High School Math Teachers’ Post-Pandemic Testimonios

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Learning From Teaching in the Pandemic and Its Effects (Table 33)

Abstract

The interview-based study uses testimonios from 10 high school math teachers to document their challenges during the post-pandemic period. The theoretical framework considers four obligations in math teachers’ work: disciplinary, institutional, interpersonal, and individual. Using thematic analysis, I identified five themes: (1) Building relationships with students, (2) Dealing with students’ prior knowledge, (3) Handling new technology, (4) Relying on school community, and (5) Scaffolding student-student interactions. The themes highlight teachers’ individual attention to students’ needs. The testimonios revealed a commitment towards themselves and their colleagues in relation to challenges that personally affected them. While schools supported students, teachers often lacked resources to cope with the new challenges. Implications include boosting community-building efforts to bridge teachers’ obligations and personal needs.

Author

• Gloriana Gonzalez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign