Beginning Teachers' Critical Transformation During a Global Pandemic

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Struggle, Learning, and Transformation in a Pandemic

Abstract

This study uses an interpretive, qualitative research design to highlight beginning teacher perspectives of their experiences teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we share the experiences of 15 K-12 educators who began their teaching careers in the 2019-2020 school year, whose first two years of teaching were marred by frequent changes and a constant unknown. Despite this, and perhaps because of this, they changed as educators-- their own beliefs, their expectations for families and students, their pedagogy, and philosophy for the future. Findings from this study help highlight the strengths of beginning teachers (particularly during a pandemic) and ways a pandemic can affect the beliefs and practices of beginning teachers.

Authors

• Lindsay Joseph Wexler, North Central College

• Jennifer K. Shah, North Central College

• Arthi B. Rao, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Jennifer D. Olson, University of Illinois at Chicago