COVID-19 and Educational Responsibility: A Self-Study of Social Studies and Social Justice

• In Event: Making Sense of, Assuming Responsibility for, and Conceptualizing the Possibilities for Teacher Education in a Changing World

Abstract

The purpose of this self-study was to examine my experiences that grew out of two disparate but connected events in the world today as the COVID-19 pandemic declared March 2020 and the Black Lives Matter movement further ignited by George Floyd’s death May, 2020 . This paper addresses how COVID-19 impacted my professional life as a new faculty member teaching social studies in a teacher education program (Crowe, 2010; Powell, 2010). Embedded within my self-study are the professional and cultural changes that occurred across a very short period of time. I address how these global events impacted my thinking both professionally and personally through reflection analysis (Jónsdóttir & Gísladóttir, 2016; Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2009).

Authors

• Laura Edwards, University of Northern Iowa

• Deborah L. Tidwell, University of Northern Iowa