Background
On 20 March 2020, in response to COVID‐19, UK schools were closed to most pupils. Teachers were required to put remote teaching and learning in place with only two days’ notice from the ...government.
Aims
The current study explores teachers’ experiences of this abrupt change to their working practices, and during the 5–6 weeks that followed.
Sample
Twenty‐four teachers from English state schools were interviewed, representing mainstream primary and secondary schools and a range of years of experience and seniority.
Methods
Participants were asked to tell stories of three key scenes during the first 5–6 weeks of lockdown: a low point, a high point, and a turning point. A reflexive thematic analysis of their narratives was conducted.
Results and Conclusions
Six themes were identified: uncertainty, finding a way, worry for the vulnerable, importance of relationships, teacher identity, and reflections. Teachers’ narratives suggest that, after an initial period of uncertainty they settled into the situation and found a way forward, supported by strong relationships. However, they remain extremely worried about the most vulnerable pupils and want more joined‐up thinking from the government on how to support them effectively, along with clarity from policymakers to enable planning ahead. Teachers reflected on how to use their learning during this period to improve pupils’ experiences of education post‐COVID‐19, and on how aspects of shared teacher identity have worked as stressors and coping mechanisms. These initial interviews form the baseline for a longitudinal interview study of teachers’ experiences of COVID‐19 in England.
The COVID‐19 pandemic has forced higher education institutions to implement online learning activities based on virtual platforms, allowing little time to prepare and train faculty members to ...familiarize students with digital technologies. While previous studies have looked at how students engaged with digital technologies in their learning activities, the characteristics of the student engagement in online learning remain underexplored. Therefore, a systematic review of the literature on student engagement in online learning in higher education is much needed. This article synthesizes the findings on student engagement in Latin American higher education institutions during the COVID‐19 pandemic. After reviewing the studies on online learning activities, this review examines student engagement from behavioural, cognitive and affective dimensions and identifies the main characteristics of student engagement from these tripartite dimensions. The implications of the findings for online learning in Latin American higher education are as follows: (a) to transform higher education, (b) to provide adequate professional training, (c) to improve Internet connectivity, (d) to ensure quality online learning in higher education and (e) to provide emotional support. These findings will provide valuable guidance for teachers, educational authorities and policy makers and help them make informed decisions to use effective strategies to support online learning in higher education institutions.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic
The COVID‐19 pandemic has disrupted the normal operation of higher education institutions across Latin America, impelling a shift from face‐to‐face instruction to online teaching and learning.
Research on online learning in Latin American higher education has been conducted, but the findings and their implications are yet to be widely disseminated among researchers, practitioners and decision‐makers.
What this paper adds
Providing a systematic review of research on student engagement in online learning in Latin American higher education institutions.
Analyzing the construct of student engagement in online learning from tripartite dimensions—behavioral, cognitive and affective—in the Latin American higher education context.
Identifying the characteristics associated to each dimension of student engagement in online learning.
Implications for practice and/or policy
The need to transform the higher education system in Latin America and beyond, at two levels: to improve Internet connectivity at the technological level and to ensure the quality of online education at the pedagogical level.
The urgency to offer an adequate professional training regarding the use of new technologies in online learning environments.
The significance for higher education institutions to provide emotional support for students during the COVID‐10 pandemic.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has severely impacted the lives of children and adolescents. School closure, one of the critical changes during the first COVID-19 wave, caused decreases in ...social contacts and increases in family time for children and adolescents. This can have both positive and negative influences on suicide, which is one of the robust mental health outcomes. However, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on children and adolescents in terms of suicide is unknown.
This study investigates the acute effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide among children and adolescents during school closure in Japan.
Total number of suicides per month among children and adolescents under 20 years old between January 2018 and May 2020.
Poisson regression was used to examine whether suicide increased or decreased during school closure, which spanned from March to May 2020, compared with the same period in 2018 and 2019. Robustness check was conducted using all data from January 2018 to May 2020. Negative binomial regression, a model with overdispersion, was also performed.
