Teaching during the time of COVID: Learning from mentor teachers’ experiences

Abstract

Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the educational landscape, creating new professional realities for practicing and future teachers. As teacher educators prepare preservice teachers for the uncertainty of online and in-person teaching, more information is needed around how mentor teachers designed and implemented their emergency online lessons at the beginning of the pandemic. This study explores the topic by analyzing data from 31 mentor teachers surveyed about their teaching experiences between March and June 2020. The findings suggest that most of the mentor teachers defined similar priorities for creating equitable access to their instructional materials. Accordingly, the mentor teachers focused on increasing their students’ access to digital content, designing instruction that considered families’ capacity for support, and encouraging student engagement in online learning. These findings have implications for how teacher educators learn from mentor teachers’ experiences during this unprecedented period, and work to prepare preservice teachers for the challenges and complexities of online teaching—ultimately helping them develop the skills to adapt to future, unfamiliar teaching environments.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank multiple people for their guidance throughout this research study. First, thank you to Kenneth Zeichner, for your helpful feedback on the study design and manuscript drafts. I also want to thank Mark Windschitl and Sheila Valencia for their mentorship throughout the data analysis and writing processes. Lastly, thank you to the mentor teachers who participated in the study. I am in awe of their dedication to their students during this difficult time.

Disclosure statement

This study was approved by the University of Washington’s IRB Review Board. There was no external funding for this study and no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jenny H. Gawronski

Jenny Gawronski is a ceramic artist, arts educator, and doctoral candidate in Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum at the University of Washington. Her research interests are in art education, preservice teacher learning, technology, and digital media literacy. Her research examines how preservice teachers use technology and digital media to support their learning as they navigate the multiple roles and contexts of their teacher education program.