Research Summary: Leading in the shadows: contextualising educational leadership and EdTech innovations in Pakistan during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the limitations of prevailing global educational technology (EdTech) models within the Global South, particularly in Pakistan, due to insufficient connectivity, device access, and digital literacy. This analysis explores how educational leaders in Pakistan responded to these challenges through improvisation and a focus on care, highlighting the context-specific and relational aspects of leadership in such environments.

Why it matters

This analysis is crucial for understanding the contextual limitations of technology deployment and the critical role of adaptive, human-centric leadership in crisis. It underscores the need for strategies that acknowledge local realities rather than applying universal models, informing future policy and operational decisions in resource-constrained or diverse environments.

Key insights

• Globally dominant EdTech models were inadequate for educational systems in the Global South during COVID-19.
• Assumptions regarding connectivity, device ownership, and digital literacy did not apply in contexts like Pakistan.
• Educational leaders in Pakistan operated under the limitations of universalised EdTech models.
• Leaders employed improvisation and care to navigate the crisis.
• Practices demonstrated the situated and relational nature of educational leadership.
• The analysis is grounded in critical phenomenological and autoethnographic design, using narrative vignettes and an autobiographical account of the TeleSchool initiative.

Source

Frontiers in Education — https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2026.1870409