We found no significant change in suicide rates during the school closure (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.81 to 1.64). We found the main effect of month, that is, suicides significantly increased suicides in May (IRR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.78) compared to March, but the interaction terms of month and school closure were not significant (p > 0.1).
As preliminary findings, this study suggests that the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly affected suicide rates among children and adolescents during the school closure in Japan.
This paper focuses on the national, institutional and pedagogical responses as a result of the closure of schools and universities in March 2020 in Portugal. It includes a brief description and ...analysis of the initiatives and responses to the crisis as well as the difficulties, the challenges and the opportunities. The paper concludes with the discussion of the implications for teaching and teacher education in such uncertain times, particularly in regard to the role of practice as well as issues of mentoring within the context of a practicum as a 'real practice' versus 'an ideal(ised) practice'.
Amongst all jurisdictions, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China has been one of the most effective in limiting cases of COVID-19, despite being one of the first places to be affected ...by the pandemic in early 2020. In the months since the first case was confirmed, COVID-19 has affected all aspects of Hong Kong society, including the higher education sector. In this collective reflective essay, we describe the effects of these unexpected external events on academics' lives and the responses of higher education institutions. Specifically, we address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on academics, their professional relationships, institutional frameworks, and Hong Kong's higher education sector as a whole. We conclude that the most significant effect of the pandemic is uncertainty, together with new realities expressed in sayings such as 'living with Zoom, learning from webinars'; 'you will be informed "in due course"', stay calm "until further notice"'; and 'people are stuck, but business is on steroids'. The essay further describes a three-pronged institutional reaction to the pandemic, focused on control, support, and positioning. It concludes with critical views on the way 'useful' knowledge in today's higher education is defined and how concepts and practices have been challenged during the pandemic.
U.S. college students are a distinct population facing major challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, students were already experiencing substantial mental health concerns, ...putting both their health and academic success in jeopardy. College students now face increasing housing and food insecurity, financial hardships, a lack of social connectedness and sense of belonging, uncertainty about the future, and access issues that impede their academic performance and well-being. There is also reason to believe that COVID-19 is exacerbating inequalities for students of color and low-income students. We provide several recommendations for institutions of higher education to mitigate these obstacles, including engaging in data-driven decision making, delivering clear and informative messaging to students, prioritizing and expanding student support services, and using an equity framework to guide all processes.
This report describes the adaptations made to one initial teacher education course at a Hong Kong university designed for face-to-face instruction that was required to be delivered exclusively online ...due to the suspension of face-to-face classes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes the adaptations the tutor made, and the challenges faced adapting to the new mode of delivery. It is hoped that others can learn from the author's experience and be prepared for the suspension of face-to-face classes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic or other health emergencies.
Whereas increased scholarly attention is focusing on contemporary school closings, noticeably absent is the placement of this scholarship within the historical context of Black people’s social ...experiences. This paradigm shift would reveal a much longer history that has had devastating consequences for Black people. In this article, we identify five waves of Black school closings and provide contemporary case studies that reveal an ongoing pattern resulting in the destabilization of Black communities across time and space. Despite persistent attacks on these institutions, our analyses capture Black people’s resistance and agency in maintaining their communities and schools. In addition to providing policy implications, we further suggest the term Black community-killing as a theoretical way of thinking about the consequences of school closings.
The COVID-19 viral pandemic affected all facets of life, including schooling. In March 2020, schools abruptly ended face-to-face instruction and transitioned to emergency remote instruction. David ...Marshall, David Shannon, and Savanna Love surveyed teachers nationally between mid-March and early April 2020 to understand their experiences during this time. Teachers found all aspects of teaching more challenging during remote instruction and shared a range of experiences related to training opportunities, barriers to student learning, as well as support for English learners and students with special needs. Based on the teachers’ comments, the authors recommend incorporating digital learning days in future school calendars and putting clear plans in place for future emergencies.
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