Changed for the better: positive teacher experiences with COVID-19 driven changes

ABSTRACT

Challenges to teaching in the post-Covid classroom plagued schools across the globe. This qualitative study followed two middle-school teachers in a charter school located in the Western United States to identify the changes to classroom teaching and their effects on the classroom environment through the first year of teaching after the 2020 shutdown. Changes came from state mandates, local administration, and teachers’ own adjustments. Findings identified three categories of changes to schools, all with pros and cons. However, evidence suggest that increased autonomy, resources and support for teachers’ work improved their ability to be prepared, focused, and effective. Implications for the profession of teaching are discussed, with an emphasis on autonomy, support and trust of teachers as professionals.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher change
• crisis teaching
• teacher support
• teacher effectiveness
• teacher professionalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.