Teaching & Learning in COVID-19 times

A qualitative survey-based research project about the innovation, novel partnerships, and enhanced questions of access in teaching and learning practices due to COVID-19 precautionary measures.

Project Description

On the 11th March 2020, the World Health Organisation characterised the COVID-19 virus spread as a pandemic (WHO, 2020), and to reduce the spread of the virus many national governments have issued directives enforcing university, college, school and early childhood settings closures, or restricting grouping and social distancing practices whilst they remain open. Teachers across all sectors have significantly reconfigured their teaching and practices at very short notice.

In addition, as teaching and learning is now largely contained to people’s homes, families have become much more involved in facilitating education programs especially for early childhood and primary aged children. Teachers are on the front line “rapidly mobilising and innovating to facilitate quality distance learning for students in confinement, with or without the use of digital technologies” (International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, 2020). They are also key communicators about how the virus spreads and how to keep safe and supported. These changes in education are global, urgent and look to alter education practices from this point onwards.

It is a time of rapid innovation, novel partnerships, and enhanced questions of access, requiring urgent documentation and analysis to produce reports, case studies, guides and other resources to support teaching and learning within these less familiar social configurations.

The projects seeks to:

• listen to teacher voices and stories about their work and their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic (through and online survey), and
• bring teacher voices into the collation of strategies to inform education responses.

The project has approval from the James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval no.H8090).

Click this link to participate in the survey

References

Ghebreyesus, T. A. (2020). WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020

International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (2020, 27 March). Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak Call for Action on Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.globalpartnership.org/news/response-covid-19-outbreak-call-action-teachers?utm_source=gpe_social_en&utm_medium=twitter_en&utm_campaign=announcement

Project partners

• JCU, Singapore
• Griffith University
• Central Queensland University
• Australian Catholic University
• Melbourne University
• Monash University
• Victoria University, Wellington
• University of Wyoming

Project team

Principal Investigator –

Louise Phillips will be key contact for the study, main writer of project design and ethics application, overseeing survey distribution, and collation. Lead collator and analyst of data from early childhood and primary teachers in Singapore and Australia.

Co-Investigators –

Dr Chris Campbell (Griffith University & President of ASCILITE (Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education) will create and manage the Qualtrics survey and lead Tertiary sector recruit and contribute to analysis and results dissemination.

Associate Professor Susan Davis (Central Queensland University) will be a key contact for arts educators in Australia, in particular for drama and performing arts, (mostly in secondary education sector) overseeing survey distribution to arts education networks, collation and analysis.

Dr Melissa Cain (Australian Catholic University) will coordinate recruitment of teachers in International schools and teachers of vision impaired students, along with contributing to analysis and results dissemination.

Dr Kate Coleman (Melbourne University) will recruit art and design educators and lead website design and management, along with contributing to analysis and results dissemination.

Dr Geraldine Burke (Monash University) will recruit primary teachers (primarily in the arts) and University lecturers in Victoria Australia, and contribute to analysis and results dissemination.

Associate Professor Jenny Ritchie (Victoria University, Wellington) will recruit early childhood and primary teachers in New Zealand, collect data for the NZ context and contribute to analysis and results dissemination.

Professor Cynthia Brock (University of Wyoming) will complete the IRB with University of Wyoming; send the survey out to school districts, literacy listservs, etc.; collect the data for the US context, and work with graduate assistants and contribute to analysis and results dissemination.

Dr Esther Joosa (Independent Researcher) will recruit special education teachers in Singapore on the effect of COVID 19 and home-based learning for students with special needs and contribute to analysis and results dissemination.

Key contact:

Associate Professor Louise Gwenneth Phillips PhD SFHEA

Coordinator of Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education)

James Cook University, Singapore

E: louise.phillips@jcu.edu.au