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The article explores the current as well as the future concepts of university teaching by the academics/the “leaders of educational sciences” in the context of the changes of the academia that have affected the academic professionalization.

The Delphi method was implemented to answer a research question dealing with the possible change in academics' concept of teaching as part of their current and future work. In this study, the experienced academics in the area of educational science are seen as the “leaders” since through their intensive teaching activities on all three levels (bachelor, master and doctoral) as well as through the high-quality research, they “lead” the concept of a particular science as well as the educational policy. Four rounds were used for consensus building among “leaders” based on a multiple interaction in an anonymous setting.

The research points out that academic professionalization in research is at its maximum. The currently perceived concept of teaching is content-oriented. However, the results also indicate the need for a gradual change in training Czech academics, should they accept their role also as university teachers in the future and be able to highlight the predicted change of teaching to support learning. Whether the strategy of a particular university will or will not accept all the academics' diverse roles seems to become the crucial factor.

Several rounds with the same group of experts, which is the principle of Delphi method, is at the same time a limitation of the study, as in most of the research based on this method. The participation in the expert panel dropped throughout the rounds; however, geographic (in terms of university) dispersion of participating experts remained. The final fourth round confirmed the collective judgments of academics.

The article broadens the understanding of changes in the content of academics' professionalization with respect to changes in the academia. It emphasizes the role of an academic as an educator and concludes with the need of institutional reform in the context of a single university in a decentralized system.

The article questions the trends of (national) educational policy in the sense that academics at universities are not only scientists but also teachers. However, the study also shows that the acceptance of their teaching abilities remains mainly on the organizational level.

A less common method of data collection among rather rarely involved group of experts in educational sciences brings a different view of the profession of academics, who (not only in the Czech context) are seen mainly as researchers and not as teachers. Humboldt's ideal regarding the unity of diverse roles is, thus, threatened due to narrower focus on academics' professionalization.

The process of talent development (TD) is one of the current trends in HRM and human resource development (HRD). Although scientific literature addressing the topic emphasizes that through development of talents, organizations can increase their productivity, performance and competitiveness, little is known so far concerning the development of this research field as a whole and particularly concerning theories prevailing in the area. While research into the field has been ongoing for two decades, the area has not yet been systematized based on key theories used as starting points for the research. The purpose of this paper is to focus on which theories in HRD are used in TD.

Concerning the topicality of TD, the present article provides a systematic review of literature summarizing current theories in TD based on the currently used typology of theories in HRD, adding the fourth pillar to the existing three, i.e. theories concerning adult learning and education, to increase the stability of the typology.

The paper argues that the area of TD prevalently uses sociological, psychological and ethical theories, which may be attributed to trends in HRD. The insufficient representation of theories of learning in TD, particularly in view of the fact that adult learning and development is the essence of TD, is an important finding. This finding is particularly important for science concerning adult learning and education.

The benefit of the presented analysis lies in a systematization of the individual theories and a comprehensive overview of the current theoretical framework of TD, as well as suggestions for future research making use of adult learning and education theories.

Prior to 2020, the Czech higher education institutions (HEIs) did not have much experience with distance learning and blended learning. Experience with hybrid teaching was minimal. The Covid-19 pandemic therefore presented the management of public universities in the Czech Republic with a number of new tasks in resolving the crisis situation. It also made the possibilities of distance education and other flexible forms of education significantly more visible. In 2021, a total of 26 public universities joined together in a central development project, in order to discuss the most important issues of distance education and blended learning, the current background for the implementation of flexible forms of education, and also their future plans in this area. In this chapter, the authors present in detail the results of a study on the background of public universities for the implementation of distance education and blended learning, which have become the basis for creating the action plans of individual institutions. The results of the analysis showed, among other things online supported education is important, especially in emergency situations.

Institutions, including higher education institutions (HEIs), may use crises as an opportunity to develop, to transform and to improve their institutional resilience. Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic proves that a vast majority of HEIs around the world effectively adapted to the circumstances of the pandemic and successfully embarked on remote learning. The analysis of HEIs proves as well that the nearly overnight switch to remote learning was but one aspect of the quiet transformation that HEIs worldwide were subdued to. In this context, this chapter identifies the administrative practices, including talent management, operations management, and above all, the organizational culture. The notion of changed expectations on the part of the faculty and the students is highlighted. The key point that this chapter makes is that the faculty and the art of education, rather than simply teaching, need to be placed first if HEIs are to retain their resilience.