Special Aspects of Educational Managers’ Administrative Activity under Conditions of Distance Learning

The eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has become a major challenge for educators around the world, forcing educational organizations to look for alternative teaching methods, namely distance learning. It forced the managers of educational organizations to carry out management activities in the conditions of remote work. The article is devoted to the analysis of changes in the content of educational managers’ administrative activities under conditions of transition from traditional (full-time) learning to distance one. The article analyzes the challenges of organizing the educational process in a new context. Authors generalize advantages and disadvantages of blended learning based on the results of a sociological survey of heads of educational institutions in Ukraine. The level of readiness of educational managers to carry out educational activities in a distance format and factors of that are determined. It is emphasized that in managers' activity of distance learning, managers interact with various participants of the educational process. This interaction acquires new forms and new purposes in terms of distance education. It can be productive if the support of the educational environment and the managers' readiness to work in the new realities are determined as a systematic process. the of of for represent of managers’ administrative the objectives of management of subordinates and the


Introduction
The eruption of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the socio-economic, political and pedagogical aspects of life. It was especially conducive to radical changes in educational organizations, which were forced to move to distance learning. According to UNESCO (2020), about 1.5 billion students (91% of the total number of students in schools) were unable to study offline due to restrictions imposed by countries after the spread of the virus.
In addition, it ought to be noted that the COVID-19 pandemic situation has also made many significant changes in the activities of educational organizations in general and in the educational managers' administrative activities, who worked under conditions of remote work which has created new expectations for flexibility, working conditions and life balance.
As a result, educational organizations have been forced to revise their work practices and standards (Nikolova, 2021;Wright & Ingilizian, 2020), and managers to learn to administrate remotely their team, organize cooperation, evaluate the employees' success, motivate them by changing approaches to communication and interaction with colleagues.
The scientific literature argues that technological disruptions, especially in information and communication technologies, have exacerbated the instability, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (same as VUCA) of situations that interact with demographic models and globalization (Rimita, Hoon, & Levasseur, 2020;Serrat, 2021). It is the flexibility of administration under such conditions is the greatest managers' value, it is confirmed by a study conducted by McKinsey & Company, it is organizational flexibility that is the main priority of 75% of managers (Salo, 2017).
1. Response to change framing: a network of teams. Organizational managers need to understand that vertical administration doesn't always provide stability. Under conditions of change with a high degree of uncertainty, managers face incomprehensible and inappropriate problems and don't always have the opportunity to make effective decisions quickly. The rapid problem solution under such conditions allows the use of administrative model "network of teams", which are united by a common goal and operate as a team.
2. Decision making under conditions of uncertainty. As far as changes are associated with many uncertainties and unexpected phenomena, circumstances may not manifest themselves for a long time, and time for decision-making will be lost. You can't rely on your own intuition either. It is necessary to constantly collect and analyse data and monitor developments. Two cognitive behaviours can help managers evaluate events: updating (reviewing perceptions of events based on new information) and doubting (evaluating critically current and potential actions). It is what helps managers to find a solution based on previous actions, or make a completely new decision based on previous ones. Once a decision is made, it is needed to act confidently and quickly. It strengthens trust in the manager and motivates the subordinates' activities.
3. Effective communication. An important issue in the process of changes is the transparency of decisions. The more the manager communicates with subordinates, the more he/she has information, which allows him/her to adjust their actions as information becomes available. Each subordinate's problems, issues and interests must be taken into account.
We can summarize that the problem of analyzing the possibilities of increasing the effectiveness of educational managers in a pandemic reality still remains not comprehensively analyzed in modern science.

Methodology
The research procedure involved the use of a number of research techniques in a logical sequence. The research was initiated on the basis of a conceptual analysis of the issues studied in the article. This allowed us to identify the functionality of the distance learning. This technique was reinforced by the use of general scientific methods at this stage. Namely: method of analysis and synthesis, method of generalization, method of logical and structured system analysis, methods of control. Structural and functional analysis was used in a global context to study the role of the educational managers in process of organization effective educational learning. The method of content analysis was used in the study of the theoretical framework of modern research about this problem.
The next stage of the research procedure was the use of qualitative sociological methods and quantitative methods of statistical information analysis, collection of empirical data to clearly describe the problem situation of the distance learning.
Methods of quality data processing (statistics of effectiveness of educational institutions, different methods of classification, differentiation of problems in the field of counselling) were based on certain research. An empirical research method allowed obtaining scientific facts.
The study involved the method of expert interviews to analyse the procedural features and prospects of the distance learning in modern Ukraine. The method of in-depth (expert) interview provides individual meetings with representatives of certain target groups in order to study their views and attitudes to social control in Ukraine. This kind of interview is conducted using open-ended questions, and may not be clearly structured. The questions from the guide were used during interviews, including open-ended questions, game elements and techniques that helped to reduce emotional tension, establish friendly and partnership relations with respondents, techniques that stimulated the story or, conversely, "cut off" side topics that were not relevant to the study.

Results
It is also noted that the staff in the organization realizes its own socio-psychological needs of both the individual and the professional, which include the following: social needs that reflect a sense of belonging to the organization as a community; sense of social interaction (in the team, in formal and informal groups); purely personal feelings of commitment and support; the need for respect, which ensures recognition, self-esteem and respect for others, proper self-assessment of achievements, competence, status, prestige; the need for self-expression, i.e. in the realization of their potential personal and professional capabilities.
Global changes in the economy lead to the creation of new types of organizations capable of functioning effectively in market conditions in public sector. These include, in particular, virtual organizations, which we can interpret as a socio-economic system with defined (at this time) and dynamic boundaries, i.e. as a set of people whose activities are integrated on the basis of information and communication technologies to achieve a common goal or goals, and real relationships between people are transformed into relationships between their "images".
Virtual organizations are an innovative model of organization that quickly adapts to dynamic changes in the environment and transforms into structures necessary for the production of products and services depending on market needs, using the latest technologies: communication, knowledge management technologies (storage and retrieval systems data), environmental monitoring, production management and resource planning of the organization.
The Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to radical changes in organizations, including remote work organizations, which have set new expectations for flexibility, working conditions and life balance. As a result, organizations are forced to review their work practices and standards, and managers to learn to manage remotely their team, organize cooperation, evaluate the performance of employees, and motivate them by changing approaches to communication and interaction with colleagues. Thus, the trends of informatization of society have significantly influenced the creation of new types of organizations and led to a change in traditional ideas about the organization.
The empirical study examines the features of educational managers' administrative activities in the context of distance learning during a pandemic. To achieve this goal, the questionnaire "Assessment of administrative style" (Blake & Mouton, 1964) was used. The questionnaire is aimed at determining the vectors of educational managers' activity and the level of development of administrative styles. With the help of the questionnaire "Assessment of managerial style" (Blake & Mouton, 1964), the vectors of educational managers' activity were studied.
The survey provided an opportunity to examine the direction of the management of educational institutions for the vectors that represent two areas of managers' administrative activity: "focus on the job" (to achieve the objectives of tasks, management of subordinates and the concept of the leader's the behaviour) and "focus on people" (in interpersonal relationships and needs of subordinates).
The vector "task orientation" means that educational managers in decision-making focuses primarily on achieving goals and objectives, they are "problem solvers", people for them mostly exist as a means to achieve goals. The vector "people-oriented" means that educational managers are primarily focused on people and relationships with them.
The study involved 253 educational managers aged 35 to 65 years. Among them are 184 women and 169 men. Descriptive statistics methods were used for statistical processing and analysis of data.
As a result of a sociological survey of educational managers on the readiness to carry out administrative activities in distance learning to the question "How do you assess your level of readiness to carry out administrative activities in the implementation of employees' remote work?" only 18.5% of respondents rated their level as high, 43.4% of respondents indicated a medium level and more than a third of respondents (38.1%) indicated a low level of readiness to carry out administrative activities in the context of changes caused by the pandemic (Figure 1) .

Source: Authors
It confirms the fact that most educational managers are not ready to manage educational organizations in the face of the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Let's analyse the results of an empirical study on the levels of development of the main vectors of educational managers' activity (Table 1). A high level of "task orientation" was found in 22.6% of educational managers, i.e. in one fifth of respondents. We are talking about managers who are able to structure tasks, outlining the problem and clearly indicating what, how and in what timeframe should be done.
