Challenges and Opportunities of Emergency Remote Teaching: Linguistic Analysis on School Directors’ Interviews

Abstract

This research delves into the experiences of primary school directors during the abrupt transition to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Through semi-structured interviews, the organization and implementation of online classes, associated challenges, and potential improvements were scrutinized. Findings underscored a lack of preparedness, yet acknowledged ERT as a vital tool during the crisis. Recommendations included the improvement of technological support, designing a well-planned strategy, creating appropriate teaching content, comprehensive staff training, and tailoring the educational content to fit students’ learning styles or special needs. A Linguistic Text Analysis approach, employing word clouds, treemaps, and sentiment analysis charts to graphically depict complex patterns in the data, enriched our understanding of the ERT transition, shedding light on subtler nuances and insights. This study contributes valuable knowledge, offering a roadmap for the future development of robust, flexible, and inclusive educational policies and practices, particularly in crisis situations. The dataset is an invaluable asset for policymakers, providing critical insights and highlighting the challenges and opportunities that arise.