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Education Sciences
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Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications on Professional Placement...
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Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications on Professional Placement from School Closures

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Teacher Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 9669

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Minsun Shin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Teaching and Learning, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
Interests: early childhood teacher education; impact of COVID-19 crisis on teaching and learning; COVID-19 and student equity and inclusion
Dr. Sumi Hagiwara

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Education and Human Services, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
Interests: K–12 teacher education; STEM/computer science education; equity-oriented and culturally sustaining pedagogy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

School closures enforced by the global pandemic have resulted in a state of recovery. Traditional educator preparation programs relied heavily on in-person teaching placement. During the early phase of the COVID-19 crisis, teacher educators had to pivot, shifting to remote online teaching and replacing clinical placements with online alternatives. Education stakeholders adapted and responded to the problem creatively and innovatively to address the disruption to student learning and socioemotional development, and to recover and progress through the lingering challenges of the pandemic, including a decline in teacher education program enrollment, an increase in the number of teachers leaving the profession, and the fundamental need to educate and meet the diverse needs of K–12 students and their families.

This Special Issue addresses how education stakeholders have responded to the impacts of COVID-19 and learn from research, program innovations, university–school-district partnerships, and school-based practices to overcome the impact of the pandemic. Some possible areas for consideration for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  • Critical examination of how school closures impact professional placement;
  • Impact of school closures on teachers serving diverse populations (for example: students with disabilities, English learners);
  • The use of technology to support pre- and in-service teachers;
  • How university-school partnerships are leveraged to support student learning.