The obtained data show an insufficient level of educational managers' orientation "on the task" and a significant predominance of "people-oriented" over this type of orientation. This indicates a lack of balance between "people-oriented" and "task-oriented", which is an important condition for the effective operation of the team of the educational organization.
Thus, we can say that the educational managers are dominated by "people-oriented" over "task-oriented". It may be due, in our opinion, on the one hand, the specifics of the activities of educational organizations that focus on training, education and personal development, belong to the professions of the type "person-person". On the other hand, it may also be a consequence of the transition from the use of predominantly authoritarian management style, which was traditional in most organizations before and focused on tasks mainly through policy styles, to management styles that focus on people, taking into account their needs and interests, individual psychological characteristics, emotional state, etc. At the same time, as noted in our previous studies (Semenets-Orlova, Klochko, Tolubyak, Sebalo, & Rudina, 2020), the most harmonious approach to management is one that focuses on ensuring the interests of the organization (timely and effective performance of tasks, which are important for the organization) and the needs and interests of staff (satisfaction of material and economic needs, the desire for recognition, self-realization, etc.). Shifting the emphasis in the organization of administrative activities to meet only the needs of staff, as observed in our situation, can significantly reduce the effectiveness of educational organizations. Therefore, "levelling" the educational managers' orientation to meet the interests of the organization and the interests of staff should be an important way to optimize their activities.
Thus, the obtained data indicate that the vector of managers' administrative activity "task orientation" needs to be significantly strengthened, because only a little more than a fifth of the surveyed heads of organizations have a predominance of this orientation.
As noted above, the directional vectors that reflect the educational managers' administrative activity are the basis for typology (Blake & Mouton, 1964) classification of five management styles "primitive management", "authoritarian management", "social management", "organizational management", "team management").
Based on the empirical study, we found the quantitative expression of management styles in educational managers ( Figure 2).  The obtained data show that almost half of the educational managers in their administrative activities profess the style of "social management" (56.1%). 22.0% of respondents identified the use of the style of "primitive management". We consider the low level of manifestation of the style of "authoritarian management" (1.8%) among educational managers to be positive. 14.4% of respondents showed a tendency to the style of "organizational management". It is noteworthy that the management style "team management" is represented in 5.7% of managers. The low level of expression of the style of "team management" confirms the above data on the identified imbalance in the educational managers "task orientation"" and "people orientation", as a high level of "task orientation" and "people orientation" is characteristic of this style.

Discussions
For analyzing the roles of educational managers in crisis management, we briefly considered traditional and modern theories of organization. In the human mind, the organization is associated with important forms and images through which people daily and directly perceive the world around them, evaluate it and influence it; it is directly related to the formation, functioning, development, reflection and representation of all that in one way or another surrounds a person and directly constitutes his/her life. At the same time, supporters of a pragmatic approach to defining the concept of organization quite convincingly substantiate the applied understanding and manifestation of its essence. From these positions, the organization inevitably acquires and develops its practical significance primarily as a tool for creating a purposeful process of human activity. In this context, it can be defined as a kind of social systems, uniting people to achieve common goals, acting on the basis of certain principles and rules. Based on the analysis of the literature, it is advisable to talk about traditional and innovative approaches to the study of the phenomenon of "organization" and its essential features.
Regarding traditional approaches to the study of the organization, they should include the following: structural, functional and structural-functional. To ensure the operation of the main elements and the relationships between them in the organization uses a structural approach, which involves the use of division of labour, coverage of control and decentralization.
The organization has a specific formalized structure. The authors emphasize in this definition the orderliness of activities, which implies the need for formal coordination of employee interaction, namely, how tasks should be distributed, what subordination should be, what are the formal coordination mechanisms and models of interaction.
The main components of the structure of any organizationare: goals and objectives for which the organization is created and exists; people who are members of this organization; management, which forms, mobilizes and drives the potential of the organization to achieve its goals.
An organization that encourages a manager to focus on striving to create an effective working group with highly productive goals is more effective than an organization that has many structural dimensions. As a result, it can be argued that the more vertical levels in the organization in the management hierarchy, the more structural units in it, which can complicate the process of coordinating the activities of people in the organization.
