A Light in Students’ Lives: K-12 Teachers’ Experiences (Re)Building Caring Relationships During Remote Learning

Abstract

This study illuminates the experiences of K-12 educators as they strove to (re)build caring relationships with students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted during a graduate course for experienced K-12 teachers in the spring of 2020 at a four-year comprehensive university in the United States. Data was collected from reflective learning journals and asynchronous peer discussions, which captured educators’ experiences as they transitioned to remote learning in real-time. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify pertinent themes. Findings suggest that remote learning revealed relationships in need of repair. Educators practiced authentic care and cultivated connectedness by 1) acting as warm demanders, 2) responding to students’ social-emotional needs, and 3) trying to bridge the digital divide. The article concludes with implications for practice and areas for future research as schools, districts, states, and countries consider the “new normal” in K-12 schooling.

STEM Students’ Perceptions on Emergency Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Successes

“…The most common responses regarding the worst or hardest aspects of switching to virtual learning were sorted into the following categories: quality of education, adapting, feeling disconnected from people and learning, and managing workload and schedule (see Table 4). These findings are consistent with some of the findings of Miller [26]. Students that described a decrease in the quality of education reported a lack of concern for learning from professors, checking for student understanding, engaging and effective lectures, hands-on learning, ease in asking questions, communication and guidance, organization and preparation, an educational atmosphere, appropriately and effectively addressing cheating, clear expectations, and feedback on assignments.…”

Reflecting on Best Practices for Online Learning in a Post-COVID-19 World

“…In addition, Ally (2019) recommended that instructors not simply read a text and make a post, but to interact the same way students and an instructor would in a classroom setting. Much like a classroom discussion, Selhort et al (2017) andMiller (2021) suggest that instructors should ask a question and follow through with scaffolding information and facilitating interactions between students to address the reading assignment.…”

“…Online Education Picciano (2019) found that 20 million Americans were enrolled in at least one completely online course, which was an increase from 6.4 million just three years earlier. Data collected prior to the onset of COVID-19 showed that online schools and programs were growing in enrollment (Miller, 2021;Ornalles, 2019;Watson et al, 2020). Large and small public colleges, as well as proprietary schools, were showing increased enrollment in online workforce certification programs, undergraduate programs, and graduate programs (Hart et al, 2021;Ilgaz, 2019;Martin & Bolliger, 2018).…”

Framing Policies and Procedures to Include Digital Literacies for Online Learning During and Beyond Crises

“…Second, such policies decrease teachers' opportunities for professional learning about how to teach online, meaning that if another pandemic emerges-and we can be certain one will-teachers in those states will be in yet another position of radical under-preparedness to use digital and online resources to teach remotely. In such an instance, lawmakers can be sure that teachers will bear a significant emotional burden from criticism, despair, and a lack of efficacy-a recipe for attrition (Miller, 2021;Nieto, 2003;Rice & Deschaine, 2021). Third, during another pandemic or surge in infections in the current pandemic where there are no plans for strong instructional support for the literacies of technologies and the technologies of literacies, many families will yet again be left largely on their own to provide whatever learning experiences they can while under extreme emotional and financial stress.…”