Dr. Minsun Shin
Dr. Sumi Hagiwara
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 247 KiB  
Article
Exploring Stress Factors and Coping Strategies in Italian Teachers after COVID-19: Evidence from Qualitative Data
by Elisabetta Conte, Valeria Cavioni and Veronica Ornaghi
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(2), 152; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14020152 - 31 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 968
Abstract
Teaching is a mentally and physically demanding profession that can be a source of stress and burnout. The COVID-19 pandemic put further pressure on teachers who had to face sudden challenges, such as online teaching and difficulties in holding students’ attention in virtual [...] Read more.
Teaching is a mentally and physically demanding profession that can be a source of stress and burnout. The COVID-19 pandemic put further pressure on teachers who had to face sudden challenges, such as online teaching and difficulties in holding students’ attention in virtual environments. Research has demonstrated that the negative effects of stress factors on teachers’ wellbeing can be modulated by coping strategies. This work explores the main sources of stress that jeopardized Italian teachers’ wellbeing after the COVID-19 pandemic and the coping strategies that they adopted. Eighty-six teachers, belonging to five school institutes located in Northern Italy, took part in three semi-structured group interviews, where their perceptions about wellbeing at school and occupational stress experiences were explored. Furthermore, they completed a survey with questions about recent stressful life events and the coping strategies that they had adopted in the last month. A thematic analysis revealed stressors related to four themes: adverse work conditions, a lack of support (from both school administrators and families), precariousness, and a demanding school system. A total of 22% of teachers experienced stressful events in the last month (e.g., health problems and loss), and 30% reported that they had adopted coping strategies, especially emotion-focused ones. The findings may drive educational policies to enhance protective factors for teachers’ professional wellbeing at school by reinforcing their individual resources and coping strategies, which can help them deal with challenging situations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications on Professional Placement from School Closures)
15 pages, 647 KiB  
Article
Mixed-Reality Simulation to Support Practice Learning of Preservice Teachers
by Sarah Gravett, Dean Van der Merwe, Sarita Ramsaroop, Pamela Tshabalala, Casey Bremner and Pumzile Mello
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 1062; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13101062 - 23 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1095
Abstract
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, providing high-quality practice learning experiences for preservice teachers was already taxing due to the heavy reliance on school practicum, which is often besieged with challenges. Given these challenges, there is a growing urgency to explore alternative avenues for offering [...] Read more.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, providing high-quality practice learning experiences for preservice teachers was already taxing due to the heavy reliance on school practicum, which is often besieged with challenges. Given these challenges, there is a growing urgency to explore alternative avenues for offering practice learning experiences to preservice teachers in addition to school practicum. With this backdrop, a qualitative study was conducted, employing observation and interviews as data collection methods to explore the potential of mixed-reality simulation (MRS) to strengthen the practice learning experiences of preservice teachers. The core teaching practice of questioning was chosen to explore the affordances of MRS for improving preservice teachers’ understanding of and proficiency in utilizing questioning. This study found that MRS provides a low-risk learning environment that preservice teachers perceive as authentic. For these reasons, this environment is conducive to improvement, and it enables deliberate practice, which is vital for nurturing metacognition and adaptive expertise. The findings also highlight the importance of coaching for maximizing MRS advantages. The absence of coaching will most likely limit the affordances of MRS as an approximation of teaching practice. While our findings are promising, the resource-intensive nature of MRS implementation means that scalability requires further investigation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications on Professional Placement from School Closures)
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15 pages, 483 KiB  
Article
Using Digital Learning Platforms to Enhance the Instructional Design Competencies and Learning Engagement of Preservice Teachers
by Azza Ali Gameil and Ahlam Mohammed Al-Abdullatif
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 334; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040334 - 24 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4233
Abstract
Given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated radical changes to the teaching landscape, employing digital learning platforms in the professional training of teachers has become imperative. The instructional design competencies are among the most important competencies for today’s teachers. Therefore, [...] Read more.
Given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated radical changes to the teaching landscape, employing digital learning platforms in the professional training of teachers has become imperative. The instructional design competencies are among the most important competencies for today’s teachers. Therefore, it is necessary to test the effectiveness of digital learning platforms to provide teachers with the required competencies, both cognitive and practical, and to help them improve these competencies. Accordingly, in this study, we aimed to measure the effects of using the Google Classroom platform to develop instructional design competences and learning engagement among preservice teachers in Saudi Arabia. We used a quasi-experimental approach, with a one-group design (pre- and posttest) in this study, which included 61 female student teachers. Three measurement instruments were utilised, namely, the achievement test, the product evaluation card, and the learning engagement scale. The results of our study showed that using Google Classroom as a digital learning platform was effective in helping the preservice teachers acquire and develop their cognitive and practical competencies in instructional design. Our results further revealed high levels of learning engagement at cognitive, behavioural, and social levels among the preservice teachers who participated in learning instructional design through the Google Classroom platform. Our findings emphasise the need for greater investment in digital learning platforms to support preservice teachers’ professional training, as these students can benefit from the potential these platforms offer in developing their instructional design competencies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications on Professional Placement from School Closures)
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28 pages, 1192 KiB  
Systematic Review
A Systematic Review on Teachers’ Well-Being in the COVID-19 Era
by Eirene Katsarou, Paraskevi Chatzipanagiotou and Areti-Maria Sougari
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(9), 927; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090927 - 12 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2634
Abstract
The COVID-19 health crisis has wrought substantial challenges on individuals, societies, and organizations worldwide that have significantly transformed the way people function in their workplace on a daily basis, resulting in heightened levels of physical, psychological, and social deprivation. Available empirical evidence in [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 health crisis has wrought substantial challenges on individuals, societies, and organizations worldwide that have significantly transformed the way people function in their workplace on a daily basis, resulting in heightened levels of physical, psychological, and social deprivation. Available empirical evidence in the field of education has explicitly foregrounded the negative impact of the pandemic on teachers’ well-being (TWB) and mental health as existing pressures became exacerbated and additional stressors accumulated in the workplace in search of the requisite TWB remedial interventions to be used in times of crises. As frontline education providers, teachers were not only called upon to confront difficulties associated with the shift to COVID-19-induced online modes of instruction supporting students’ academic development and well-being but also effectively navigate adversity and stress in their own personal and professional lives. Given that teacher well-being has consistently been reported as a key determinant of quality education and excellence ensuring the stability of a well-qualified workforce, this study uses a systematic review approach to investigate educators’ well-being status, identify predictors, and report on the effective strategies for TWB utilized by educators themselves during the COVID-19 era. Fifty-three empirical studies published between 2020 and 2023, collected within the PRISMA-statement framework, were included in the final analysis. Implications for policy and school administrators are also discussed followed by insights for future research avenues in the area of teacher education and professional development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications on Professional Placement from School Closures)
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