The research titled ‘The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Teachers’ was conducted by Turkish Maarif Foundation in 25 countries across the world to understand how the teachers and school administrators have been affected by the pandemic.
After analysing the responses, 5 main themes emerged by how the teachers and school administrators react to the Covid19 Pandemic, which changed the all education. Here is the thread with the findings from the research, and more will be discussed at the IstanbulEducationSummit .
The coping strategy is the most dominant main theme used by the participants to manage the challenges faced during the pandemic. There are also subthemes under the coping strategy such as turning into an opportunity, crisis management, adaptation, occupation, solidarity, etc.
I found a lot of time for my family and children, because the life before the pandemic was taking us away from family life, a school administrator from Sudan explained her situation during the pandemic.
“We devoted ourselves to school renovation and repair works. We have prepared our infrastructure for distance learning”, a school administrator from the Republic of Chad stated.
As an example of crisis management, a teacher from Tanzania said that she taught the students through her mobile phone during the Covid19 pandemic using her phone as a learning and teaching tool.
Even in a place like Africa, finding solutions quickly and moving to distance learning was quite surprising, a teacher told how was the adaptation period in Senegal.
Another teacher from Senegal said the way he deals with the pandemic emotionally is through prayer.
According to a school administrator from Albania, all teachers, administrators, and parents showed solidarity with each other and supported each other to overcome this extraordinary situation.
In terms of life perception, a teacher from Democratic Republic of the Congo noted that her awareness of certain issues has gained depth and she added: “I have adopted a more minimalist lifestyle.”
Feeling disturbance during the pandemic in both physically and mentally is the another prominent theme among the participants. 5 subthemes such as heavy workload, changes in routine, social need, anxiety and fear, and homesickness were listed under the theme of discomfort.