‘It feels like I'm back to being a teacher’: A longitudinal trajectory analysis of teachers' experiences during the first 8 months of COVID ‐19 in England
Lisa E. Kim, Diana Fields, Kathryn Asbury - Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Education
Abstract
Background
Understanding teachers' experiences throughout the school closures and reopenings that have characterized large periods of the COVID‐19 pandemic provides us with unique insights into what it means to be a teacher during a global public health crisis.
Aim and Method
To investigate teachers' narratives of their experiences, we conducted 95 semi‐structured interviews with 24 teachers in England across four time points between April and November 2020. We used a longitudinal qualitative trajectory analysis of participants' stories of their high‐, low‐ and turning‐points.
Results
We derived four themes that were evident at each time point and developed over time. The themes were: (1) growing frustration at uncertainties caused by poor government leadership, (2) expanding concern for pupil learning and well‐being, (3) an increasingly labour‐intensive and exhausting job and (4) declining pleasure and pride in being a teacher.
Conclusions
The findings shed light on the impact of COVID‐19 on the professional identity of these teachers and we propose ways in which teachers can be supported now and in the future.