'Kindness and empathy beyond all else' : Challenges to professional identities of Higher Education teachers during COVID-19 times

COVID-19 has continued to effect higher education globally in significant ways. During 2020, many institutions shifted learning online overnight as the sector closed its doors and opened new sites for remote teaching. This article reports on an international study [Phillips et al., 2021] that sought...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian educational researcher 2023-09, Vol.50 (4), p.1233-1251
Main Authors: Cain, Melissa, Campbell, Chris, Coleman, Kathryn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to Computers
Anxiety
Barriers
Case studies
College Faculty
College Students
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
COVID-19
Data Analysis
Data collection
Distance education
Distance learning
Education
Educational Policy and Politics
Educational Psychology
Educational Technology
Emergency Programs
Emotions
Empathy
Equal Education
Experience
Focus groups
Higher education
Interpersonal Relationship
Learning Strategies
Mental Health
Online instruction
Online learning
Pandemics
Professional development
Professional Identity
Qualitative research
Student teacher relationship
Surveys
Teacher Behavior
Teacher Student Relationship
Teachers
Teaching
Teaching and Teacher Education
Teaching Methods
Technological change
Well being
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Summary:COVID-19 has continued to effect higher education globally in significant ways. During 2020, many institutions shifted learning online overnight as the sector closed its doors and opened new sites for remote teaching. This article reports on an international study [Phillips et al., 2021] that sought to capture how cross-sectoral teachers experienced these emergency changes during the first months of restrictions. The data, analysed using narrative identity theory, revealed concerns that fall into two broad categories: technologies and relationships. Significantly, it was not a loss of content delivery or changes to assessment that prompted the greatest anxiety for our colleagues, but that they held significant concerns about their students' mental health; inequities of access to a range of services including technological; and challenges connecting emotionally with their students at a distance. The results provide actionable strategies for higher education institutions to apply in future emergencies where remote teaching is necessary. [Author abstract]
ISSN:0311-6999
2210-5328
DOI:10.1007/s13384-022-00552-1