Teachers' Qualitative Experiences of COVID-19: Demands, Resources, and Implications

• In Event: Teachers' Lives and Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The largely unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education around the world. Teachers, who pre-pandemic reported daily high stress, experienced elevated stress and an inability to cope early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational research from this era has the potential to inform future crisis response. To this aim, the current study explored teachers’ written accounts of demands, resources, and pandemic-specific impacts through thematic analysis, which yielded a codebook that was then applied by independent coders. Twelve themes were grouped into three domains: demands (e.g., learning new technology), resources (e.g., helpful teams), and pandemic-related outcomes (e.g., physical exhaustion). Results suggest important implications for how teachers experienced pandemic teaching and avenues for occupational support.

Authors

• Madison Blaydes, The University of Texas – Austin

• Cassandra Gearhart, University of Texas at Austin

• Sarah Kelton

• Abbie Balat, University of Texas at Austin

• Caroline Hudson, University of Texas at Austin

• Christopher J. Mccarthy, The University of Texas at Austin