Thus, in general, we can say that traditional approaches (structural, functional and structural-functional) consider organizations static, inflexible, adaptable to rapid changes and isolated from the external environment, that is a source of organization resources needed to form and development of its internal potential at the level necessary to achieve the goals.
Regarding innovative approaches to the analysis of the activities of organizations, taking into account the analysis of available literature, this group includes the following approaches: consideration of organizations as open systems; active interaction of the organization with the internal and external environment; humanistic approach; the approach of "learning organizations", situational, organizational and psychological, etc.
In this context, organizations are seen as a continuous and active process of mutual adaptation of a person, organization and non-organizational environment, rather than a one-sided process of adaptation of the organization to the environment. It is important to take into account the position of open systems theory, such as throughput, which means the processing "production" signals to achieve a certain result, as well as the positions of the resource approach, based on which resource models should be used, the key category of which is psychological content (idea) of the organization's product, and which can be classified based on the use of the following criteria: complexity / simplicity of the product and the method of dependence / autonomy of the organization from external resources (reproduction / borrowing).

The humanistic approach defines management as a partnership, dialogical interaction and involves understanding and consideration by the manager in the process of this interaction of individual psychological characteristics of staff.
Thus, researchers identified the following main characteristics of a humanistic approach to the management of organizations: partnership between managers and employees; creating conditions for the realization of the employees' creative potential and their self-management of their professional activities, their personal development. The main characteristics of the humanistic approach are revealed in the following provisions: 1) the need to build relationships between the head and employees of the organization on the basis of partnership; 2) the feasibility of joint activities of the head and members of the organization in the management of organizations; 3) the importance of understanding and taking into account the head of individual psychological characteristics of employees in management interaction; 3) the need to create conditions for the realization of the employees' creative potential and their self-management of their professional activities, their personal development.
For the organization to survive and prosper in market conditions, it is necessary to ensure its continuous development, respond quickly to change and flexibly adapt to external challenges. And this implies constant updating of skills and knowledge of staff, flexibility and ability to transform, in particular to change the external conditions and strategic goals of the organization. In addition, the Global Report 2019 (GRALE 4) states that sustainable development is impossible without universal access of the entire working population to the system of adult education and training. In this context, such an approach to the analysis of organizations as the analysis of "learning organizations" becomes relevant.
A "learning organization" is the one in which employees continually expand their capabilities, helping them to achieve the desired results, where new ways of thinking are developed, collective aspirations are freely disseminated and employees are constantly learning how to carry out joint training. Such organizations have the following characteristics: strategic thinking and vision of the future; development of a strong corporate culture; the practice of empowering employees; flat (horizontal) management structure; teamwork and free exchange of information. "Learning organizations" are characterized by the following features: use methods of scanning the external and internal environment; adjust the goals of development, which professes and disseminates the whole team; create common environments for learning and teaching, integration of science and education; encourage initiative and risk-taking; regularly review all aspects that affect the work of the organization; recognize and motivate quality work.
In addition, the above approaches to the essence of organizations provide an opportunity to talk about two main aspects in the analysis of organizations.
First, the organization is seen as a system with an orderly internal structure that combines elements, various connections between them and human relationships, which are the object of administration by the manager. Such an organization is characterized by purposeful functioning and development.
Secondly, the organization is understood as a set of purposeful actions that lead to the formation of the necessary links. Establishing quantitative and qualitative spatiotemporal relationships is the essence of the organization as a process. It is clear that the main subject of defining and establishing such links in accordance with specific ideas about the necessary order is a person who adds to them his/her subjective, intellectual principle.
It should be noted that all these approaches indicate that the organization can be defined as internal order, interaction, coherence of differentiated and autonomous parts of the whole; a set of processes or actions that lead to the formation and improvement of relationships between parts of the whole; associations of people who jointly achieve a certain goal and act on the basis of certain principles and rules.
In the context of the problem of our study, based on the above approaches, it is appropriate to assume that the organization is an open, structured, social entity that meets the needs of both society and the individual, and its activities are subject to a specific goal.
