Teaching under Lockdown: the experiences of London English teachers

Abstract

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, on 18 March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the immediate closure of schools in England. (The closure was not absolute: schools would remain open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. In practice, though, very few children have continued to attend.) In what follows, nine English teachers reflect on their experience of teaching under lockdown. KEYWORDS Teaching online; Covid-19; access and equality; lockdown *All pseudonyms, used so that the teachers who have contributed to this could reflect honestly on their experiences.

EFL teachers’ online teaching in rural schools during the COVID-19 pandemic: Stories from Indonesia

“…For example, Evans et al (2020) discussed their experiences teaching English in London and using Google Meet and Google Classroom to provide their students with synchronous mode. Even though Evans et al (2020) were not prepared to adopt online English teaching, they did their best by frequently explaining materials and activities via Google Meet, despite several students expressing confusion the following day. The students were then instructed to photograph their assignments and upload them to Google Classroom.…”

“…Several studies have reported the challenges faced by English teachers when conducting online English teaching, both in urban and rural areas. For instance, Evans et al (2020) discussed their experiences as English language teachers in London. They claimed they were not prepared to teach English online and even questioned whether their lessons were successful.…”

“…Not all students and teachers in all schools are capable of adequately implementing online learning. For instance, even though nine English teachers in London had used online learning, they encountered various challenges, including internet connectivity, delivering appropriate English evaluations, and delivering adequate explanations via videos (see Evans et al, 2020).…”

Coping with COVID-19-related online English teaching challenges: teacher educators’ suggestions

“…For example, Sepulveda-Escobar and Morrison’s (2020) study showed that Chilean teacher candidates suffered from teacher–student online interactions, and from distractions and limitations caused by working from home. In Evans et al ’s (2020) study, the challenges reported by nine London-based English teachers in their narratives about online teaching in the lockdown conditions include: students’ unaffordability of required technological devices, limited online class interaction, mental and emotional pressures, and students’ performance assessment. Gao and Zhang (2020) also found that the sudden transition to online instruction in China caused university teachers some challenges, including confusion and anxiety, insufficient network conditions, and class management problems.…”

Online music education for sustainable development: Analysis of music learning videos in e-Hakseupteo

“…The commencement of the academic year in 2020 was delayed owing to the novel COVID-19 pandemic, and remote learning has rapidly adapted as an alternative to regular classes (Babinčáková & Bernard, 2020; Di Pietro et al, 2020; Evans et al, 2020; Hash, 2021; Malkus et al, 2020; Morgan, 2020; Reimers & Schleicher, 2020). For effective remote learning, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has provided standards and guidelines for several types of remote learning platforms (Che & Lee, 2020; Kim, 2020; Lee, 2020c) and introduced the current most popular public e-learning platforms (Li & Lalani, 2020), e-Hakseupteo and EBS Online Class.…”