in both students and teachers. Historically, Japan has demonstrated resilience and innovation on numerous occasions. However, today many of its organizations seem stuck in a vicious circle of aversion to change and trend towards traditionalism. As education is the cornerstone of all social systems, this lack of innovation has far-reaching implications. This paper firstly examines the notion of resilience in Japanese organizations (mainly educational) in order to explore what differences there are regarding the interpretation of the concept there. Against this backdrop, next it examines each of the levels of the micro (students and teachers), meso (schools), and macro (systems, society) and the ability to become more resilient in the face of strong pressures to maintain the status quo (tradition, culture, persistence, etc.). Using the example of the Covid-19 pandemic, it concludes by stressing the importance of balancing the needs of culture with the pressure for change and particularly, a reinterpretation of resilience and how to instill it in teachers (through a revamp of training systems) so as to enable students and society to flourish.