The success of the organization also depends on the external environment, which directly or indirectly affects its activities, complicating the work or opening up new opportunities. The external environment creates competition and other sources of pressure, as well as creates new opportunities for the organization and is a source of resources needed by the organization, and at the same time the recipient of organizational results.
Organizations must interact with the external environment in order to obtain resources and find consumers for their products (Semenets-Orlova et al., 2020). Dependence on the external environment, which is constantly changing and beyond the manager's control, is the main reason why there are no absolute rules in management. For the effective functioning and development of the organization, the manager must comprehensively and carefully analyse the nature of the impact of external factors on the organization, which will allow you to make management decisions that will improve the competitive position of the organization (Semenets-Orlova et al., 2021).
According to researchers, the main factors influencing the organization's environment are: consumers, competitors, government agencies, suppliers, financial institutions and sources of labour, relevant to the organization's operations, which directly affect the functioning of the organization.
The key to the successful operation of the organization is its ability to change in accordance with changing market conditions. The development of the organization is possible through the introduction of advanced innovative technologies and the formation of a new organizational model of management. However, B. Flint (Flint, 2020) points out that innovation is a phenomenon that requires attention and careful attitude to it. In general, the innovation of the subject can be considered as the ability at the cognitive and behavioural level to provide perception, possible refinement and implementation of new and original ideas. The introduction of innovations in the organization is always associated with certain difficulties that affect the activities of its employees (Iatsyshyn et al., 2020;Zinovieva et al., 2021).
In general, it should be said that at the present stage of development of the organization it is necessary to ensure its harmonious interaction with both external and internal environment. Now consider the role of organizations in society and the individual. Researchers note a wide range of tasks that are solved with the help of organizations (Shytyk & Akimova, 2020). We outline a number of important tasks that are reflected in these works and are important for our study.
First, it should be noted that organizations allow society to achieve goals that cannot be achieved by individuals, when they act separately.
Secondly, organizations act as a social institution, which arose due to the need to organize joint activities of people.
Thirdly, organizations play a significant role in human activities, community and society, but the impact of organizations on them can be both positive and negative, depending primarily on the purpose, values and social responsibility of their actors.
Fourthly, organizations perform a number of external (socio-economic) and internal (socio-psychological) functions that are important to the individual (group).
According to Karamushka (2008), the organization is the basis of society, as it plays the role of a kind of functional mediator, which, on the one hand, allows individuals to engage in socio-economic processes and ensure a full life, and on the other to meet needs society. Tarricone and Luca (2002) emphasize that the process of teamwork allows the average employee to achieve significant results. The authors are convinced that all team members must be flexible enough to adapt to teamwork. In this process, the common goal is achieved through harmonious relationships, cooperation, social interaction, as opposed to individual and competitive goals (Kostiukevych et al., 2020). This view is confirmed by Harris and Harris (1996), arguing that the team environment is the most favourable for achieving the goal, as it involves a constant exchange of knowledge and skills.
life situations, which depends on the social status of the organization, its economic opportunities, etc.); identification function (employees of the organization are members of the community who experience the so-called socio-psychological "we", which adds a sense of confidence, complicity, security).
The current generation of teachers does not yet fully possess modern computer technology and telecommunications, which is reflected in the difficulties of interacting with schoolchildren, great time overload and nervous feelings about: where and how to take the necessary educational material, how to convey it to students, how to advise and evaluate the degree of assimilation of knowledge. It is understandable that they have doubts about the appropriateness and usefulness of modern computer learning technologies (Oranburg, 2020). An additional barrier was the fact that it is not entirely clear which technologies are best suited for a particular age group of students.
An important block of problems of educational management is psychological (Vagaeva, Liksina & Lyuse, 2021). Teachers had to overcome a certain psychological barrier in the lack of live communication with students when switching to a distance education format. The difficulties associated with distance education also arose among the students themselves, especially those who do not have a sufficient level of internal motivation and require constant external control. Subsequently, this may lead to a significant lag behind the curriculum of vulnerable groups of students. In addition, many students also felt emotional difficulties, which also require some effort and resources.
