GATEways to Teacher Education

A journal of the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators teachers would prepare printed copies of all the handouts and leave them in a crate outside the school for pickup so the students could follow along with the lesson they were attending virtually. The packets often ended up being a lot of work to put together and ultimately left the pre-service teachers feeling stuck in their teaching and like they could not make changes that would strengthen instruction.

The relationships formed with the pre-service teachers and their cooperating teachers, professors, and elementary students were noted in all reflections as being strained, and one of the main reasons for the strain was the attendance issues caused by Covid. In the spring of 2021, Covid-19 exposure mandated a 10-day quarantine. Elementary students, cooperating teachers, and pre-service teachers could attend school one day, just to be told that someone in the class tested positive for Covid-19 and they would then pivot to online instruction the very next day. This was a daunting task and led to strained relationships between students and teachers and a disconnect in academics. As one pre-service teacher commented, “It seems that it’s one step forward and two steps back. As soon as we get into a rhythm, Covid rears its ugly head and we must shut it down.” Another student also commented on the attendance issue noting, “I got back from being virtual with students for 10 days and then my cooperating teacher got a positive test and had to go virtual, so essentially, we haven’t seen each other in person for almost 20-days… it’s just hard.” This lack of consistency in who was virtual and who was present made forming and maintaining relationships a near impossibility.

Pre-service teachers felt this lack of connection extended to the relationships they formed with their college professors as well. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, professors and instructors were in and out of their pre-service teachers’classrooms daily, but with the new Covid-19 protocols, schools limited the number of outside visitors and requested that professors only visit when conducting an observation. While professors were available via email and Zoom, spontaneous learning opportunities or conversations that lead to connections and authentic learning were no longer possible.

Block 2 students needed more in-person support, as described in a lesson reflection. “I wish professors were around during lab hours so we could communicate in person. Emails can be difficult to get immediate responses and it’s hard to read how a professor feels about my concerns or questions.”Another pre-service teacher commented similarly, “I want to see my professors. When a question arises, I want to know that I’m going to see them and be able to talk to them about it.”

Though there were certainly challenges and frustrations felt by block 2 students in the field, there were also learning opportunities that students in previous semesters did not experience. Virtual and hybrid learning situations required students to be creative and use technology that was never a part of their instruction in the past.

Creativity, flexibility, and adaptability were words that were repeated throughout students’ reflections and interviews when describing their cooperating teachers. In an environment where Covid-19 protocols and information seemed to be ever-changing, teachers needed to adapt quickly. Overwhelmingly, the pre-service teachers wrote of their cooperating teachers’ abilities to adapt to whatever situation was thrown at them and they learned that they too would need to adapt to new situations, sometimes with very little notice. In previous semesters, they often met disruptions to the course syllabus with grumbles and a fair amount of complaining, but this block 2 group was different and seemed to have a greater sense of resiliency. As one student explained, “One of the greatest traits a teacher needs to have is being flexible and able to adapt to changing situations. I believe the pandemic has forced us to do this and that…ultimately it is an advantage.” As these block 2 students had not been in the field pre-pandemic, they seemed more resilient and adaptable to roll with the changes that were a huge part of the spring of 2021.

Creativity was another hallmark of 2021. In the field, pre-service teachers were required to reach students online, face-to-face, and in hybrid situations. It was a huge task to deliver engaging instruction in those circumstances and to be