Teaching in a Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study of Higher Education Professional Communication Academics’ Lifeworlds in Response to Pandemic Measures

Abstract

This insider research study examines how higher education academics responded to and enacted on pandemic measures, using phenomenology as a concept and research design. Seven academics who teach professional communication skills to computing undergraduates participated in semi-structured interviews in this study. Consistent with phenomenological studies, and to deepen depth in understanding the phenomenon, ‘existentials’ of lifeworlds, namely lived space, lived time, lived body and lived human relations were used to highlight salient features of the opportunities these academics utilised, and challenges they experienced in response to pandemic measures. Findings revealed mixed responses to the measures and the ways in which they enacted on them. This study raises our awareness of professional communication academics’ lifeworlds in a pandemic, invokes academic consciousness and thoughtfulness in the reader, and invites contemplation on being at the receiving end of pandemic measures.