At the same time, the heads of educational institutions noted that distance education has its own positive aspects. Digital technologies allow teachers to organize education in a new way, help rethink the basic principles of organizing modern education. The pandemic challenge can stimulate the search for new creative solutions. One of the main ways of transforming modern education is to provide the opportunity to independently form flexible educational trajectories.
In a remote format, teachers have new opportunities for cooperation, a willingness to learn from others, to test new tools for students, giving them independence and the opportunity to take responsibility for their education. Teachers are given the opportunity to try new training formats, take additional online courses, create groups according interests, share their ideas and achievements with other teachers.
Nowadays we have "situation that has arisen is viewed as a natural experiment the education system finds itself in requiring an understanding of its results at a certain stage". The discovered problems of distance learning include: the psycho-emotional instability of the online interaction participants; the insufficient level of teachers' digital tolerance and the lack of necessary competencies in them low learning motivation and the level of students' practical skills; the lack of a universal digital platform for the organization of activity of all participants of the learning process. Scientists determinated education changes as a reason and a consequence of social change (transformations in the economy, cultural sphere, politics).
A worldwide pandemic is forcing schools to close their doors. Yet the need to teach students remains. How can faculty -especially those who are not trained in technology-mediated teaching -maintain educational continuity. They must overcome technophobia. The optimal form of organizing the educational process is a combination of online and offline formats.

Conclusions
Management style "authoritarian management" corresponds to the style when educational managers create conditions for work in which the subordinates' activity is minimized, and the manager himself/herself tries to keep everything in his/her hands, under personal control. Such managers are not worried about the moral atmosphere that prevails in the team.
Educational managers, which have a "primitive management" style of management, base their activities on human relations, create a "warm" atmosphere in the team, but care little about the effectiveness of the tasks. Educational managers that use the style of management "organizational management" find a balance between effective organization of work and the moral climate in the team. Such educational managers are able to combine skilfully the care of both people and the educational organization, so we can say that they implement in their professional activities innovative approaches to management.
Finally, the management style of "team management" corresponds to the style in which educational managers seek to unite in a group of like-minded people and create work in such a way that each member of the team sees it as an opportunity for self-realization and self-importance.
Successful teamwork means that its participants must accept and share team goals, use a common strategy to achieve the goal, support and recognize each other's achievements, be committed to teamwork, be satisfied with teamwork, create a unique atmosphere that is comfortable for all without exception Thus, in general, our data indicate the need to pay more attention to the problem of preparing educational managers for teamwork, which will ensure successful collegial management of modern educational organizations in distance learning, and will combine intellectual, professional resources, experience, creativity to find new directions of work, to create constructive professional interaction for the purpose of successful management of the educational organization.
Thus, in our opinion, the level of heads' of organizations orientation on the style of "team management" is insufficient, which is due to the imbalance between the vectors of management "focus on tasks" and "focus on people", what can be a "threatening" situation for educational organizations, as in this case the tasks may not be effectively solved and the employees will not be given due attention to.
Analysis of the results of the study shows that distance education can be effective under the following conditions: -careful planning and design of the educational process based on the reasonable use of digital tools that support the main types of pedagogical activities of teachers and students; -the availability of quality materials and tasks prepared in electronic format, which will be accessible to students at any time and from any place of stay; -the planned clear sequence of their study and execution, which provides for the use of innovative pedagogical training technologies; -a high level of digital competence of all participants in the educational process -heads of educational institutions, teachers, students.
The pandemic has led to a rethinking of critical aspects of the world community. The educational space also has a strong need for a new development strategy. However, based on the study, we can argue about the lack of willingness of general secondary education institutions to accept changes, the lack of adaptation to the modern pace of educational development, a limited set of management tools that were used to help create a remote and mixed educational environment.
In order for education to meet new challenges, it is necessary to carry out a systemic transformation towards the creation of a modern educational environment. Digital technologies open up enormous opportunities for this. However, in educational institutions students not only study, but also are brought up, formed as individuals.
Nothing can fully replace the student's personal contact with the teacher. Communication skills in the academic environment largely determine the level of a person and humanity in the future. Therefore, in our opinion, it is necessary to skilfully combine traditional and online education, seeking to strengthen their advantages and reduce shortcomings.