Back to School during Covid-19? Special Education Teachers’ Experiences of Remote Emergency Teaching in Barbados

• In Event: Accountability

Proposal

After more than three years of emergency remote teaching, parents and children in Barbados protested peacefully, calling for a return to face-to-face learning despite Covid-19's endemicity (Madden, 2022). It is now widely agreed in the international literature that the transition to online learning was fraught with challenges for teachers, especially those who taught children with disabilities at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic (Rice, 2022; Abrazado et al., 2021; Smith, 2020;). For example, research by Smith (2020) argues that special education teachers grappled with how to: make education equitable for their students in a virtual setting, provide special education services, keep students engaged during online instruction and meet IEP goals online. Parents were teachers' allies during school closures who assumed significant responsibility for teaching their children at home. They were, therefore, well acquainted with the challenges that online learning presented, and these issues prompted parents in Barbados to stridently protest and demand children return to school to avoid further education disadvantage and discrimination. This research considers CIES’s sub-theme 4 question: what pedagogies might our educational institutions and sets of classrooms embrace that enable the development of capacities to act?
We ground this work theoretically in a rights-based education perspective, which suggests that quality education is a fundamental right of all children. The most apparent support for equity in education is enshrined in UNESCO's Incheon Education 2030 Framework for Action, which commits to achieving inclusive quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Inclusive education is defined as “a process that helps overcome barriers limiting the presence, participation and achievement of learners” (UNESCO 2017, p. 13). What is clear from the literature by Smith (2020) and the protest that followed in Barbados is that Covid-19 magnified education inequities and resulted in some children being excluded from learning (Blackman, 2021). Education inequality and exclusion directly oppose ideas articulated within the Education 2030 agenda. It is, therefore, necessary to understand and document special education teachers’ experiences to plan effective interventions and remediation for the most vulnerable children in the future. This paper presents the narratives of Barbadian special education teachers and their experiences instructing students with disabilities online during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. The research questions are: 1) How do special education teachers describe the transition from face-to-face to emergency online instruction? 2. How do special education teachers describe their online teaching experiences during Covid-19?
In order to understand special education teachers’ experiences in the early phases of the pandemic, the researchers utilized an exploratory, descriptive design which used quantitative and qualitative approaches to gather data. A ‘rapid fire’ questionnaire collected demographic data about teachers from special schools and the students they taught. Open-ended questions with probes were then placed at the end of the questionnaire to collect qualitative data. The qualitative section captured special education teachers’ cognitions and narratives about the challenges encountered and strategies used to engage, teach, and motivate students during emergency online instruction. Teachers from two special education schools provided information on how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted teaching and learning at their respective schools. We then used thematic analysis to describe what participants said to describe what online teaching was like for teachers in the study.
How do the research methods and results support the conclusions drawn from the data?
The paper focuses on special education teachers’ narratives gleaned from qualitative methodologies about their experiences of remote emergency teaching. Teachers’ narratives provided clear support for what did and did not work during the initial phases of the emergency remote online teaching period. Findings revealed four main themes. The first theme, “Online Teaching was a Difficult Adjustment”, suggested mixed views on the adjustment to remote teaching for novice and expert teachers. Novice teachers’ levels of efficacy in using the online platform varied based on their levels of technological expertise and access to training. While expert, tech-savvy teachers complained about the volume of preparation for online teaching and a lack of compatibility between online resources and their students' devices. The second theme, “Content Delivery Supported by Active Learning Strategies”, revealed some consensus on how information was disseminated to students while teachers taught online. The use of videos, online discussions, audio, and applications like Quizziz, Kahoot and Nearpod made sessions interactive. The third theme, “Prioritizing Children’s and Personal Wellbeing is Crucial for Motivation”, revealed how teachers kept themselves and students motivated during online learning. For teachers, it was necessary to delineate between personal and professional spaces and time. For students, teachers expressed that students with disabilities are already vulnerable and, therefore, it was necessary to continue teaching them as part of their commitment to equitable, inclusive education. Finally, “Student Support and Communication Aided Motivation” is related to theme three in that teachers described how they supported and communicated with parents who were their allies in teaching students remotely using emails, Whatsapp and other messenger or video conferencing applications. In conclusion, the findings suggest a need for teacher preparation programmes to incorporate modules on remote teaching, better use of applications to support IEP goal execution in a remote environment, and how to engage, assess and monitor instruction effectively online.
The contribution is original as it introduces Barbadian special education teachers’ voices and pedagogical experiences with students with disabilities during the initial stages of Covid-19. We learn how Barbadian special education teachers remained passionate and committed to equitable education despite a lack of technological resources to reach all children. In addition, teachers also prioritized their wellbeing by setting personal and professional boundaries with parents in the initial stages of the pandemic. The findings suggest that schools and teachers must continue transforming instruction by embracing technology, locating compatible resources, and adopting interactive strategies for students with disabilities. This research also indicates the need to improve teacher professional development and preparation for remote teaching, remediation and resource planning as policymakers consider reforming education systems in light of the pandemic.

Authors

• Stacey N Blackman, University of the West Indies Cave Hill

• Grace Adebisi Fayombo, University of the West Indies Cave Hill

• JUNNIE LYNCH, Erdiston Teachers' Training College